News Archive - April 2002

England Cricket Captain Nasser Hussain, England women's all-rounder Sarah Collyer and SM:TV presenter Tess Daly launched the npower 'Lions' Den' at the AMP Oval today. This initiative, from the ECB and npower, will turn a section of around 300 seats at each Test Match Ground1 into a 'Lions' Den' - an enclosure reserved for children. Youngsters in the Lions' Den will benefit from discounted Test Match tickets with every boy and girl receiving a free activity bag, a Lions' Den T-shirt and cap, an educational activity book and a giant 'Roar for 4' paw.

The Lions' Den is an extension of the joint ECB and npower 'Pride Side' initiative, launched last year, in which three lions and one lioness, based on the traditional lions logo of the ECB, have been created to increase the appeal of cricket to all types of children between the ages of 6-12
years old.

Life-size mascots of the 'Pride Side's' superhero cartoon characters - Shen, Maxie and Widget and lioness, Little M - will entertain the youngsters in the Lions' Den during matches, demonstrating cricket's continuing drive to rejuvenate and promote cricket at all levels and across ethnic, age, social and gender boundaries.

Giving his full support to the exciting project, Nasser Hussain said, "These are excellent initiatives which will send out the right messages through every level of the sport. It's vital that the game evolves to compete with other sports and these ideas are great. We need to encourage our next generation of fans and players to love the game, and it's very positive that the ECB and npower are getting together to try and achieve this."

Tess Daly said, "I wish they had this sort of thing when I was growing up! Speaking as a cricket outsider, the Lions' Den is a terrific idea that should attract kids to the sport. Anything that promotes sport in such a fun way must be a winner."

Sarah Collyer said, "Offering youngsters a taste of the action may lead to more of them taking up the game. Cricket is obviously something I love playing and I am in favour of the game being taken to the widest possible audience, so making cricket accessible to kids like this is terrific news."

npower Strategy Director David Andrew said, "As a young brand - we're
only 2 years old - we are always striving to be different and do what's not
been done before. The Lions' Den, powered by npower, provides a new
experience for our younger cricket fans that they will remember, hopefully through to adulthood, which is a great thing for cricket generally. In the meantime, everyone has fun, which is exactly what we want."

ECB Commercial Director Terry Blake said, "A day out in the Lions' Den will be both educational and fun. We hope to welcome school classes and junior cricket teams, as well as individual families, to the npower Test Match Series."

Ticket booking is available via www.ecb.co.uk or 08705 33 88 33
-ends-

For more information/photographic requests please contact:

Hill & Knowlton
Richard Glennie/Gemma Hopkin 020 7413 3777/3040

ECB Corporate Affairs 020 7432 1200

Notes to Editors
1. The Lions' Den is a reserved seating area for children - 250 Lions' Den seats will be available on each of the first 4 days at the AMP Oval; 800 at Old Trafford and 300 at all other Test Match grounds.

England v Sri Lanka - npower Test Match Series
Thu 16 - Mon 20 May 1st Test v Sri Lanka Lord's
Thu 30 - Mon 3 June 2nd Test v Sri Lanka Edgbaston
Thu 13 - Mon 17 June 3rd Test v Sri Lanka Old Trafford

England v India - npower Test Match Series
Thu 25 - Mon 29 July 1st Test v India Lord's
Thu 8 - Mon 12 August 2nd Test v India Trent Bridge
Thu 22 - Mon 26 August 3rd Test v India Headingley
Thu 5 - Mon 9 September 4th Test v India AMP Oval
Further information is available from www.ecb.co.uk

1. npower is the essential home services provider and sponsor of the home Test Match Series. npower is the UK's number one electricity supplier and number two gas supplier and has around 7 million customers. npower also offers telecoms, insurance and loans. For more information, and to take the npower test, you can visit www.npower.com

The ECB today announced 11 players who have been awarded Test Match central contracts for the 2002 domestic season. The names are as follows:

Nasser Hussain (Captain) Essex 28.3.68
Mark Butcher Surrey 23.8.72
Andrew Caddick Somerset 21.11.68
Andrew Flintoff Lancashire 6.12.77
James Foster Essex 15.4.80
Ashley Giles Warwickshire 19.3.73
Darren Gough Yorkshire 18.9.70
Matthew Hoggard Yorkshire 31.12.76
Graham Thorpe Surrey 1.8.69
Marcus Trescothick Somerset 25.12.75
Michael Vaughan Yorkshire 29.10.74

Chairman of Selectors, David Graveney, said, "The Selectors understand that budget constraints mean that ECB cannot grant more than 12 Test Contracts for the forthcoming summer. However we are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the consistency of selection and the improved team ethos that we have achieved over the last couple of years working within this constraint and we are keen to see an increase in the number of contracted players as soon as possible. The purpose of the naming of 11 players at this stage is to assist the Counties in their early season preparations and to fulfil the Head Coach's wishes for certain players to rest after this winter's commitments. Both Duncan Fletcher and I look forward to meeting senior representatives of the ECB to discuss our aspirations for the future with regard to the contracting system."

John Carr, ECB Director of Cricket Operations, said, "The Board fully understands the Selectors' desire to move to the central contracting of a larger squad of England players and at its forthcoming meeting, the International Teams Management Group is scheduled to be fine-tuning a paper recommending this change for implementation from September 2002. The paper is due to be presented to the ECB First Class Forum on 13 May."

With regard to the selection of James Foster, David Graveney said, "We have been very happy with James's efforts over the winter. The situation has been explained to Alec Stewart and I can confirm that he will not be excluded from future discussions regarding Team selection."

Players awarded a central contract who were involved in only the Test Match OR ODI squads during the winter (Gough, Butcher) will be available to play for their Counties from the beginning of the season.

Players awarded a central contract who were involved in BOTH Test Match and ODI squads during the majority of the winter (Hussain, Trescothick, Vaughan, Thorpe, Flintoff, Foster, Caddick, Hoggard, Giles) will be available to play for their Counties in the final two Benson & Hedges Cup group matches and the Frizzell County Championship match from 8-11 May.

No player selected for the first npower Test Match against Sri Lanka will be available for the Norwich Union League matches on Sunday 12 May.

YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN TOP CRICKET CELEBRITIES AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF YCCC AND PHILLIP STONER JEWELLERY ON FRIDAY APRIL 12 AT 4PM AT THE PHILLIP STONER SHIPLEY BRANCH AT 8 THE ARNDALE CENTRE, SHIPLEY.

Ryan Sidebottom and Steve Kirby are among a star-studded line up that will officially launch a special partnership between Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Shipley jewellers Phillip Stoner.

The occasion on Friday April 12, will unveil a stunning range of YCCC commemorative memorabilia and gifts that will be exclusively available at Phillip Stoner's three branches in Shipley, Pudsey and Halifax.

'Gems' in the quality collection are limited and include table clocks, a Raymond Weil watch with a special commemorative dial and members' wallets and key cases. The selection will be further enhanced by one-off limited editions designed and produced by Phillip Stoner such as a hand crafted 18ct gold cricket bat featuring an exquisite ruby.

Phillip Stoner who set up the jewellers two decades ago commented: "Cricket is an intrinsic part of the Yorkshire culture and, as a family run business, we are extremely proud to team up with YCCC to give fans a wider accessibility to the club's 'sparkling' new collection. "

YCCC Commercial Director, Tony Panaro said, "We have high hopes for this partnership - the only one of its kind in the UK - that marks an exciting new development for the club."

YCCC's 2001 county championship trophy will also be on display to celebrate the launch at 4pm at Phillip Stoner Jewellery, 8 The Arndale Centre, Shipley.

Yorkshire County Cricket Club & Phillip Stoner Jewellery have teamed together to honour one of Yorkshire's favourite Gentlemen Dickie Bird.

Phillip Stoner Jewellery has commissioned the installation of a clock for Headingley's new West Stand with the unveiling scheduled for Friday 26th April, which is during Yorkshire�s opening Championship fixture against Surrey.

The clock, which can be viewed from both, the cricket field and the Kirkstall Lane will be known as the "Dickie Bird" clock.

Tony Panaro YCCC Commercial Director commented, "We have looked now for several months for an opportunity to incorporate a timepiece in the Headingley development and are extremely grateful to Phillip Stoner Jewellery for agreeing to sponsor this piece of history named after the world's most famous umpire.

The special event follows the launch of a unique partnership between YCCC and Phillip Stoner in which YCCC commemorative memorabilia and gifts are exclusively available at Phillip Stoner's three branches in Shipley, Pudsey and Halifax.

Said Phillip Stoner who launched the family run business two decades ago, "We are extremely proud to have played a key role in this significant occasion and look forward to contributing to future developments through our partnership with YCCC."

Dickie Bird said, "I am so pleased, delighted and thrilled to be honoured in this way and would like to thank Philip Stoner for making it possible"