Glow in the Dark cricket is a new vibrant fast-paced version of cricket. It includes all players simultaneously in a high energy game played in the dark using UV reactive equipment and clothing to create an exciting ‘glow in the dark’ effect. This brand of cricket is a great example of how cricket can be adapted to suit its participants. Let’s visit our recent WCB ‘Glow in the Dark’ Schools’ cricket festival to meet the secondary school girls participating and the WCB team delivering the fun.
Mid December and the shortest day is approaching. Could there be a more appropriate season for a Glow in the Dark cricket festival? Banish any thoughts of the gentle snap of twigs echoing around a frosty park at dusk. The scene today is Starbank Academy sports hall in Birmingham and 60 teenage girls are brimming with excitement and energy, playing street cricket in the dark. There’s enough fluorescent light here to rival Star City, noise levels they can probably hear over in Shropshire, and enough energy being produced to power a medium sized factory for a week.
Mina Zahoor, WCB Community Participation Officer, and her team of coaches are experts in delivering Glow in the Dark cricket festivals. The team today includes WCB Women & Girls’ Officer Gabby Basketter and many of the WCB Community Coaching team. They bring all the equipment required to make the festival a real visual and musical experience: it’s an impressive operation. Mina says, “It’s great to see the girls enjoying themselves. Most of them don’t get an opportunity to play cricket outside of school so this is their chance to play cricket competitively, after being highly committed to attending the after-school sessions over the last few weeks. You can see how much it means to the girls to take part in an event like this with other schools after all the hard work the players, teachers and coaches have put in. Everyone here loves this brand of cricket.”
Four schools are participating in the tournament and each school has been given bibs, sweatbands and face paint in a different fluorescent colour – hosts Starbank School in green, Tile Cross Academy in orange, Hillcrest School in yellow and Bordesley Green Girls’ School in pink. Each school has received coaching for 10 weeks in an after-school club already this term, practising this particular version of street cricket with the lights on. Now they’ve come together to compete – and Mina’s turned the lights off!
As well as the kit the girls are wearing, the stumps, bats and balls are all taped up to glow in the dark. The visual effect is incredible. The darkness is filled with a mass of fluorescent light – darting, running, jumping, leaping, throwing, constantly on the move, almost a neon blur. The game is fast paced because all the players rotate in turn to face the next ball. The accompanying noise is simply deafening – screams of encouragement for team-mates, shrieks of excitement as balls are hit or catches taken, chants of approval for skills demonstrated – all rising above the high energy music playing on the sound system. There is no doubt each participant is throwing heart and soul into their cricket, and they all want to win.
The lights come on and the music stops during the lunch break. Suddenly you appreciate that all the brightly moving bibs have people in them. The girls are all chatting excitedly about the morning’s matches and expectations around the finals after lunch. It’s the perfect opportunity to speak to some of the participants and their teachers, and to hear what they have to say about the experience.
Miss Reeves, one of the teachers from Hillcrest School says, “The girls are loving the festival today. For most of them this is the first competitive event they have attended. As a school, this is the first competition we have been able to participate in since the pandemic. The WCB have been brilliant helping with the logistics to get us here. These girls have turned up religiously for the after-school sessions this term at school. Most of them don’t play in other teams and this is something different that they really enjoy doing. It’s a new experience for many of them to play competitive sport against another school. The atmosphere here is different from other sports tournaments. It’s competitive, but friendly, and the glow in the dark aspect brings a whole new element for the girls. The students love Mina, they absolutely adore her, and she is a good role model for them.”
Bakhtezaibaah is in Year 11 at Hillcrest School, and she is enjoying the teamwork and cooperation the festival brings. “We are truly learning to work with each other. The glow in the dark part means we have to find a different way of working together strategically in the game. We are loving the opportunity to have fun in the dark and also listening to great music. The music really brings it all to life.”
Mrs Bowden, teacher at Tile Cross Academy, agrees that the festival offers the girls something a bit different. “It’s amazing for the girls to have a specific girls’ tournament. One of our girls plays county cricket but the rest play solely at school in the after-school club. Nevertheless, they are all competitive. They all get stuck in and have a go. The girls didn’t know what to expect today until they got here and the lights went out. It has all been very exciting. The girls even told me I had to wear the orange face paint too!”
Rianne is in Year 8 at Tile Cross Academy. “I didn’t know what to expect and I think I came today expecting something different. I’ve enjoyed it. I have liked my first experience of playing cricket in a competition. I have enjoyed the competitive side of it and the fact that we won our first three matches.”
Mr Waqas Khan has organised the festival at Starbank School and is Head of Year there. “It’s great we have been able to host the festival here today. For a lot of the girls this is the first time they have played competitive sport and experienced that feeling of playing in a team. Today’s festival will increase their self-esteem and self-confidence. As well as being positive for their mental health, the festival sends a strong message that girls can play cricket.”
Haleema is in Year 10 at Starbank School. “I love the idea of glow in the dark cricket. I love the jerseys; I love everything about it. This is my first time playing but I have almost lost my voice from screaming to support my teammates. It has been competitive, but I also love the idea of getting all the girls together, doing this for fun and being able to say we did our best. It is getting girls into sport but in a fun and creative way.”
The lunch break is over and it’s time for the hotly contested final between Bordesley Green Girls’ School and Hillcrest School on one side of the sports hall, while Starbank School and Tile Cross Academy battle it out in the 3rd/4th play off on the other side. Teams have to decide their tactics – go big but take up valuable time or keep the ball close and run them up quickly. It’s tense and frenetic but Bordesley Green Girls manage to secure victory by six runs thanks to some great fielding followed by powerful hitting. The celebrations leave no one in any doubt how much this festival means to the girls.
WCB Community Coach Raja Shahzeb explains more. “All the girls here have been hoping to win today. They have all been working towards this competition and have learnt to compete together as a team. I have coached these schools and some of the other schools where we run after school clubs. You can see the girls enjoying the sessions more and more as the weeks go on. They become close and start working as a team, communicating well with each other, really developing their life skills.”
Fellow WCB coach Lauren Rowles has also been impressed by what she has seen today. “It’s been a wonderful day. It’s been exciting and lots of fun for everyone. I have done quite a bit of work with the Central Sparks this year and it’s a refreshing change to be here today where the focus is on fun and participation.”
Mr Gaetano Ferrante, Head Teacher at Starbank School, sums up the day as he bids the participants farewell when the trophies have been presented. “I have seen your enjoyment today and how happy you have all been to be here. You can all be proud of yourselves and have been great ambassadors today for your schools, your parents and yourselves.”
That enjoyment and pride has shone all day. Everyone at some point has mentioned the words ‘fun’ and ‘something different’. That’s certainly the impression one is left with at the end of the tournament – these girls have had a lot of fun! Today’s glow in the dark cricket festival has been quite symbolic in many ways, enabling the energy and positivity of the girls to shine through after the challenges they have all faced in the pandemic. They have emerged and they have truly glowed with passion for this exciting brand of cricket.