Over 500 children from schools around the country visited Lord’s on Tuesday 3 July as part of the annual MCC Spirit of Cricket Open Day. The pupils came from a range of schools across the country including as far away as Stoke and Norfolk.

Chance to Shine co-founder, Mark Nicholas led a mass assembly for the school children on the prestigious benches of the Lord’s Pavilion which culminated in an exciting bowl-off between teams led by former England cricketer Nick Compton and by Mark himself. The assembly taught the children about the values of cricket, focusing on teamwork, perseverance and fair play.

Afterwards, the pupils took part in a range of activities including a tour of the Lord’s Pavilion and the media centre, cricket games at the MCC academy and playing on the hallowed turf of the Lord’s outfield.

The children also received a special reading from Chance to Shine supporter and children’s author Rachael Wong. Rachael’s third book Alex and the Cricket Ninjas is available to download for free via the Chance to Shine Schools’ Portal.

As well reading the first three chapters of the book, Rachael gave the students some advice on creative writing before setting them the challenge of writing about their own favourite sporting moments and celebrations.

Speaking on the day Rachael said “Today has been a fantastic opportunity for over 500 children to come down to the Home of Cricket and be inspired. To meet a professional cricketer and to play on the hallowed turf, it doesn’t get much better than that! I was delighted to be part of the day and I hope that the children also saw how sport can inspire them in their academic studies as well.

“My new book Alex and the Cricket Ninjas is all about resilience and mindfulness and how to learn valuable skills from the sport. I hope that the children enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!”

Chance to Shine and Marylebone Cricket Club are teaching thousands of schoolchildren good sportsmanship through the MCC Spirit of Cricket campaign.