On Sunday, Middlesex Cricket’s participation team visited the SKLP Community Mela at India Gardens in Northolt as part of ongoing community engagement work.
The SKLP (Shree Kutch Leva Patel) Community Mela – which was attended by around 10,000 people – was an opportunity to inspire the community, in particular women and girls, through fun drills and skills activities.
Layla Judge, Riva Pindoria and Sonali Patel from Middlesex’s womens team also attended the event.
SKLPC Cricket Club currently has four Saturday teams that compete in the Middlesex County Cricket League (MCCL), a Sunday friendly side, a Middlesex Delevelopment League (MDL) side and three youth teams at Under 10, Under 13 and Under 15 level.
The SKLP community is very passionate about giving equal opportunities to women and girls to play cricket therefore are very keen on setting up a Women’s and Girls section at their community cricket club.
At present, the SKLP community centre is undergoing a £19million redevelopment so that it can meet requirements for for sport, recreation and community events.
Commenting on the successful event, Middlesex Cricket Participation Manager, Mash Mehter said: “Our presence at an event with a footfall like we had at the SKLP Mela presents us with a great platform to engage with the community and introduce children, teenagers, mums, dads, aunties, uncles etc to cricket in an environment that the community are comfortable in.
“It was as equally important for us was to use the Mela as a catalyst to support SKLP CC to recruit players for their new women’s and girls’ section which they aspire to set up for 2024 season. And what better way than to have role models like Layla, Riva and Sonali running some of the fun-packed cricket activation drills to inspire the new generations of players.
“Our thanks go to all at the SKLP Community for allowing us to join you and allowing us to deliver cricket session at your mela.
“It’s been a real pleasure working with SKLPCC since they became one of our Core City Delivery Hubs and we look forward to many more successful cricket sessions with them and members of their community in the years to come.”
