ICC East Asia-Pacific Needs Your Cricket Equipment

The Pepsi International Cricket Council (ICC) East Asia - Pacific (EAP) Development Programme have partnered with Australian based charity Cricket4Kids to collect equipment from all around Melbourne to be distributed to communities and villages throughout the East Asia - Pacific region.

The East Asia - Pacific region has a long and proud history of cricket, and is represented by ICC Associate Members Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Japan and Vanuatu and ICC Affiliate Members Indonesia, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Philippines and South Korea. With over 100,000 participants throughout the region eager to learn the skills of cricket, providing quality equipment has never been so important.

Cricket4Kids will be overseeing the collection of all donated cricket equipment, in particular junior or senior cricket bats, pads, gloves, wicket keeping gear, stumps, plastic cricket bats, tennis balls, training aids, mats and all kinds of Cricket balls, from Cricket Clubs around Melbourne before liaising directly with the ICC EAP Office to distribute the equipment directly to Member Countries.

Papua New Guinea National Coaching Director and former Australian Test and ODI legend Andy Bichel outlines the importance of developing countries like PNG receiving quality equipment:

'Constantly I am amazed at the skills of and enthusiasm on display from boys and girls who have so little to work with', he said. 'I see 30 year old bats held together with packing or insulation tape in the hands of Elite cricketers striving for National selection and I see kids using anything from tree branches to carved wood to emulate their heroes on TV'.

'The ICC EAP equipment drive in conjunction with grassroots cricketers and clubs genuinely makes a massive difference around Asia Pacific. By donating equipment, you can know that the goods do get to their intended users and the smile that it puts on someone's face makes the donation worthwhile', remarked Bichel.

'Please if you have a spare piece of equipment or at a club have a set of mats or some training gear please donate so that the young players of tomorrow have some hope for their future'.

"In PNG we have a participation target of 100,000 boys, girls and adults by Dec 2011 alone, and by my estimation have enough cricket equipment in the country for about 10,000", said Bichel.

Equipment can be donated outside gates 1 and 2 of the MCG during the first 4 days of the Boxing Day test between 9:00am and 11:30am.

If you would like to donate but cannot make it to the MCG, please contact Luke Serong at luke@cricket4kids.org and a pick-up will be organised at a time convenient to you. Alternatively donations can be dropped at any Sportsmart store across Melbourne where you will also receive a 20% discount off new replacement cricket equipment in exchange for your donation. Please find below a voucher to be downloaded for Sportsmart stores to be presented with your equipment.

If you require further information please contact:

Adam Cassidy
International Cricket Council
East Asia - Pacific
Ph: + 61 3 9653 9925
Mob: + 61 424 081 523
Fax: +61 3 9653 8889
adam.cassidy@cricket.com.au

Click hereto download Cricket Donation Drive Voucher