Skills Blast Returns to Edgbaston to Grow Cricket Across the West Midlands

Warwickshire Cricket Foundation will once again host The Mayor of the West Midlands Skills Blast at Edgbaston on Sunday, an event which gives an opportunity for newly-qualified coaches to test their skills and for Warwickshire and Birmingham children to play cricket on the same pitch as their heroes.

2026-07-09T09:30+01:00

Over 70 children, aged between five and 11, from our local clubs and charity partners will be invited to attend and participate in a range of games and activities on the Edgbaston outfield on Sunday morning.

The drills are overseen by a number of newly-qualified coaches, who are given a valuable opportunity to apply their skills to a real-life environment and build their confidence. The coaches will cover four stations on the Edgbaston pitch - for bowling, batting, catching and throwing - and the children will be split up based on their ages. From there, they will rotate and engage in the different skill-sets.

Each coach will be paired with a more experienced coach provided by WCF, who will offer advice and support if needed, on the day. The Skills Blast is not simply a vehicle to encourage and motivate young people to exercise and play more cricket, but to also help prospective young coaches realise their ambitions to find careers in sport.

The coach overseeing the event is Pritam Grewal, who was once a student coach himself before he began to volunteer with WCF and then successfully applied for a coaching apprenticeship.

Having taken part in the event 12 months ago, Pritam is passionate about community cricket in all its forms and will be hands-on when Skills Blast takes place, fully appreciating the benefits that the event offers to aspiring young coaches. As the event is all about growth and learning, Pritam will step into the role of Skills Blast Director this Sunday.

“I did the Skills Blast last year when I had just arrived at Edgbaston, as a newly qualified coach,” Pritam said. “It was quite daunting because you’re on the Edgbaston pitch doing coaching, being in that environment - but you have people around you.

You have so many great coaches there, who back you up - that support network is really encouraging.”

For any young coach who hopes to one day achieve a career in sport, they need look no further than Pritam for a source of inspiration.

“I’ve been lucky as an apprentice to work across so many programmes that we deliver. Being able to get the full range of it, I can then bring in different aspects from what I’ve learned in one setting to another setting. That’s helped massively.”

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, is eager to see cricket in the communities across the region thrive. He offered a glowing endorsement of Skills Blast when he attended the event last year, recognising its role to inspire a workforce and tackle youth unemployment, which is one of his priorities.

“I remember speaking to the Mayor last year,” Pritam added. “He was really interested in what I do. It was great to talk with him and see how much he cared about community cricket and how much he is trying to grow it.”