Yorkshire Cricket Foundation to celebrate community in special Ramadan Cup event in Wakefield

The award-winning Foundation is hosting its first ever Yorkshire Ramadan Cup - with the event providing the opportunity for people in the community to pray together, play cricket together, and eat together, on Saturday (April 9) at Wakefield Football Centre.

The Tapeball competition, held in the month of Ramadan, will see eight teams across the region play in 30 ball matches and will welcome Northern Diamonds cricketer Beth Langston as one of the guests of the day.

There is also the opportunity for participants and members of the community to pray together and take part in an iftar meal.

During the period, Muslims do not eat or drink between dawn and evening, with a meal known as iftar taken directly after sunset.

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam. The overall purpose of the fast is to gain Taqwa (which means to gain piety or God-consciousness). This is achieved through an increase in prayers, reading the Qur’an, self-reflection and self-discipline.

Sohail Raz, Diverse Communities Manager for YCF, who has helped organise the community event, said: “The Ramadan Tapeball Cup is a brilliant initiative in a shortened tape-ball format of 30 balls per innings that keeps everyone on their toes.

“With Ramadan coming earlier and earlier every year, this year it will be played indoors and though it will be competitive, there will be a nice community feel with members of the community fasting, playing, praying and breaking their fasts together to create a real family atmosphere.”

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This year Ramadan began on the evening of Friday, April 1 and will end on the evening of Sunday, May 1.

Muslims follow the lunar calendar, so the exact start and end dates depend on the sighting of the moon, so these dates can vary slightly.

Ramadan is followed by the festival of Eid-ul- Fitr, a celebration to mark the end of Ramadan, which will start on the evening of Monday, May 2 and end on the evening of Tuesday, May 3.

The expanded Tapeball Cup competition will feature two teams each from Sheffield, Bradford and Leeds while a team from Dewsbury and a side from Huddersfield will also take part.

Tapeball is a tennis ball wrapped in electrical tape and is used in playing backyard cricket. This modification of the tennis ball gives it greater weight, speed and distance while still being easier to play with than the conventional cricket ball.

The increasing popularity of the tape ball in informal, local cricket has transformed the way games are played.

The Yorkshire Ramadan Cup event is just one of the initiatives Yorkshire Cricket is showcasing this month to highlight and support Ramadan 2022.

This includes all staff invited to take part in a feast to mark the holy month of Ramadan, welcoming people from all faiths and backgrounds to a iftar meal later this week.