England's World Cup winning captain Heather Knight returned to her old school, Elburton Primary in Plymouth, on Tuesday 3 October 2017. Heather went back to school as an ambassador for the cricket charity Chance to Shine, inspiring the current pupils to enjoy the sport in which she has made her career.

 

Copyrighted Image by Paul Slater/PSI

 

Heather joined the year 5 students at the school, talking to them about her own memories at Elburton as well as the incredible successes that she has had since in her career. The children then got the opportunity to quiz Heather on this summer's World Cup winning campaign, how she got into the sport and her favourite subjects when she was at school.

The lucky year 5 classes were then given a special coaching session led by Chance to Shine and Devon Cricket coach Alex Jopling with assistance from the England captain. Heather, who also captained the cricket team in her time at Elburton, gave the students some coaching and top tips to help them improve their game.

Heather then visited another local school: Woodford Primary, giving a special MCC Spirit of Cricket assembly that encouraged the pupils to learn the important lessons of playing hard but fair, and treating the opposition, umpires and team-mates with respect.

Copyrighted Image by Paul Slater/PSISpeaking at the event, Heather Knight said It was great being back at my old school today with Chance to Shine. It was fantastic to see the smiles on the children's faces and to see they'e enjoying their cricket. They can learn a huge amount from the sport that will help them later in life in terms of communication, team-work and respect. Hopefully some of the children here today can really kick on with their cricket and maybe one day we'll have another Elburton graduate playing for England.

The event was organised by Chance to Shine, a national cricket charity that aims to spread the power of cricket to state schools and communities across the country, and the charity's partner NatWest. NatWest have partnered with Chance to Shine as part of their Cricket has no boundaries campaign, championing diversity and inclusion in cricket.