Piece of cricketing history goes on sale in aid of hospice

A team of competitive fundraisers battling it out to be crowned victorious in a charity challenge are hoping auctioning off a piece of cricketing memorabilia will lead to thousands.

Halstead’s Baythrone Hall, who are taking part in St Nicholas Hospice Care’s Accumulator Challenge, have an official England cricket shirt signed by England’s head coach and 14 members of the winning team.

By auctioning it off, George and Craig Unwin from Baythorne Hall hope to be in strong contention for the challenge’s winning spot.

Baythorne Hall managed to secure the shirt, which has been signed by Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Liam Dawson and Trevor Bayliss, thanks to a connection with the team’s head bowling coach Chris Silverwood.

George said: “I was trying to get some inspiration for something different we could try to do to raise funds. I think I was probably sitting at my computer and then saw something about the Cricket World Cup. My original idea was to ask Chris to see if he could get the team to sign the £50 note, but then he suggested a shirt might be better. He had the shirt signed by the team before they had reached the final; we think he must have asked them to do it after the match against Australia at Edgbaston.”

The shirt, which is being auctioned via eBay, was put on the site on Sunday, July 21, and within 24 hours, it had already attracted an opening bid of £500. Bids were open until yesterday, Sunday, July 28.

The Accumulator Challenge, which is sponsored by 1 Accounts Online, sees 43 businesses pitted against each other as they strive to turn their £50 stake money into as much as possible for the hospice, which supports those facing dying, death and grief.

Rachel Card, the hospice’s corporate fundraiser, said: “When I found out about the signed shirt I was really excited. There doesn’t seem to be too many signed shirts like this around at the moment so this really is a collectable item. The England team last made it into the final in 1992, and we have never won it before, this shirt really is a piece of cricket history and I think there will be a lot of interest in it. I am so impressed by the Baythorne Hall team’s quick thinking and I really hope they meet their fundraising target.”

Businesses taking part in the challenge have just three months to prove their worth, and with plenty of events having already taken place and activities planned for the upcoming weeks, the competition is fierce.

For more information visit www.facebook.com/AccumulatorChallenge/

Pictured above is George and Craig Unwin with the signed shirt which they hope will earn them top spot in a charity fundraising challenge.