Surrey men Gus Atkinson & Sam Curran popped in to a recent Lord’s Taverners after-school event at Garratt Park School in Wandsworth to inspire disabled children to get involved in cricket.
Super 1s gives young people with a disability aged 12-25 the chance to play regular, competitive cricket by creating community cricket hubs where young people can receive coaching.
These sessions are run conjunctively by Lord’s Taverners and Surrey Cricket Foundation, with first team professionals Atkinson & Curran invited along to Garratt Park close to The Kia Oval.
Neil Bunting, Disability Development Officer with Surrey Cricket Foundation, said: “For a lot of young people with additional needs, Super 1s is the entry level. We adapt the sessions to fit with the requirements of the people who come along.
“What we aim to do is use cricket as end in itself with the social benefits of getting back out there with some friends and also developing other skills.”
Sam Curran said: “As soon as me and Gus found out we were going to come down here, we jumped at the opportunity.
“We’ve popped in after training to see the Super 1s, these young kids with disabilities that when they were growing up might not have had the opportunities we did.”
Gus Atkinson said: “Sam and I have come down today just to play a bit of cricket with the kids. I had a lot of fun and I hope the kids did as well.”
🎥 | It’s not often you get @surreycricket & @englandcricket players coming to your session after school!@CurranSM & @gus_atkinson1 got involved with @SurreyCricketFd Super 1s at @GarrattPark, inspiring young people with disabilities playing the game 🙌🏏@B__Foundation pic.twitter.com/c7TzebOYFz
— Lord’s Taverners (@LordsTaverners) March 14, 2022
Surrey Cricket Foundation & Lord’s Taverners deliver the national disability cricket programme in nine locations in Surrey & South London every week. To find out more about these sessions, click here.
