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Cohen Stewart UK Experience

Cohen Stewart UK Experience

Posted: Monday, 3 September 2018

Thirteen year old Rotorua cricket player Cohen Stewart, has just returned home from a trip of a lifetime, after being selected for the first international junior cricket scholarship instituted by the Parley Cricket Club in Bournemouth, England

The origins of first Parley junior cricket scholarship, go back some two decades when Cohen’s dad (long-time Rotorua cricket identity Crispian Stewart) was the English clubs first overseas player in the (English) 1997 and 1998 seasons.

Crispian maintained contact with his English cricket club over the years and when they indicated they were looking at extending their overseas player program to include youth players, the Stewart family lodged an application.

Success with the Parley CC scholarship application, saw a concerted drive to raise funds for Cohen’s and his Dads travel and living expenses. Assistance for the trip included support from the NZ Cricket Foundation, Sky Television (Cricket Show) MG2 (gear sponsorship) and a myriad of friends and supporters in the Bay of Plenty Cricket community.

“From a legacy perspective, the trip has certainly fired up Cohen’s enthusiasm and his personal game and development was noticeable during our three month stay in the United Kingdom” said Crispian. 

During his time in the UK, Cohen played an amazing 61 games in 85 days playing for a range of teams from the Parley Under 13’s to senior teams. Cohen scored 765 runs at an average of 27.32, took 57 wickets and was involved in 28 dismissals with 18 catches and 10 runouts.

Cohen’s most valuable experience was to play for the Parley first team during Wednesday evening League games. “The adult experience was gold when he went back and played age group cricket, which is a grand example of talented young players being given the opportunity to experience the challenges of top-grade cricket” said Crispian.

The trip was full-on, with Cohen and Crispian spending any down-time volunteering at the Parley CC, assisting with outfield and wicket maintenance. In appreciation of the outstanding hospitality, The Stewarts donated the ‘Cohen Cup’, which will be presented as a Citizenship Award for a Parley CC junior player displaying exceptional ethics and respect for the club, players, coaches, opposition supporters and the game.

The best way to understand and visualize Cohen’s trip is to click on the web link below, which chronicles his and his dad’s journey, from day one leaving Rotorua. 

https://cohenscrickettrip.weebly.com/

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