It's my shout: Echosport's Chris Phillips' take on the loss of Southend's festival (From Gazette)

It's my shout: Echosport's Chris Phillips' take on the loss of Southend's festival

12:32pm Thursday 29th September 2011 in Essex County Cricket Club news

AS a kid my sporting heroes were Bryan Robson and Andy Ansah.

And, like most other youngsters, virtually all of my spare time was spent playing football.

But, in the early 1990s, that changed forever as my dad took me along to the Southend Cricket Festival for the very first time.

It was then that I first found that it was even possible to bat and bowl with a ball instead of just kicking one, and I immediately became hooked.

I signed up to play for my school’s cricket team and my love for the sport started to grow.

Each year dad would me take me back to Southend to watch the games and several of my friends did the same with their families.

It was something we would always all look forward to and, as we grew older, we also started to head up to Chelmsford to watch more of the matches.

That would not have happened if it had not been for the Southend Cricket Festival and that is the main reason why the decision to scrap it has left me so sad and angry.

To put it simply, future generations of potential cricket fans and players in our area are being denied an entertaining introduction to what is a wonderful sport within walking distance of their back-yard.

Travelling to Chelmsford and trying to park adds difficulties and expense for those heading to the games with youngsters and I just cannot understand the thinking behind this short-sighted decision, especially as the Southend Festival, which has been running for 105 years, records an average profit of £15,000.

Essex is also a team for the whole county to support. It is not North Essex Cricket Club and fans from the south seem to have been forgotten about during this process.

That has to be harmful for the club’s future and if they do not care about supporters from this region, then why should we care about them?

I am personally feeling that way right now after 19 years of following their fortunes.

But the most upsetting thing is that today’s youngsters from Southend may not even realise their county even has a top class cricket team. And they will be left with only footballers as their main sporting idols.