Thorverton's Dan Robbins set for Coast-to-Coast Challenge in Cricket Whites

Thorverton CC's (TCC) Dan Robbins is preparing himself for a 24-hour, 60-mile coast-to-coast walk in his cricket whites this summer.

On August 3 and 4, Lieutenant Commander Robbins will be taking on the picturesque trek to raise funds for TCC, with the hopes that the money raised will aid with increased running costs and help finance the club's project to replace its pavilion. He is aiming to raise £2,000 through the coast-to-coast walk.

"The financial situation is tough and that's been felt by local cricket clubs as well as individuals," says Dan. "We're a village club, so compared to the bigger clubs who have a social club outside of the cricket season, we don't have that income."

Faced with the prospect of having to raise membership fees as a result of the cost of living crisis, members of TCC began thinking of fundraising ideas in pre-season, with Dan more than happy to put himself forward for a challenge:

"I'm quite happy to put myself forward for doing something physically demanding because I'm quite comfortable in that space, and it sort of developed from there."

"I'd seen one of my old clubs in Essex had done a walk to raise money. After a quick Google search, I found that walking from the North Devon coast to the South coast would be challenging enough. And from there a few of the lads just started adding bits to the challenge... I think Jack Stirling suggested I should do it in whites and pads, etc."

Dan will be setting off on the 60-mile walk from North Devon CC's at 5pm on Thursday, August 3, aiming to finish at Exmouth CC's Maer Ground 24 hours later on Friday, August 4. He is also planning to stop off at a number of Devon clubs along the way, including at TCC to join his teammates in an early-morning training session.

Despite committing to completing the challenge in his cricket gear, he has only trained for the walk in pads once:

"Quite early on I did a walk in my cricket gear just to really assess if this is achievable before we got into the real physical training aspect for it. I did get a few odd looks, but fortunately one of my teammates accompanied me for that, so it wasn't too embarrassing!"

"The cricket equipment side won't overly impact me physically apart from the additional heat it will create, particularly the helmet. In terms of training, I've been fairly consistent and last week I walked just short of 28 miles, so just under half way."

Dan is hoping to raise £2,000 from the challenge to help the club through tough financial times:

"Every penny counts. I know times are tough at the moment, so I'm not asking for huge amounts, and I think the target is a realistic amount of 2,000 pounds."

"Every penny, pound or whatever is donated will certainly spur me on, because there will be dark times, particularly in the last four or five hours, where you do consider why you are doing this. But knowing that people have supported you, whether that be just through messages or financially, then it really does help." 

Despite scouring the internet for comparable challenges, Dan believes that, if he were to complete the challenge, it would set a new world record:

"Having done a bit of research I can't see any record around this sort of thing. I've applied to the Guinness World Records but they're not able to meet me due to the time frames involved. I think the indication is that it would technically be a world record, whether they can fully approve it or not."

Dan's proposed route is as follows:

• North Devon CC
• Westleigh CC
• Newton Tracey CC
• Sandford CC
• Shobrooke CC
• Thorverton CC
• Clyst St George CC
• Exmouth CC

If you would like to donate to Dan's coast-to-coast challenge, you can do so on the GoFundMe page.

Dan also wished to thank Wombat Cricket for creating the bespoke bat he will be taking with him on the challenge.