PCA England Masters set for summer of fun and fund-raising

PCA England Masters set for summer of fun and fund-raising The PCA England Masters will start another busy summer of fun and fund-raising when they take on Manchester-based Monton & Weaste on June 16. The JW Lees Brewery Pennine League club will face a star-studded PCA England Masters side which includes 2005 Ashes winners Simon Jones and Steve Harmison and former Lancashire favourites Mal Loye, Warren Hegg, Glen Chapple – now the county’s director of cricket – and Sajid Mahmood. The PCA England Masters are no strangers to Monton’s Ellesmere Park ground in Eccles. They made their first visit in 2014 and the event proved so successful that they went back the following year. Last year The PCA England Masters, who are generously supported by Greene King IPA, played 12 matches against clubs across the country which raised more than £ 160,000 for grassroots cricket. In addition to the opportunity to raise funds, PCA England Masters fixtures help clubs and schools to forge links with their local community and businesses and to give club cricketers the rare opportunity to play against some of the England stars of the recent past. The stars entertain guests over lunch, take part in question-and-answer sessions and pass on their experience by running masterclass coaching sessions. ” Any cricketer will tell you that they miss the game when they finish playing, so the Masters has really helped me stay in touch with everything,” said former England, Glamorgan, Worcestershire and Hampshire fast bowler Jones. ” I played almost every game in 2016. The opposition always enjoy it too, getting chance to rub shoulders with ex-England players. It’s a real buzz. ” The clubs really can raise thousands from these matches, so it’s our chance to give something back to the grassroots of the game.” The Masters programme is a key element of the PCA’s commercial activity, raising crucial funds to support the work of the PCA Professional Cricketers’ Trust. The PCA Professional Cricketers’ Trust is a charity which provides help for PCA members – past and present county cricketers and their immediate family members – in their hour of need. The Professional Cricketers’ Trust, which was established in 2000, provides help with medical advice, operations, specialist care and assistance and had also funds a range of health and wellbeing initiatives. The full PCA England Masters side to face Monton & Weaste is: Owais Shah, Mal Loye, Adam Hollioake, Warren Hegg, Alex Tudor, Glen Chapple, Simon Jones, Sajid Mahmood, Ryan Sidebottom, Steve Harmison and Stephen Parry. The current PCA England Masters fixture list: The match at Cockermouth has been arranged by England all-rounder Ben Stokes to help support the club where he began his career following damage to the Cumbrian club’s ground and facilities caused by severe flooding during Storm Desmond 18 months ago. Clubs interested in hosting the PCA England Masters for a match to mark a special anniversary or as a fund-raiser should contact: pcamasters@thepca.co.uk More information about the PCA England Master can be viewed here.