In Dubai next week we will see the culmination of nine months hard work with the first 24/7 Project tournament, a cricket camp for underprivileged kids set up by my foundation.
I set up my foundation for two reasons. Firstly to raise awareness of the dreadful illness ocular melanoma which two years ago claimed the life of my friend, Jon Cole-Edwardes, at the age of just 33.
He was a super fit lad training for an Iron Man triathlon but was cut down by this disease. I said goodbye to him 12 hours before he died and if ocular melanoma can take a fit, healthy young man like Jon then it can hit anyone. Two little kids are growing up without a Dad because of this awful illness.
Luckily I am in a position where I can raise money and awareness of this rare disease which does not have a lot of support. We are not going to find a cure for it over the next couple of years but at least through raising some money we can fund some research that could save people in the future. That is our goal.
The second aspect of the foundation is to help underprivileged kids from impoverished areas around the world play cricket.
For years I travelled the world playing against young net bowlers and all I thought about was my own preparation. I never gave those guys the time they deserved. I hope to make up for that through the 24/7 Project.
It is starting with a week-long event in Dubai with seven teams of kids from around the world invited for a week of state-of-the-art training, culminating in a World Cup-style T20 tournament with the final played in front of 10,000 people at the international cricket ground in Sharjah. The best player will receive a scholarship to support their development going forward and the ultimate dream is one day to have a young international cricketer who came through our scheme.
This year we have teams from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kenya, an Australian Aboriginal side and one from the UAE.
Next year we hope to grow it further and have a similar tournament covering the UK and one in South Africa too.
There are 12 kids from each country in Dubai next week along with chaperones and two coaches per side. They are aged between 16-18 and have been selected by charities we have connected with and their local cricket boards. We have funded everything and they will get a taste of life as an international cricketer.
They will have fitness training alongside cricket coaching and also a leadership course that will enable the kids to go home and coach others in the skills they have learned. On the final day we will hold the T20 World Cup competition sponsored by Sprite, who have come on board and supported this initiative, combining our final with their own cricket day which promises to attract around 10,000 fans to the Abu Dhabi stadium, more than what watched the England-Pakistan Test series.
The guys will all receive coaching from former professional cricketers led by my old Nottinghamshire team-mate Richard Logan, who runs my academy.
The two nations not taking part are South Africa and England because I want to tailor specific projects to those countries using my local contacts and knowledge.
I will sit down with my board and go through the vision I have for a franchise system in the United Kingdom. At the moment you have to go to a wealthy public school or be very lucky and have a cricket mad teacher at a state school to get a proper chance to play the game. Let’s try and change that.
We will identify the areas where I think there should be a franchise team and hold a 24/7 Project based around franchise cricket. Perhaps it will help the ECB wake up to it and think franchise cricket is not such a bad idea.
I don’t have the deepest theories in terms of teaching bowling or batting. Keep things simple is the way we are going to go. Head position is crucial when striking the ball. The head leads the rest of body. It is that simple. In terms of bowling, just concentrate as a kid on bowling as fast as you can or spin the ball as much as possible. We will let natural talent flourish and not overburden players with theory.
It will be more about the experience of the week rather than me saying you have to bat this way or that. It is going to be amazing.
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