Last week, South Asian Heritage Month began and will run through until 18th August.
Middlesex Cricket is extremely proud of the work it is doing in its local communities, stretching right across the 17 metropolitan boroughs it represents – connecting with south Asians right across north London.
Engaging with the many diverse communities that make up the population of Middlesex is at the forefront of all the work we do across our communities, and since 2024 began, Middlesex Cricket, led by its new charitable foundation, Middlesex in The Community (MiTC) has hosted or played a part in a number of hugely successful events that have made a positive impact within a number of the south Asian communities we represent.
The year began with the Club running an all-women coaching course at William Perkin School in Greenford. The 10 participants were all of Indian heritage, which was excellent to see as we continue striving to make cricket a game for all (read more here).
February saw MiTC deliver a ground-breaking coaching course at the Swaminarayan Temple in Kingsbury. The Temple serves the local Hindu community and there were 11 participants on the course, coming from local cricket clubs – SKLPC Cricket Club and Swamibapa Cricket Club (view here).
In March the Club shone a light on the hugely successful programme MiTC have been running for refugee asylum seekers out of our Indoor School facility in Finchley, which has played an enormous part in helping many young south Asian cricket lovers build a sense of belonging and friendship through playing the game they love (view video below).
In April, MiTC – alongside Capital Kids Cricket – MiTC held the inaugural Ramadan Cup in Tower Hamlets. 40 players from several faiths came together to play, pray, socialise and break the fast together, with London Eagles defeating Bengal Gladiators in the final of the event at Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy (watch video below).
May saw MiTC support the ECB in delivering the Inter-Madrassah cricket tournament in West London. Children between the ages of eight and 11 were invited to enter teams with the hope of their side reaching the national finals at Lord’s (read here).
Last month, Southall was the venue for MiTC’s Cricket Dhamaka which saw us engage with so many people as they got to enjoy cricket, food and entertainment from legendary dholl drummer, Jaggi Dholi (see video below).
Earlier this month, MiTC held a showcase at Hounslow Jamia Masjid – a place where relations continue to go from strength-to-strength. The Club has held a number of events at the venue over the past couple of years, harnessing positive connections with cricket and presenting the game to communities who perhaps wouldn’t have felt any association to Middlesex in the past (read more here).
Middlesex Cricket and Middlesex in The Community are committed to their work in engaging with south Asian communities and we look forward to continuing the hard work through the remainder of 2024 and beyond.
