Closing Ceremony – Cricket Poços

Paulo Vítor Campos article – Sport Wells

On the night of last Monday (10), at Pedaçaria MM, the closing event of the Cricket season Poços de Caldas. The athletes that stood out in the year and people and entities that contributed to the growth of the sport in Poços were present. The Mantiqueira newspaper was one of the honorees. “We closed this year with approximately 70 people, that is, a small part of the immense amount of people that today play cricket in Poços de Caldas. It was an event that had the main purpose of celebrating the great year that we had,” said Matt Featherstone , main responsible for placing the Brazilian and Poços de Caldas cricket among the main ones in the world.

Tributes
The special tributes went to Sports Secretary Wellington Guimaráes, Paulista, councilor Lucas Arruda, Ailton Lopes, representing the Associação Atlética Caldense, and the newspaper Mantiqueira, represented by Paulo Vitor de Campos. They received the black T-shirt with a golden logo, which is intended only for the big players in the city and who become monitors when they receive it. Trophies were awarded to members of the three main teams of the season that compete in the local championships and players from the city that are part of the Brazilian, male and female team. “It was a very special night that had as its main purpose to thank the good year that this 2018 was for the whole family of the cricket Poços de Caldas. Several competitions were won, both among girls and boys, which filled us with pride”, said Featherstone.

New teachers
According to Featherstone, 2019 promises to maintain the growth of projects in the city as new teachers are being formed and will help in the formation of new talents. Chipinho and Renatinha are two examples of students of projects that had their college funded by the cricket project and are already able to be teachers of the projects.

“I am very grateful to important partners such as Hotel Minas Gerais, the city hall and to the secretary of São Paulo, always with us. Caldense who helps us a lot, in short, all the sponsors who help the growth of cricket a lot and certainly he still has a lot to do. grow and 2019 will be even better for all of us, “said Matt Featherstone.

Big Bash and Mini Bash
The event gave athletes and teachers the Big Bash award for the 36 games played throughout the year. All matches took place at the south side field, delivered to cricket by the city in early 2018. “This field changed our lives, since before we had to borrow the Bandolão or several other places and now we have our home. It was there that we played 36 matches and took advantage of the closing event to hand over the trophy to the best player, best player, in addition to medals from all stages, in short, an event that closes with a flourish and I thank you immensely for the support of the newspaper Mantiqueira that he was present at all cricket events and that all wells in Caldas have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year “, concluded Featherstone.

Cricket in Poços
Started in 2011, through Englishman Matthew Featherstone, coach and captain of the Brazilian male team and official representative of cricket in the Americas, the Cricket Project Poços de Caldas was born with the aim of popularizing the sport, which is the second most practiced in the world. With great acceptance from entities and the population, the program contributes to the local community, offering sports development, recreation and discovering new sports talents. The sports project currently serves students from 6 years of age, who attend classes free of charge in centers such as the Association for the Assistance of the Visually Impaired (AADV), Casa do Menor, Municipal School, Caldense Athletic Association, Bem Viver Project, Municipal Park , between others. “We have many partners that make our cricket stronger every day. The ICC Mundial is a great partner, we still have the Hotel Minas Gerais, Municipal Electricity Department, Caixa Econômica Federal, City Hall and Caldense anyway, without them the project would not have grown so much “says Featherstone.

Cricket
The easiest way for the Brazilian to understand cricket is through the resemblance to the bat or betes, which looks like a simplified form of the English game. The principle is the same: the pitcher has to knock down the “little house”, the wicket, and the hitter has to hit the ball and run to the other wicket to score points, or runs. But, while the bat is played in pairs, a cricket team is made up of 11 players: two batters, the batsmen, and eleven fielders on the field trying to prevent the team of the time (the one batting) from completing the runs and trying to eliminate the hitters. In addition to knocking down the box, the hitter can be eliminated if the ball is caught in the air; or if the wicket is “broken” before the batters reach it when trying to score the runs. The next team has to score as many runs as possible, while the other team tries to eliminate ten hitters. Once all these hitters are eliminated, the teams change positions, starting to hit what they were shooting and to throw what they were hitting. The winner is the team with the most runs. The ball used to play is hard, made of cork and leather, slightly larger than a tennis ball. Two little houses are 20 meters from each other and the entire field measures practically the same as two football fields. When the hitter manages to hit the ball out of bounds, he scores four runs. If the ball does not hit the ground, he scores six runs. Each pitcher throws the ball six times, one over, and then another pitcher shoots from the other box.

Awards:

Player of the Month – November: Luizinho Rodrigues

Player of the Month – December: Kevin Mecone

Highlights of the Year for Cricket Poços: Ailton (Caldense)

Highlights of the Year for Cricket Poços: Paulo Vítor (Jornal Mantiqueira)

Highlights of the Year for Cricket Poços: Paulista (Sports Department)

Highlights of the Year for Cricket Poços: Lucas Arruda (Councilor Poços de Caldas)

Bash Wells:

Best Hitter: Luis Felipe Xipin and Renata Sousa

Best Bowler: Iuri Simão and Julia Faustino

Best Fielder: Vinicius Dias and Roberta Moretti

Best Keeper: Lucas Maximo and Lindsay Mariano