CRICKET will be at the top of the batting order this year after a the county received a hefty grant.

Gloucestershire Cricket Board (GCB) has been awarded £47,000 from charity Chance to Shine which will help them bring more than 1,400 hours of the popular summer sport to schools, including coaching sessions, new competitions, leadership courses for students and teacher training.

The board currently works in 71 per cent of secondary schools in Gloucestershire but wants to increase that number to 100 per cent over the next 18 months.

“We also want to appeal to a wider cross-section of students by providing more opportunities for them to play competitively – whether that is in a traditional outdoor, hardball setting or in an indoor “street cricket” league using a taped tennis ball,” said GCB chief executive Steve Silk.

“We hope that by providing greater choice for pupils and more support for teachers, we can improve both the popularity and sustainability of cricket in our schools.”

The Chance to Shine money will support work in sixth forms and colleges. It will also be used to mentor coaches and to run the county’s first talent identification programme for people with a disability.

The GCB will implement a 12 month calendar of events to ensure that cricket is played in schools all year round.

Steve said: “A lot of pupils enjoy taking part in Kwik Cricket tournaments at primary school but unless they play outside school that is often the end of their playing opportunities.

“We want to make sure that we provide the chance for students beyond the 15 best cricketers in the school to keep playing the game. The participation leagues have proved a great way of doing this.”