UK politicians to visit on goodwill cricket tour

MPs to play against Jewish, Arab youngsters, and top club team

By Philip Podolsky 7 October 2012, 2:47 pm Edit

John Emburey (photo credit: Courtesy)

A cricket-playing group of British politicians — The Lords and Commons Cricket Club — is visiting Israel later this week to both learn about the region and play the game.

Coordinated with the Israel Cricket Association (ICA), the visit is designed to “combine an original mix of cricket and political fact-finding,” organizers said.

The delegation is made up predominantly of Conservative MPs, with one Labor MP, and also includes former England captain John Emburey.

The ICA was last year awarded the Spirit of Cricket Award at the International Cricket Council (ICC) Development Program Awards for its Cricket4Peace project. Cricket4Peace uses cricket to bring together Israeli and Palestinian children from disadvantaged communities.

Participants in the Israel Cricket Association’s Cricket4peace program (photo credit: ICA)

The UK parliamentarians will travel to Beersheba on Thursday to play cricket with Israeli and Palestinian children participating in the Cricket4Peace program. The group will also be playing cricket with Bedouin children in the Negev village of Hura.

Games have also been scheduled against an invitational XI assembled by the Chairman of the ICA, Stanley Perlman, and against reigning national champions, Young Ashdod.