Joyce donation to Trust a “no-brainer”

Former England and Ireland international Ed Joyce has labelled his recent decision to donate to the Professional Cricketers’ Trust “an absolute no-brainer”.

The Sussex hero was awarded a testimonial year in 2018 by the county he represented for eight years. Joyce and his testimonial committee elected to support the Trust, raising funds through events including exhibition matches and sit-down dinners, amongst others.

The leading cricket charity provides support to current and ex-players both reactively and proactively, with a passion to help educate members on any issue that might affect them.

“You only have to listen to testimonials from people who have benefitted from the Trust to be aware of the great work that they do,” stated Joyce.

“It’s an absolute no-brainer from me and anyone who’s played the game to try and give back to that.

“That was the reason for getting involved during my testimonial year and I think there are a lot of players out there that would feel the same way.”

Joyce admitted that he was aware of the Trust, formerly the PCA Benevolent Fund, during the early days of his career, but has been impressed with how the organisation has grown in stature throughout his playing days.

“I really felt that in the mid-2000s they started becoming a lot more prominent, visible and helpful.

“What they do these days for current and ex-players is obviously very close to any player’s heart.”

Alongside the Trust, Joyce elected to support the Sussex Cricket Foundation. “Helping communities through cricket” is the motto of the charitable arm of the Hove-based club.

“Obviously it’s a Sussex charity which is very important to me and the guys on my committee.

“They do a lot of community cricket in the local area so helping them in any way I could was a huge motivation for me.

“It was great to be able to support a charity in Sussex as well as the Professional Cricketers’ Trust on top of that. Any money that goes towards both of them is money well spent.”

In typically humble fashion, Joyce expressed his gratitude for all the support he has received over the last 18 months.

“It’s nice getting a county cap and it’s nice being recognised with the captaincy, but the icing on the cake is always getting that testimonial from the club.

“It always gives you good feelings going back to events at the club you used to play for.

“The guys who sat on the committee were unbelievable and did it for nothing other than to be good people, so that was very gratifying as well.

“All in all, I had a really great year and really enjoyed raising money for two very worthy causes.”

The trustees of the Professional Cricketers’ Trust and everyone at the Professional Cricketers’ Association would like to place on record our thanks to Ed and his testimonial committee for their recent donation.