Published on: Tuesday, May 24, 2022
After an enforced two-year break, Taunton’s world-famous King’s Cricket Festivals will be returning this summer with a new man in charge - former Somerset player Keith Parsons. In addition to running the Festivals, the former Somerset all-rounder does a lot of coaching across the teams at Kings College and works with the younger players at King’s Hall School.
“It was great to have the opportunity to come and join King’s back in February. There are some really talented young cricketers, both boys and girls, and my job is to try to give them all the tools they need to perform to the best of their ability and help them enjoy their cricket, whether that’s at club cricket level or going onto play first class cricket.”
The 2022 King’s Festivals start in the middle of July and runs for five weeks. During this time there will be 68 teams at King’s involving almost 1,000 young cricketers between the ages of ten and 14 from all over England and across the world.
Parsons said: “It’s a huge challenge for me and a lot of work to set up, but most of the teams have confirmed and I’m really looking forward to it being an incredible Festival.
“It was established by Malcolm Broad in 1983, and with the help of Dennis Breakwell, it grew and gained a huge reputation. This year they are handing over the reins to King’s College to continue the tradition of first-class cricket.
“It’s an exciting time, even though there’s still a lot to arrange, but we’re all looking forward to it, and hopefully the sun shines and we can play cricket every day.’
King’s College has incredible grounds and facilities, with six perfect pitches. Teams arrive on Sunday afternoon and leave Friday, so there will be 12 teams at the School each week with spectators able to enjoy six matches each day.
Parsons continued: “My role is to co-ordinate the whole event, whether it is the on-field cricket matters or off the field catering, accommodation and entertainment for all our players. An exciting new feature will be a marquee village with numerous sponsorship and advertising opportunities for businesses to support the event, either in person, online or through the events’ live streaming.”