Wales heading to the Over-60s World Cup
WALES Over-60s cricket team will be taking part in the inaugural Over-60s World Cup later in the year in Australia – and they will be the only country from the British Isles to do so.
A squad of 17 players plus a similar number of supporters and family members will be heading to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland for September’s global event, with Wales one of 12 nations taking part in the 45-over competition.
The other countries there will be Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Canada, USA, Sri Lanka and a Rest of the World side, a late replacement for England, who declined to enter a team because some of the local leagues in England will still be playing when the event kicks off in early September. Wales have been invited separately by Veterans Cricket Australia to be a World Cup participant.
Captaining Wales will be allrounder Richard Harris, who plays his club cricket for Cresselly in the Pembroke County League.
“The competition was supposed to take place two years ago but was postponed because of Covid,” he says.
“The Over-50s have had a couple of World Cups already but this is the first for the Over-60s.
“We will be flying out in the last week of August to give ourselves time to get over the jet lag.
“Seniors cricket is really taking off at a rate of knots,” he adds.
“It started with just Australia and England but more and more people are taking an interest in it. Wales have an Over-70s team now, and there are all sorts of 50s and 60s games being livestreamed online.”
Wales O60s play in the England & Wales 60+ Championship in the South West section against Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire,
Somerset and Wiltshire.
The World Cup will involve Wales playing seven or eight games between September 2 and 15, first in group stages and then in the knockout section.
Among the Wales team are several players from South Wales Association clubs, including Hugh Quick of Gorseinon, Paul Kenealy, formerly of Mumbles but now playing for Baglan, Steve Jones of Ynysygerwn, Peter Doyle of Tata Steel, Mike Lloyd of Llangennech and Aamir Ikram and
Mike Hayden of Swansea.
Surprisingly, perhaps, there will be few former professionals playing in the World Cup, says Richard.
(At Over-50 level, it has recently been announced that the former Glamorgan and England batsman Matthew Maynard, who is 56, has signed up for Wales Over-50s.)
“There are not a lot of ex-pros involved at the moment,” adds Richard, “but I think that will change in the years to come as seniors cricket becomes more popular.”
The Wales Over-60s are looking for any sponsorship assistance to help with the costs of the tour, which is setting the players back about £3,000 each.
“We need coloured kit, match fees for the hire of the grounds, etc,” says Richard.
“We have done a fair bit of fundraising but we would be very grateful for any help.”
Richard can be contacted on 07912 180967.