SOS children chosen as match mascots for England Cricket team
19/02/2006
The England Cricket team have supported the SOS Kashmir Appeal with a donation and a visit to the Multan village, which is on standby for Earthquake orphans.
Taking time out from their current tour of Pakistan, Andrew Flintoff, Shaun Udal, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Liam Plunkett and Matt Prior from the England Cricket team showed off their batting and bowling skills to the children of SOS Children’s Villages Multan.
The players brought with them a variety of Kwik Cricket bats, balls and stumps for the children and also donated a bat signed by the touring squad which will be auctioned to raise funds for the village. The players joined the children for a game of cricket on the village cricket ground before a presentation was made to Mr Soper, Deputy Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), on behalf of the ECB. The children from the village also entertained the guests with a tableau.
The visit had been arranged by Mr Michael Soper who said, “The England team have shown that they are here to play entertaining cricket but also to help raise the profile of worthwhile causes in Pakistan.”
The England team is no stranger to SOS Children, having previously visited an SOS Village in India on their 2002 tour. The then captain Nasser Hussain took the squad to the village in Kolkata.
A spokesman for the SOS Children’s Village, Farhar Khan, said: "The England team have been extremely generous and the children have enjoyed the opportunity to meet such well known players. The Indian squad came to the village last year and the visit by the England players helps us in our fund raising activities.”
Vodafone, the telecommunication company that has sponsored the England team for the last ten years, rounded off the visit by selecting one of the boys from the village to be their official mascot, wear their cap and walk on to the field with the two captains for the toss in the first test against Pakistan (12-16 November). He, along with two other SOS boys will watch the match from the players’ pavilion and meet the teams in the dressing rooms.
Relevant Countries: Pakistan.