Following the enormous success of the Cricket match for children on Sunday 9th May at the Cartama Cricket Oval, where participants from Sotogrande, Aloha, Calpe & Swan Schools played hard-ball Cricket for the first time against one another, it has been decided at the AGM of the Malaga Cricket Association to hold a Kwik Cricket Tournament at the Cartama Oval on Saturday 19th June.

This will be the first Kwik Cricket Tournament ever held on the Costa del Sol but will hopefully be the first of many. The Committee of the MCA have decided to make a concerted effort to encourage children on the Costa del Sol to take part in the great game of Cricket. In the UK, more than 50% of the schools now play Kwik Cricket, which is a simplified version of the senior game. It is played with plastic bats & balls and can be played by boys & girls of any age. Another advantage of Kwik Cricket is that it can be played in a very small area such as a tennis court or playground. The MCA will be contacting as many of the schools on the Costa del Sol, both International & Spanish explaining the game with a short video which shows children playing the game at Lord's Cricket Ground in London. The video has now been dubbed into Spanish which is a great help in persuading the Spanish schools to add Kwik Cricket to their curriculum.

The Kwik Cricket Tournament on the 19th June will consist of two groups, under 10's & under 14's, & two games will be in play at the same time, each on a half of the ground at the Cartama Oval. The Copeland Insurance Group, the Official Spanish Cricket Association sponsor for the development of youth Cricket in Spain, have kindly offered to supply each participant with a Kwik Cricket T-Shirt & Cap.

Another member of the MCA & Combined Colleges CC., Mike Turl, has also offered to supply all the Trophies & medals for the competitors, to the tune that every child will have a medal for competing & there will be Trophies for the winner & runner-up of each group & for the best batter, bowler & fielder in each group. The Spanish Cricket Association have also donated two Kwik Cricket Sets that will be given to the best new Cricket ambassador-teams taking part in the Tournament. There will be a BBQ lunch supplied to all the participating children & each child will only have to pay 1000 pesetas to enter the event.

Schools, Pubs, Clubs, Parents & other Organisations wishing to put forward a team in this Tournament, should contact the MCA President, Tony Reddin, on 95 2885759 or 608 45 3388. If you wish, you can contact him via E-Mail:. It is hoped that in September, the Malaga Cricket Association will be organizing a similar weekend Tournament but this will be a Charity event to raise money for troubled Kosovo. More details of this will follow. If there are any companies or organizations wishing to assist with sponsorship for either of the above events, would they please contact Tony Reddin on the above numbers and any donations or prizes would be gratefully accepted.