Cricket legends to coach schoolchildren at The Park Club

Opportunity to meet some of the sport's all time great at charity event

Twenty children from local primary schools are being given the opportunity for a coaching session with cricketing legends past and present at Operation Smile’s 3rd annual Celebrity Charity Cricket Day on Friday July 7th at The Park Club.

The ‘who’s who’ of cricket will be out in force, giving their time to compete in a 6-a-side ‘pro-am’ tournament and passing on their combined knowledge to local schoolchildren in an afternoon coaching session - raising funds for Operation Smile, a charity that performs free reconstructive surgery on children with facial deformities in the developing world.

Current England star Andrew Strauss will be showing past England Captains Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton just how his team won the Ashes, and Channel 4’s ‘The Analyst’ Simon Hughes will be there along with past cricket greats; Angus Fraser and Derek Pringle. These legends will be joined by a host of international stars from the world famous Lashings World XII Squad including Richie Richardson, Clare Conner, Aravinda De Silva, Brendon McCullum and Chris Harris!

The rest of the day’s activities include a BBQ, steel band and fairground attractions for the children.

Andrew Strauss said “It’s a really special event – not only is it great fun for us and for the kids, but knowing that we can do something to positively impact the lives of so many children is amazing. Last year we raised £90,000 – that literally changed the lives of hundreds of children. We get so many requests to give of our time and support, this is one event that I hope to continue to be involved with for years to come.”

Dr. Bill Magee, Co-Founder of the global organisation Operation Smile added “We can’t thank the cricketers enough. With their continued support, this year’s event is going to be bigger and better – with over 300 for dinner, and 2000 people expected on the day. The thousands of children that we treat each year are helped not only by our volunteer medical professionals, who give so willingly of their time, but also by those committed individuals who use their platform to raise awareness for our work.”

Throughout the world, Operation Smile volunteers repair childhood facial deformities while building public and private partnerships that advocate for sustainable healthcare systems for children and families. Together, we create smiles, change lives and heal humanity. Working simultaneously to provide education and training to medical professionals to build local capacity, Operation Smile U.K. is part of a global alliance of Operation Smile organisations serving children in 25 developing countries in Asia, Central and South America, Africa and the Middle East. Since 1982 Operation Smile had treated over 95,000 children and young adults suffering from facial deformities. (www.operationsmile.org.uk)

June 27, 2006