The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday launched the #raisethebat campaign, which highlights key workers from the world of cricket who are helping to support their community during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Key workers who have been nominated by their cricket clubs will be featured on over 300 billboards across England and Wales. Meanwhile, the whole cricket family have been asked to shine a light on the many more key workers who deserve recognition using #raisethebat on social media," the ECB said in a statement.
Nominated key workers include Holly Buxton, Club Secretary at Calder Grove Cricket Club in Yorkshire, who has formed a COVID-19 workforce to support the vulnerable in her community, Dr Nasir Ali, who is an Emergency Medicine Consultant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Event Doctor at Edgbaston Stadium and Wendy Morris, who is an NHS nurse and player and volunteer at Ropley Cricket Club in Hampshire.
The billboards which were planned to support a summer of cricket, have been used to feature some of England cricketers including Heather Knight, Joe Root, Anya Shrubsole, Moeen Ali and Matt Askin, to thank key workers who have been nominated by clubs across the country.
The players have also led tributes with personalised video messages to nominated key workers that are local to them.
Russell James, Sales and Marketing Director at the ECB, who is leading the campaign, said, "We have been truly humbled by reading the nominations which have drawn attention to the heroic work of nurses, teachers, care workers and supermarket staff who have responded to this crisis without hesitation."
"People are doing incredible things across the country and if we can shine a light on even a few of them with this out of home campaign, then we're delighted to play our part," he added.
The ECB is also asking people to use social media, and the hashtag #raisethebat, to share stories of other key workers within the cricket family who deserve recognition. It is part of the game-wide Together Through This Test initiative, which was launched to support and celebrate the cricket family during COVID-19.