Smiler's Festival of Cricket in memory of Mark Richardson takes place at Baston

A festival of cricket that encompasses junior, women’s and men’s matches is making a welcome return next week.

Smiler’s Festival of Cricket is taking place at Baston Cricket Club on Thursday which is the Spring Bank Holiday.

The inaugural event was first successfully staged in 2019 as a charity fundraiser set up in memory of Mark ‘Smiler’ Richardson who sadly passed away the previous year.

Mark was very passionate about cricket but even more so about inclusivity in the sport and was a huge advocate for both junior and women’s cricket in the community.

The festival was born out of this enthusiasm and the matches will be played between Mark’s two career clubs – Bourne and Baston.

Proceedings get underway at 12.30pm and consist of a junior match starting at 1pm, followed by a ladies game at 3.30pm.

A men’s game then takes place at 6pm which will be played in ‘The Hundred’ format. All fixtures sees teams being made up of Mark’s former team-mates and friends.

There will be plenty of fun on offer for the whole family with food, drink and exciting activities available on the day.

There will be a fully stocked bar provided by the White Horse of Baston, as well as food including traditional stone baked pizzas and a Mexican food offering.

There will also be activities such as an inflatable penalty shoot-out goal and much more for children.

This year the event will be raising money for the Notts & Lincs Air Ambulance service and Don’t Lose Hope, a Bourne-based charity offering counselling services.

The inaugural year at Bourne Cricket Club in 2019 was a huge success, raising more than £2,000 for the chosen charities and organisers are hoping for similar success this time around at Baston.

To support this fundraising, there will be a raffle on the day with a host of fantastic prizes, including four tickets to Surrey against Sussex in the T20 Blast on June 8 at the Oval; four tickets to a home Essex County Championship fixture; two tickets to a home Lancashire Royal London or County Championship fixture; a Kookaburra cricket duffle bag and a round of golf for four at Burghley Park.

Tickets are priced at £1 and are only available on the day. The draw for the raffle will take place before the men’s match.