Lionesses star Lauren Hemp joined forces with KP Snacks to convert football-mad families to cricket ahead of the launch of The Hundred.
European Championship winner Hemp played cricket at junior level for Norfolk Women and still has a real love for the sport, meeting with a group of local football-loving families in Manchester’s Cheetham Hill.
The 59-cap England forward took them through their cricketing paces, encouraging fans to try a different ball game and showing how easy – and fun – it is to pick up the sport of cricket as part of KP Snacks’ Everyone In campaign.
Hemp said: “I grew up playing cricket every summer and had to make a tough choice to pursue professional football or cricket when I was 16.
“I have always loved this sport, so it’s amazing that KP Snacks is helping thousands of families access cricket pitches and removing the barriers to entry.
“It’s great to show these families that you don’t need lots of special equipment or fancy facilities to play cricket, you can just find an ‘Everyone In’ pitch near you, turn up with a bat and a ball and get started on your cricketing adventure!”
Amidst the summer of sport, and with The Hundred about to get underway, Lauren hopes to tempt fans who have enjoyed watching her tearing it up on the wing for England to get active with cricket. She even demonstrated that you don’t need a cricket ball to start throwing yorkers and googlies, bowling to fans with a full-sized football in an improvised game, showing attendees they can play cricket with whatever equipment they have available.
Lauren appeared at the event as an ambassador for KP Snacks, the Official Team Partner of The Hundred, promoting the brand’s ‘Everyone In’ campaign, which aims to make cricket more accessible to all, encouraging families to get active through playing cricket.
KP Snacks, in partnership with The Hundred, has committed to installing 100 new community cricket pitches across the country, and hopes to inspire a new generation to take up the sport as part of its mission to create more than 1 million opportunities for people to get more active across the UK by 2033.
The Lionesses hero, who won the 2022 UEFA European Championship with England at Wembley and also plays for Manchester City Women, was joined by her friend Sophie Ecclestone, a bowler for the Manchester Originals. Ecclestone presented Lauren with an ‘Everyone In’ branded cricket bat, so she has no excuse not to keep hitting sixes for the remainder of the summer.
Stars of the Manchester Originals women’s team Lauren Filer and Sophie Molineux also helped to lead the training session for the families at Cheetham Hill, who were delighted to meet the Euros winner, as well as players from their local Hundred side.
Kevin McNair, Marketing Director at KP Snacks, said: “Our ‘Everyone In’ campaign is designed to do exactly that – bring everyone into the game of cricket. Working with a national hero like Lauren, who has been involved in cricket her entire life, will help to show many more families in Manchester and across the country that cricket is not only an easy sport to pick up, but it’s a great way to stay social and active.
If you want to give cricket a go, 35 more of our ‘Everyone In’ pitches are popping up across the country this year, giving a total of 71 in the ground now across the UK. The pitches we have installed so far have seen incredible numbers of locals stepping up to the crease as part of our overall mission to create more than 1 million opportunities for people to get more active across the UK by 2033.”
Sophie Ecclestone, England and Manchester Originals player, added: “The Hundred has already helped to make cricket more accessible to a whole new generation of fans, and now the ‘Everyone In’ campaign is encouraging those new fans to find their nearest local pitch and get active. I’ve known Lauren for years, so it’s great to be with her today encouraging families to take up a different ball game than the one she’s known for, but one I know she still holds close to her heart!”
The Everyone In campaign continues this year, with new 35 community pitches set to be installed in Newcastle, Burnley, Bristol and several other locations across the country, taking the total to 71, with 29 further pitches due to be unveiled in 2025.
To search for your nearest Everyone In pitch, visit: www.everyonein.co.uk.
