The Sport Relief Kwik Cricket Tournament 2002 and a Pay to Play cricket weekend are among the exciting events being organised by ECB in support of Sport Relief.

A joint Comic Relief and BBC concept, Sport Relief is aimed at uniting the world of sport to raise money for vulnerable children and young people, both in the UK and across the world.

The campaign will culminate in a entertaining night on Saturday 13 July on BBC1 featuring sport, celebrities, entertainment, and fundraising - hosted by BBC cricket presenter Jamie Theakston alongside Gary Lineker, Ulrika Jonsson and Clare Balding.

Alongside the Football Association, the Lawn Tennis Association, the Rugby Football Union and other sports bodies, the ECB hope to raise considerable funds for the Sport Relief pot.

One of the big ideas across several sports is Pay to Play, with sports men and women at every level being encouraged to pay to play their own sport.

Cricketers all over the country - from England captains Nasser Hussain and Clare Connor and the rest of national squads to local village players - will be asked to 'pay to play' the game on a nominated weekend during the summer. This is looking like being the weekend of 15/16 June, but has still to be confirmed.

As a grassroots initiative the involvement of children is key to the campaign, and the Sport Relief Kwik Cricket Tournament 2002 will provide the younger cricketers with their chance to drive the funds total in the right direction.

Fundraising takes place during the second round of the competition when the Kwik Cricketers taking part can be sponsored for every run their team scores. As an extra incentive, the winning team will earn a 30-minute coaching session with England coach Duncan Fletcher as well as skipper Hussain.

The involvement of the game's top stars doesn't end there, as members of both the England men's and women's teams will be taking part in a Celebrity Cricket Challenge in the studio on 13 July.

Other events with cricket involvement include the Sport Relief Memorabilia Auction, and the Sport Relief Competition - which offers the winner the chance to attend every major sporting event in Britain and selected events around the world in 2003.

Sport Relief is encouraging the public to get active in a variety of ways ranging from the very simple to the highly physical. This could be as simple as walking to work to snowboarding. The campaign is not only targeted at sport enthusiasts but also people in offices, who could organise their own sports days, stage an office Olympics or simply 'pay to play' to do anything active.

All schools will be mailed with a Sport Relief schools pack and video, supported by Sport England, that will show how schools can fundraise, for example by adding a fundraising dimension to their existing sports days.

Children and young people around the world will benefit from every penny raised through Sport Relief. Half of it will stay here in the UK, and the other half will reach the most vulnerable children and young people in some of the poorest countries in the world. The Government's Commonwealth Education Fund, launched in Jubilee Year, will match the international efforts of Sport Relief to improve educational opportunities in the Commonwealth.

© ECB