CWB are delighted to have been chosen as one of the charities to benefit from the remarkable efforts of Marlborough College Cricket Club!

Marlborough’s 1st XIs returned from South Africa in February after a first ever joint tour, in fine form and eagerly anticipating the start of the cricket season. The next few weeks saw those dreams shattered, with the cancellation of their Junior Colts tour to Spain, and all cricket put on hold as we entered COVID lockdown. Undeterred, Captains Ben Spink and Rosie Pembroke were determined to make the most of a bad situation, and Ben came up with the idea of a charity challenge, “Run 100 to Raise 100” - in their gardens, players had to run the length of a wicket 100 times (in batting gear of course!) and each try to raise £100. It has been a huge success, with family members, teaching staff and former players also rising to the challenge, and 49 “centuries” have been completed so far, raising over £4600.

We asked Ben how he came up with the idea.

“It’s been so disappointing for the entire cricket community at Marlborough College not to be able to play this summer. The cricket pitches are looking so enticing! And after a pre-season tour to Cape Town, both the 1st XI and the Girls XI were in great shape for the matches that should have been. When all of that got wiped due to COVID-19, Rosie and I (as captains), decided to do something to mark the lost season and to keep our cricketing community together. The idea to Run 100 to Raise 100 evolved as a bit of fun - after all who doesn’t want to score their century for the College?! More importantly, we wanted to create an inclusive team effort where anyone could take part and contribute what they could.”

Raising much needed funds for some worthy causes was also an important part of the plan, and careful thought was given to their choice of charities. Half the money will go to The NHS Together, with the remainder split between the Ruth Strauss Foundation and Cricket Without Boundaries. As Ben says “Fundraising for the NHS was a must given our current health crisis. But with cricket at the centre of this initiative, we also wanted to focus our fund raising efforts on one or two cricket based charities. This combination provided two very different but incredibly worthwhile charities; both connected to cricket and doing such good and important work in very different ways at a national and international level”

As a keen sportsman, Ben knows how beneficial sport can be to physical and mental health. “As for the game of cricket, it’s like no other. There are so many aspects to the game, both physical and mental, which make it totally unique and compelling, both in this country or overseas. When I discovered CWB I was excited to find an organisation that was promoting and harnessing the potential of the game for the benefit of less privileged individuals and communities around the world. I’d certainly be interested in finding out more about volunteering opportunities with CWB.”

This is certainly not the way Ben and Rosie dreamed of spending their last season at Marlborough, but they’ve shown great leadership and imagination to achieve something they can look back on with great pride.

You can still donate to help support the three nominated charities here