The Ultimate Delivery before the Cricket World Cup Comes to Wales
The Cricket World Cup is heading to Wales and everyone in the
country is being invited to catch at least a small slice of the
action.
The global tournament is being staged in England and Wales
between May 30 and July 14, with four matches taking place in
Cardiff at Glamorgan's face-lifted and spring-cleaned Sophia
Gardens.
It means a chance for cricket fans to see the world's best
players in action, but also provides an opportunity for both
Cricket Wales and Glamorgan - Wales' only fully professional,
first-class county side - to get more people active and enjoying
sport.

A trophy tour has already passed through Wales, but there's a
chance for everyone in Wales - young and old - to lend a hand,
literally, on May 31, the eve of the first Cardiff game between New
Zealand and Sri Lanka.
Dubbed "The Ultimate Delivery" there will be a relay of catchers
- a kind of chain gang of fielders - stretching across Cardiff.
They will be throwing the official match ball along the human link,
around the city and into Sophia Gardens stadium itself.
Mark Frost, community and development manager at Cricket Wales,
says: "The ambition is to have thousands and thousands of people
involved and to get people enthused and excited about cricket.
"The match ball is coming down early on the train on the Friday
into Cardiff Central. The idea is then to form a catch relay.
"A line is going to be formed going through the city to the
river. The ball will go on to a boat to Cardiff Bay, through the
middle of the Urdd Eisteddfod and then onto a rickshaw, back into
town and along the arcades, up to Cardiff Castle, off the turrets,
through the park, where Glamorgan players will throw it across the
Taff - hopefully, without dropping it - then around the back of
Sport Wales and into the ground where the teams will be training
for the following day."
Anyone who fancies giving this a fling, can get involved via
this link:
https://www.universe.com/events/the-ultimate-delivery-y-tafliad-mawr-tickets-cardiff-KJ7P09
There's already been plenty of interest in the Cricket World Cup
generated by the trophy tour which spent five days in Wales and was
carried to all corners.
It began on May 5, when the trophy glistened in the sunlight on
the lawns of the Sport Wales building, nextdoor to Sophia Gardens,
where England were taking on Pakistan in a T20 international.
Around 3,000 fans strolled up to have their picture taken
alongside it, before the trophy was whisked off to Abercynon on the
Monday and the All Stars Centre. For those not in the know, All
Stars cricket is the UK-wide programme aimed at getting five to
eight-year-olds smitten with cricket from their very first
bash.
The trophy then went to Caerphilly Castle, Rest Bay at
Porthcawl, Caldicot Castle, Tredgar House, Cardiff Castle, Port
Talbot, Carmarthenshire, Pembroke and finally up to Zip World at
Bethesda where Welsh rugby legend Shane Williams and former England
cricketer Graeme Swann were, well . . . swanning about.
The efforts to use the Cricket World Cup to engage, enthuse and
excite people about cricket in Wales haven't ended there,
either.
All Stars cricket tournaments throughout the country have been
World Cup-themed, and over 100 cricket clubs in Wales signed up for
£1,000 grants aimed at improving clubhouse facilities.
"Those grants have been very positive," says Frost. "It was
geared up to making the areas more family-friendly and more
welcoming, so they could watch the Cricket World Cup this summer
after they had had a game."
A total of 500 tickets were given away to All Stars Centres for
that England-Pakistan game, and 3,000 more tickets are being given
away to schoolchildren for the World Cup tie between Afghanistan
and Sri Lanka on June 4, which just happens to be a school day.
Frost adds: "We know that will be a great experience for the
children and when we have done things like that in the past it
transforms the atmosphere in the ground. It also changes the
decibel level!
"But it will be great to see so many children enjoying the game
and the excitement of cricket as well as the excitement of being
with other supporters."
On May 31, the day before that first tournament game in Cardiff,
as well as The Ultimate Delivery, there will be a celebration of
the tournament in Pontcanna Fields, just behind Sophia Gardens
stadium.
The big question is, can all these events - as well as the
Cricket World Cup itself - inspire Welsh youngsters, boys and
girls, to pick up a bat and ball and in what number?
From previous varied events such as the Ryder Cup golf coming to
Wales in 2010, through to the 2012 London Olympics as well as the
2017 Champions League football final in Cardiff, the whole notion
of impact and lasting legacy can be difficult to quantify.
Were more budding Welsh golfers inspired by Jamie Donaldson,
Rory McIlroy and Co. eight years ago? Are there more Welsh girls
vowed into action by Jessica Ennis? Has Gareth Bale's Real Madrid
visit two years ago made any difference? It can be hard to
know.
The question is doubly important for cricket as the sport is
going through so many seismic changes, which Welsh cricket and
Glamorgan have to grapple with.
With the new tournament, The Hundred, on the horizon, including
a Cardiff-based franchise, Frost insists the current indications of
impact trickling down to youngsters and the grass roots is
encouraging.
"We measure the impact by looking at the numbers of children
involved in club cricket. The All Stars programme, for five, six
and seven year-olds, started in 2017.
"That year we had 2,200 kids sign up in Wales. Last year, we had
3,500 sign up. By the end of July this year, we will have more than
that.
"And one of the really encouraging points is that because we are
aiming to make it gender neutral, we have had a 23 per cent take up
from girls which is significant.
"Commercially, Glamorgan need to become debt-free and
sustainable and that means attracting new audiences.
"We all hope that England are successful in the World Cup and we
can continue the momentum into the T20 this season.
"And, we also need to try and get a young Welsh cricketer into
that England team, which we haven't had for a while."
It all adds up to a vibrant summer for a sport aiming to
maintain its status as a true big hitter.