By Kate Stephens
Lord’s has seen its fair share of passionate crowds and tense sporting moments over the years. I may be looking through yellow-tinted glasses, but Monday 23rd June felt like it was right up there with the best of them.
After almost a thousand primary aged children took part in a cricket lesson on the hallowed turf of Lord’s cricket ground, silence fell as we waited to hear the verdict of Glenn Pollard, Guinness World Records’ official adjudicator. You could hear a pin drop. The eruption of noise when he confirmed that they had become GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title holders was something to behold.
Following a rigorous adjudication process – with every child accounted for and witnesses confirming that every rule was followed to the letter, a total of 943 young people were officially recorded as taking part in what is now the largest ever single cricket lesson in the world.
This was a huge leap from the previous record of 645 participants. Though in truth, the number didn’t matter. Seeing a sea of children giving it their all, as Chance to Shine’s Ian Gregory single-handedly led a ‘Cool Catcher’ sessions, showed just how fun and engaging cricket can be when delivered the right way. It is no mean feat to keep the attention of almost a thousand children from one headset.
It was an honour to welcome Jodie Ounsley, better known as Fury from The Gladiators, who brought both star quality and inspiration to the day. Born deaf, Jodie’s powerful story of overcoming adversity through sport, and the resilience and life skills she gained along the way, resonated deeply with everyone there. Jodie was also incredibly kind and generous and must have signed close to 1000 souvenir cricket balls, much to the delight of all the children in attendance.
It is not often you get to be world record beaters and play on the outfield at Lord’s and meet a Gladiator all in the same day, and we hope that for everyone taking part, it was a day to remember.
Of course, a day like that doesn’t happen without extraordinary effort behind the scenes. A huge thank you to the Chance to Shine team, especially Theo Buffini and Danny Maskell, who navigated the mind-boggling logistics of getting 35 schools from across the country to Lord’s and ensured every detail met Guinness World Records’ exacting standards.
We were also supported by a fantastic group of volunteers from our trusted corporate partners, with special thanks to Compare the Market, Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate, Premier Foods, Mayer Brown and RBC Brewin Dolphin – who helped make the day run smoothly.
Thanks also to Marylebone Cricket Club, who have supported us for many years by granting access to the hallowed turf at the Home of Cricket and made it such a day to remember for everyone present. And to our long term partners, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), who play a vital role in funding and supporting our delivery. It was wonderful to welcome CEO Richard Gould on the day to cheer on the cricketers of tomorrow.
Above all, Monday served as a powerful visual representation of the scale and ethos of our charity. Since our foundation 20 years ago, more than 7.3 million children have taken part in Chance to Shine sessions – and Monday gave a glimpse into the significant number of state primary schools that have embraced the sport in that time. As our President and Co-Founder, Lord King, said as he opened proceedings, the original ambition was to inspire enough state school children to fill Lord’s – we’ve actually done that 250 times over.
It’s a huge summer for cricket, with what is set to be a stand-out Test series against India already underway – and at Chance to Shine, we are proud to play our part in that special cricketing community. It was fantastic to hear our World Record celebrated on the iconic airwaves of Test Match Special and championed by the Barmy Army and many others across social media. A big thanks also to BBC London, who covered the event on the lunchtime and evening news, and gave the event a very special write up.
Our 20th anniversary year has already been full of moments to celebrate – and there’s plenty more to come. We want to ensure that all young people have the opportunity to play, learn and develop through cricket, and we welcome everyone to join our community and work with us on that mission.
But for now, we’ll be hanging our Guinness World Record certificate proudly on the wall as a reminder of an important moment of fun, inspiration and ambition for all the young people we are here to help.
