Edgbaston Stadium celebrated the return of the Ramadan Midnight Cricket League by staging an Iftar that brought together local cricketers, coaches and Club staff to enjoy the community spirit of Ramadan before the cricket got underway. The Ramadan Midnight Cricket League was developed through the Warwickshire Cricket Board’s (WCB) Chance to Shine Street Programme in 2021 with free sessions for 16–24-year-olds taking place 10pm-midnight every at the Edgbaston Cricket Centre.
Stuart Cain, Chief Executive of Edgbaston, said: “The youngsters here are fasting for around 16 hours, so playing the game during normal daytime hours wasn’t possible.
“They’re so passionate about the game, so we wanted to create a safe space to enjoy the game after Iftar. We extended the opening times of the Centre to midnight, invested in local coaches to deliver the sessions and provided travel to and from players’ homes.
“We are constantly striving to make cricket and Edgbaston as accessible to everyone as possible, so we need to think differently about the programmes that we run. The Ramadan Midnight League was a great example of this, and it was great to build on last year’s launch.
“We plan to make it even bigger each year.” The recent session saw Cain and several other staff take part in a day of fasting before breaking it together with food at the Edgbaston Cricket Centre.
Birmingham Phoenix and England star Moeen Ali gave a special video message to all players, from the Indian Premier League, and Birmingham Phoenix and Bears batter/wicket-keeper Chris Benjamin was present to join in the games. The sessions run over three weeks until Eid al-Fitr (Monday, 2 May to Tuesday, 3 May), to be celebrated at Edgbaston with prayers for 2,000 worshippers planned to be staged on the Colts (training) Ground through a community partnership with Green Lane Masjid.
