Former England cricket ace Monty Panesar surprised players by stopping by at a Wandsworth cricket club.
The Ashes winner joined the SinjunGrammarians Cricket Club for a few games of cricket, offering tips for players and holding a Q&A session to promote Sportside – a new app connecting people with local sports clubs.
Panesar praised the app for helping people find their local sports clubs and engaging with them, calling it “a wonderful initiative.”
Vice-chairman of the SinjunGrammarians Cricket Club Harpal Singh welcomed Panesar’s engagement with the cricket team.
He said: “Even simply coming in and telling these girls, the under 13s Surrey Captain, how to spin properly was amazing – totally amazing.”
The SinjunGrammarians Cricket Club has been a sports ground for 150 years, albeit under different names and ownership.
It now hosts several cricket teams playing both at championship and junior levels.
The teams at the cricket club are members of the diverse community around Tooting, Surrey, and Wandsworth.
1st XI Team Captain Abu Bakr Malik said: “We have so many communities, different communities, everyone coming and playing together, merging together.
The Sportside app hopes to connect more people with their local sports clubs, teams and events in the hope of driving communities to get to playing more sports.
It aims to benefit both people and local clubs, allowing people to find out where local clubs are located and what is offered in areas where they live.
To help raise awareness of Sportside, this event was the first in a series of monthly events at sports clubs across different London Boroughs.
The app provides a social-media like profile page for people to build a profile with their interests, making it easier for clubs and prospective members to engage based on their mutual interests in sports.
CEO of Sportside Jeremy Bourke said: “If we can introduce our app to clubs and to members, clubs should be able to get more members, and members should be able to get more clubs.”
Featured Image: Sportside
