News Article

Sussex announce new partnership with Aldridge for Academy and Women’s & Girls teams

Sussex County Cricket Club are delighted to announce that they have struck a three-year deal with Aldridge, Sir Rod Aldridge’s private family organisation, to support their Academy and the Women’s and Girls teams.

The Aldridge brand will be displayed on the shirts of the Academy and the Women’s and Girls teams.

The Aldridge Cricket Academy (ACA) Sixth Form is a unique partnership between the Sussex Cricket Board, supported by Sussex County Cricket Club, Brighton Aldridge Community Academy and Portslade Aldridge Community Academy, schools sponsored by the education charity Sir Rod Aldridge also chairs.

Sir Rod Aldridge, founder of Aldridge said, “Ours is a private family organisation with a very public ambition: to unlock growth by generating wealth with a purpose. That means building communities with an entrepreneurial mindset and creating opportunities for young people to reach their potential. The Academy and Women and Girls teams have got a great record in helping talented cricketers develop into County and International players.

“The Aldridge Cricket Academy is working closely with both organisations to support players who want to develop their game and gain academic qualifications at the same time. I am delighted that Aldridge can further that partnership through this sponsorship.”

The Aldridge Cricket Academy launched integrated A-Level and cricket development sixth form courses last September. The ACA provides specific and intensive cricket coaching programmes for male and female cricketers, delivered by a dedicated coaching team consisting of ECB qualified coaches and other specialist coaches.

Sussex’s Academy is a combined programme between the ECB and the County Club. It is an intensive programme run by the Cricket Performance Manager and Academy Director, Keith Greenfield, with players ranging between 15 to 19 years old and are chosen after a long selection process which identifies them with the potential to become professional and/or international cricketers.

The Sussex Women and Girls have established themselves as one of the most successful counties in the last decade. There are over 80 Women and Girls representing the county from Senior 1st XI to Under 11 age group cricket. The Senior team have been County Champions six times since 2003 and the Under 17 team have won several national titles in the last few years.

The sponsorship deal will look to further strengthen the partnership between the Aldridge Cricket Academy and Sussex Cricket through working collaboratively on community projects as well as sharing coaching resources and facilities.

Current Sussex Women’s Captain and England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor said, “We are delighted that Aldridge are sponsoring Sussex for the next three years. I have been part of the Women and Girls’ set up for over a decade and in that time I was a member of the Sussex Academy as well.

“Both of these programmes were hugely important to my journey to international success so it is vital they continue to thrive and grow via support from Aldridge. I have seen first-hand the exciting opportunities for young talented sports people to attend Aldridge Academies to develop both academically and in their chosen sport in excellent facilities with great support from staff and coaches.”

Sussex’s Cricket Performance Manager and Academy Director Keith Greenfield said, “The unique partnership between Sussex Cricket and the Aldridge Cricket Academy offers ambitious males and female players an unparalleled learning experience, which combines exceptional cricket training and state of the art facilities with academic study. We are delighted to be entering into partnership with them and we thank them for their support.”