Schoolchildren helped to create the silver outline of a giant Ashes urn at Lord's Cricket Ground today (1 April) to mark 100 days until the start of the Investec Ashes series on 10 July.

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and Chance to Shine organised the display to launch their nationwide scheme to teach young people good sportsmanship.

The cricket partners have produced 1,500 replica silver Ashes urns to send to schools across the country. Scores of schoolchildren in state schools will now have the chance to compete for their very own Ashes urn this summer.

Before they left the Home of Cricket, where the original Ashes urn is held and the venue for one of England's matches against Australia this summer, the silver urns soaked up the history and heritage of one of the world's most famous sporting contests. Schoolchildren helped to lay out a thousand of the silver urns on the 'hallowed turf' to form one giant, shimmering Ashes urn measuring 30 metres by 15 metres.

This year, Chance to Shine cricket coaches will deliver hundreds of MCC Spirit of Cricket assemblies and lessons in good sportsmanship to around 400,000 children in 4,500 state schools.

Chief Executive of Chance to Shine, Wasim Khan, said: "It may feel more like winter outside than summer but every cloud has a silver lining: there are just 100 days to go until the start of the Investec Ashes!"

"And this summer there will not just be one Ashes series taking place but hundreds of them in schools up and down the country, thanks to our partnership with MCC. W'll be using these replicas of the famous urn to inspire children to take up the game and to teach them about MCC‰Ûªs Spirit of Cricket message: 'play hard, play fair'. For more details of MCC Spirit of Cricket click: http://www.lords.org/soc