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Charlie Freeston On Hampshire Academy Surpassing Expectations & Supporting Rainbow Laces
Charlie Freeston On Hampshire Academy Surpassing Expectations & Supporting Rainbow Laces
Hampshire Cricket’s Head of Player Development discusses the Academy’s impressive form and looks ahead to a crucial weekend – one which will see the side support Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign
Hampshire’s Academy sit second in the Southern Premier League, just one spot behind St Cross Symondians going into the final two weeks of what’s been an impressive season for the young side.
We sat down with Charlie Freeston – Hampshire Cricket’s Head of Player Development – to get his thoughts on the Academy’s progress this season and also on the importance of the Club supporting Rainbow Laces’ Stonewall campaign.
"The culture and the fighting spirit has been outstanding. To sit in second in the league with two games to go is extremely impressive."
Admittedly, Freeston was not expecting his side to challenge for the Southern Premier League title, citing the amount of experienced players in the SPL as a factor.
"Yeah, it is probably the youngest team that ever played in the league. If I'm honest, we were looking at trying to target a few games to make sure we stayed in in that league because it's a really competitive league. A lot of good sides have been in there for a long time."
Hampshire faced a Sri Lanka Development XI at The Ageas Bowl back in May with nine of the eleven players featuring having come through the Hampshire Academy, two of whom have played a key part in the Academy’s SPL title push this year.
These players, Charlie Mumford and Dom Kelly, both made their First XI debuts - "They deserved the opportunity and they took it with both hands. Unfortunately, Charlie didn’t get a chance to bat but Dom certainly took his chance with the ball and it was really pleasing to see them perform at that level against that quality of side."
Kelly and fellow Academy player Eddie Jack recently featured for England Under 19s against Sri Lanka. Freeston was full of praise for the pair; "Dom and Eddie are both just 16 so for Dom to play in the Royal London Cup also against the Sri Lanka XI before performing as well as he has done for England U19s is a hell of an achievement.
Eddie Jack hasn't played a great deal of Second XI cricket yet. He had a slightly distorted winter, but the potential was clear for all to see and he stood out as a high potential bowler in the Super Fours competition. England recognised that and he's impressed alongside Joseph Eckland in the Invitational XI and got called straight into the squad. It's brilliant and the thought that they've still got three more years to play at that level is scary really."
Freeston is hopeful for what comes next as the Southern Premier League season draws to a conclusion: "I hope that they win the league, for a young side to put in the work they’ve done and to play as many days in a row as they have and keep churning out the kind of performances they have the summer, I think they really deserve it."
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are supporting Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign across the weekend of the 25th August - 28th August – which is the fifth time the game has come together to celebrate and encourage LGBTQ+ participation in cricket.
Rainbow Laces messaging will feature at all professional games across the weekend, while the campaign follows the formation of a new national supporters’ group, Pride in Cricket, who have been working with the ECB to create a community in the game for LGBTQ+ players and supporters.
Cricket’s support of Rainbow Laces forms part of the ECB’s continued commitment to Raising The Game; a new overarching platform for advancing equity, diversity and inclusion within cricket.
The Hampshire Academy will support Rainbow Laces during their crucial match at Totton & Eling CC this Saturday and Freeston emphasised the importance of the campaign to drive inclusion at all levels of cricket:
‘’It’s critical that cricket demonstrates it’s a game for everyone. As a campaign, Rainbow Laces helps us to achieve that. The Academy will wear Rainbow Laces with pride this weekend and while we’ll be hoping for a positive performance and result, both of these things pale into insignificance compared to the importance of the game we all love being for everyone.’’
