EVESHAM Cricket Club is following up a successful programme of introduction to cricket for girls in the four Middle and two High Schools in the town by offering a weekly programme at their Avon Street home.

There will be a two-hour session starting at 4pm next Tuesday after which there will be sessions every Friday from 6.15pm starting on June 10.

The sessions will be conducted by ECB-qualified and CRB-cleared cricket coaches led by Australian Mark Penter.

For further information contact Mark on 07876 785112 or Matt Jackson on 07976 051191.

The Worcestershire Cricket Board, meanwhile, will officially launch its new Comm-unity Coaching Programme on at New Road prior to next Wednesday's Frizzell County Championship game against Durham.

The initiative will allow the introduction of three new development coaches who will liaise with schools in the county to promote the sport at grassroots level helped by generous support from Apollo 2000.

Sportsmatch, a government scheme that encourages links between business and sport, is also helping to fund the project.

David Morgan, chairman of the ECB will speak on the day about his whole-hearted support for the cause. He says, "Apollo 2000, Sportsmatch and the Worcestershire Cricket Board are to be congratulated on coming together with this exciting and much needed scheme."

Cricket development officer, Stuart Lampitt, hopes that through the scheme, a future generation of county cricketers can be nurtured from an earlier stage in their game.