More children than ever before are set to benefit from the national children’s cricket programmes – All Stars and Dynamos – at five cricket clubs in the Rochdale borough, thanks to funding from the Lancashire Cricket Foundation.

The Lancashire Cricket Foundation will provide a record number of bursaries this year, making cricket accessible for more than 1,400 children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Bursary places enables clubs, such as Heywood, Littleborough, Milnrow, Norden and Thornham, to provide free access to children in deprived areas and diverse communities, as well as special focus on girls participating in the sport.

All Stars Cricket provides a first experience for all children aged 5-8 years old where they’re guaranteed eight weeks of activity and skills development across each hour-long session. The programme is designed to introduce children to the sport, teaching them new skills, and helping them make new friends. All Stars is provided by Heywood, Littleborough, Milnrow, Norden and Thornham cricket clubs.

Dynamos Cricket offers a next step for all those graduating from All Stars Cricket and the perfect introduction for all 8–11-year-olds new to the sport. Dynamos is all about fun and provides children with a more social offer, focusing on developing the fundamental skills required to play cricket. The Dynamos programme is available at Heywood (girls only), Milnrow and Norden.

Both All Stars and Dynamos Cricket are fully inclusive and designed to support a wide range of abilities, disabilities, and different learning needs. For children who do not meet the Bursary criteria, the All Star Cricket programme costs £30 for eight hour-long sessions, while the Dynamos programme is priced at £40 for the same duration of tuition.

In addition to the coaching received, every child who registers receives their very own t-shirt, personalised with their name and number, plus a range of other benefits including priority access to Lancashire Cricket tickets and the chance to meet players, merchandise discounts, and the chance to win money can’t buy prizes.

England and Thunder cricketer, and Lancashire Cricket Foundation Board member, Kate Cross, who learnt to play at Heywood Cricket Club, said: “All Stars and Dynamos are brilliant ways to introduce children to the game of cricket and I’m extremely proud that my county is able to offer such a high proportion of places via our foundation-led bursary programme.

“Grassroots participation is so important to the future of the game and these programmes deliver so many benefits for young people: helping them stay active, make new friends, learn new skills, and, most importantly, have loads of fun.

“In the club’s 160th year, the Red Rose has never been more active in supporting the growth of cricket across the North-West and championing the work that is undertaken to make cricket more accessible, inclusive, and enjoyable for everyone.”

Now in their sixth year, the All Stars and Dynamos courses were introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board to introduce more children to the sport.

The programmes have proved incredibly popular in Lancashire, where the Red Rose’s Community Foundation works with delivery partners at more than 200 clubs and centres county-wide to facilitate courses, with more than 20,000 children taking part since they were introduced.

In 2023, over 5,600 children attended All Stars and Dynamos programmes across Lancashire with almost 1,200 young people from disadvantaged areas receiving bursaries.

Parents can register their children for All Stars and Dynamos Cricket courses at ecb.clubspark.uk.

For more information on sessions at Heywood, Littleborough, Milnrow, Norden and Thornham cricket clubs, please visit: