Ahead of the start of the 2002 season every school in the South West of England will be receiving an invitation from Somerset Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding to bring along a party of their pupils to spend a day at the County Ground.

This is all part of an initiative by the county to raise the profile of the cricket right across the whole region and to encourage young people to take an interest in playing cricket and also in following the fortunes of Somerset County Cricket Club.

The Cricket Development Officer told me: "We will invite a party of children from every school in the south west to come along and spend a day as our guests. This will involve a tour of the County Ground, a visit to the Somerset Cricket Museum, a visit to Millichamp and Hall the batmakers, with the rest of the day being spent watching county championship cricket."

Mr Moulding continued: "The offer to watch a days county championship cricket is also available to schools in the north east of the county who might prefer to go to Bath in June."

Any schools who are interested in bringing along a group of their pupils for the day should contact Guy Wolfenden at the Centre of Excellence on 01823 352266 as soon as possible.

Meanwhile work on the new reception area at the Centre of Excellence is at an advanced stage, and will be finished over the next few days, with the new facility being fully operational by the end of next week.

© SOMERSET