Representatives
of government, diplomats, celebrities and religious leaders will help
the Commonwealth kick-off a new cricket initiative next month.
Dubbed
Peace at the Crease, the programme will use the popularity of cricket
as a tool to promote peace, bring communities together and support
progress and development.
This
new initiative will be launched in London at an inter-faith match at
Lords Cricket Ground on 6 July, and will include a series of
special exhibition matches. The first match is sponsored by Ganador
Sports and the UK Asian Business Council and is between the Vatican
XI and a multi-faith Commonwealth team at the Indian Gymkhana Club
on 9 July 2018.
Describing
Peace at the Crease as a big win for the promotion of peace and
development, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said,
“One of my fondest childhood memories is standing on a home-made
pitch, cricket bat in hand, heart pounding with excitement, praying
to hit a six. And through the years, I have witnessed for myself how,
when used strategically, cricket and sports in general can be a tool
to bring people together and to break down barriers.
She
added, “We have seen how well-designed sport for development and
peace initiatives can contribute to healing and post-conflict
reconciliation processes. So on July 9th there will be two
teams but one goal, to bowl-out inter-communal and other tensions and
to hit a six for peace, inclusion and community cohesion.”
Participants
of the Peace at the Crease exhibition matches will play for
‘Commonwealth Cricketing Cups’. These matches will feature
special initiatives and modifications aimed at maximising the best
qualities of cricket. These include:
- Selecting Commonwealth Cup winners and Players of the Match will take into account how players promote and demonstrate commitment to Commonwealth values, as well as runs scored and wickets taken;
- Combining teams from diverse backgrounds and groups that cut across national, ethnic and religious divides;
- Creating forums at matches to encourage community leaders to pledge support for the Commonwealth’s shared values and peace-building efforts, and agree strategies to advance the use of sport and cricket as a community development tool;
- Profiling organisations that are effectively using specially designed cricket-based methodology in peace-building and community development initiatives;
- Fundraising activities to support Commonwealth peace-building initiatives.
Prajapati
Trivedi, Director of the Commonwealth’s Economic, Youth and
Sustainable Development Directorate, said, “The Commonwealth
Secretariat is among the select leading global institutions
supporting countries to develop policies and strategies to maximise
the contribution of sport to development and peace building outcomes.
“This
new cricket initiative is not only helping us to boost our work in
this area, it is also a platform to promote and fundraise for other
important related initiatives such as our Faith
in the Commonwealth programme,
which is creating a group of young people as change agents for
interfaith understanding and global citizenship.”
Welcoming
the initiative, Kamal Prabhakar of Ganador Sports said, "We are
excited about creating the Commonwealth Cricket Cup to spread the
message of peace, harmony and equality through the game of cricket.”
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