To celebrate the launch of Bob Cattell's latest book, Bowl Like The Devil, boys and girls from around the country took on a team of cricketing legends on July 12 at Bedford School. Local school children also had the chance to train and play games on the school grounds during the game.

The youngsters competed against some cricketing greats from the past and present, such as former England fast bowlers Alex Tudor, Dean Headley, Joey Benjamin and Ed Giddins and other ex-internationals including Chris Schofield, Ebony Rainford-Brent and Australia's Greg Matthews. The event and the book itself raised funds for Chance to Shine.

MCC president Phillip Hodson, England Women’s captain and Chance to Shine ambassador Charlotte Edwards, and the book's author Bob Cattell, selected the team from entrants all over the country.

During the game, Alex Tudor and Chris Schofield showed their batting skills have not diminished as both hit fifties in a legends total of 167 from their twenty overs. In return the youngsters battled hard and performed admirably to reach 117, a very credible effort against a team of cricketing legends.

Speaking about the day Bob said, "The game gave young cricketers of all backgrounds a chance to play against and learn from ex-international players, who have performed at the highest level. It's the sort of opportunity that has been a feature of Chance to Shine's work over the past five years, and, on top of that, we've raised over £20,000 for them through the generous support of our sponsors."

Former England cricketer Alex Tudor had some encouraging words for the kids and Chance to Shine, saying, "It’s been another fantastic Chance to Shine day where eleven youngsters had the chance to play against some ex-players. It's a great incentive and it's good for them to get the opportunity to play against those guys that have played a lot of international and county cricket and see where they are at as cricketers. Schemes like this don't happen a lot and it is a fantastic achievement. Hats off to Chance to Shine, they come up with the goods everytime. It's been thoroughly enjoyable day and it wasn't out of respect that we weren't smacking it (the ball). The girls especially bowled really well and it was great fun."

Former England fast-bowler Dean Headley captained the legends team. Speaking about the day he said, "We have played against some young cricketers and it's been good fun. They seem very talented and it's been a good experience to play against them."

Dean also spoke very positively about Chance to Shine, saying, "Chance to Shine is linked to sport and sport is a fantastic thing for children to get into and to use it as a learning aid. For me cricket is going out of comprehensive schools and for England to stay number one in the world it needs to stay a national sport."

Bowl Like The Devil is Bob Cattell's latest cricketing yarn for kids, following in the footsteps of his much-loved Glory Gardens series. Bob is kindly donating his royalties from the book to the Chance to Shine charitable campaign to bring cricket, and its educational benefits, back to schools.