By Abi Curran

Rising all-rounder talent Jacob Bethell hopes investment in community cricket will help create stars of the future across England and Wales.

The 20-year-old has been part of Warwickshire’s county cricket set-up since the age of 14 and believes keeping families active through the sport can inspire all generations to stay fit.

Bethell attended a Crick-Fit session at Goodmayes Park in Ilford, a non-turf pitch installed in 2023 as part of KP Snacks’ commitment to installing and refurbishing 100 pitches over the next three years, focussing on cities and urban areas.

Through their Everyone In campaign, KP Snacks are on a mission to inspire and enable more families and communities to get active through cricket and create more opportunities for people to have a healthier lifestyle through the sport.

“It’s massively important,” Bethell said. “Having communities down like this is brilliant to see and it’s a stepping stone to getting people involved in cricket.

“Cricket can be quite an expensive sport so to be able to come down and be able to play for free is great.

“Hopefully, we’ll be producing some stars of the future by just having the accessibility, it’s really encouraging to see.

“It’s been good fun taking part in the Crick-Fit session, some of those exercises are quite tiring, 30 seconds in on each – looking around, everyone had a great time.

“It’s definitely a move in the right direction, it’s one of them things that will encourage people to play.

“People that never really looked at cricket might think let’s give it a go, to see that these pitches are accessible and free to use is perfect.”

The initiative will have a significant impact on local communities, offering greater access to sport for more people.

It reflects KP Snacks’ commitment to investing in local communities to promote healthier lifestyles by facilitating access to sports and encouraging families to become more physically active.

Last year, 36 pitches went live and there are a further 35 pitches being installed this summer across the country across Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Wigan.

KP Snacks marketing manager Emma Smith said: “As the Official Team Partner of The Hundred, we are on a mission to inspire and enable more families and communities to get active and involved with cricket.

“We hope these pitches will create new opportunities for local communities to access high-quality cricket facilities in park and recreation grounds and become active through the sport of cricket.

“Today we wanted to show how fun cricket by creating a cricket-themed workout using exercises based on common movements in cricket as an introduction to some of the skills required to play the sport.”

KP Snacks is the Official Team Partner of The Hundred. Through their Everyone In campaign, they are on a mission to inspire and enable more families & communities to get more active through cricket and create more opportunities for people to get involved and have a healthier lifestyle through the sport. To find your nearest pitch, head to www.everyonein.co.uk