Looking forward to the Pride in Cricket festival

Inclusive softball event will take place on Sunday 17th August

Next Sunday (17th August) Mersey Rose Recreationals will take part in a softball festival at Whitefield. This is, however, no ordinary softball festival!

At the beginning of the season, our club planned to host a pro-disability softball festival as we did in 2024. We were supported in this by our friends at Whitefield CC and by the Googly Fund. However, when the initial cancellation of Pride in Liverpool was announced both Mersey Rose and Whitefield saw the opportunity to create a Pride-focused inclusive event. This would remain pro-disability but would also be celebrating Pride and inclusion more widely. This follows on from a T20 event in 2024 when Whitefield hosted Mersey Rose as part of the inaugural Knowsley Pride. While our charity partner, Sahir, stepped in and rescued Liverpool's main Pride event (and a fantastic job they did too) we still feel it's important as a cricketing community to make a stand for LGBTQ+ inclusion. An event like this sends out a clear message that LGBTQ+ people and disabled people are welcome at our respective clubs. The teams taking part are: a. Mersey Rose Recreationals b. Whitefield c. Widnes / Whitefield women d. Lord Rockingham's XI (a team made up of some Mersey Rose players and some members of a local disability support group). The teams will play each other once in a series of short games - 8 overs per side. The format will be pairs, with each pair batting for two overs. We're hoping for some bish-bash-bosh! The first game will start at 12.00 and the event is expected to run until around 7pm. Some players will only play for part of the day, and it was important for us to create an event that would work around others' commitments. The event not a tournament and the emphasis is on inclusion and participation rather than competitiveness. That said, Whitefield's team is very strong and even includes the club professional... Individuals who would like to take part would be welcome to play as members of the Lord Rockingham's XI team - please get in touch with Andi at merseyroserecs@gmail.com. Anyone is welcome to some and watch what promises to be a day of fun, social softball cricket.