A team of Manchester business leaders are limbering up to take on a side of sporting legends and celebrities in a cricket match next week. The Topaz Celebrity Cricket Match is being held by the rugby children’s charity Wooden Spoon in aid of the Cheadle Hulme-based Seashell Trust, which supports children and young people with learning disabilities.
The event, which will take place from 12 noon on Friday 26 June at Alderley Edge Cricket Club, is being put on with support from Topaz Detailing, McLaren Manchester, Rolls Royce Motor Cars Manchester and Art VR. Wooden Spoon hope the event will raise at least £12,000.
This year’s business team, the Sticky Wicket XI, includes well-known figures from the Manchester and Cheshire business scene including Will Lewis, founder and CEO of property business OBI, and the veteran dealmaker Simon Lord, managing partner at Arete Capital Partners. The team will be led out by their captain Chris Maguire, co-owner of the media company BusinessCloud.
The business XI will face a side of celebrities and sporting legends including the former Manchester United star Andy Ritchie and the ex-Sale Sharks and England winger Steve Hanley.
Beginning with a champagne reception and three-course lunch, the day will also feature a charity auction with prizes up for grabs including a tour of the McLaren factory for two people, understood to be worth £5,000. The cricket match itself is scheduled to take place from 3.30pm.
Roger Smith, chairman of Wooden Spoon Manchester & Cheshire, said, “This will be our seventh Celebrity Charity Cricket Match and, I hope, our biggest yet. It promises to be a great day out for all the family, as well as an opportunity to raise vital funds to support children and young people living with disabilities, disadvantage or disengagement from society.
“I would like to thank our sponsors and corporate supporters and, of course, our hosts, Alderley Edge Cricket Club. I would also like to extend special thanks to the stars of the business and sporting worlds who are giving up their time to take part, and especially to Chris Maguire who has put together a team of businesspeople who promise to be as formidable on the field as they are in the boardroom.”
Tickets, tables and sponsorships for the event can be purchased from the Wooden Spoon website.
