A day long cricket showdown has been held for players to put their skills to the test while raising money for a Reading sports charity.

The cricket tournament was staged at Shinfield Cricket Club and saw 16 teams face off against each other.

The tournament culminated in a showdown between the Vanquishers team from Reading and Gully Cricketers from Slough, with the Vanquishers, who were unbeaten, lifted the winning trophy.

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) organised the event to help raise money for Reading charity Sport in Mind, which aims to transform the lives and mental health of children and adults through sport and physical activity.

The tournament was attended by councillor Beth Rowland (Liberal Democrats, South Lake) the mayor of Wokingham Borough.

At the event, she said: “Thank you for each and everyone of you for helping the local charity which will help someone who is not going through an easy time.

“If we don’t work for others, we would be the lesser people for it because we learn lot of things when we’re giving rather than taking.”

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Karan Singh Panwar, the HSS Sewa representative for Reading said: “We would like to thank the volunteers for all their outstanding efforts in arranging the tournament and all the players for participating.

“We are extremely honoured to have the worshipful mayor of Wokingham Borough cllr Rowland, cllr Clive Jones, cllr Pauline Jorgensen and others join us for this special event, their presence signifies their unwavering commitment to our community and highlights the significance of collective efforts in creating positive change.

“We are also grateful to all participating teams for their support.”

The principles of the HSS organisation activities revolve around Sanskar (spiritual development), Sewa (service to humanity) and Sangathan (coming together), with the charity event being a reflection of those principles.

So far, £1,307 has been raised for Sport in Mind through a Just Giving page here.

The event was also attended by cllrs Norman Jorgensen (Conservative, Maiden Erlegh), David Hare,  cllr Jones (both Liberal Democrats, Hawkedon) and cllr Raj Singh (Conservative, Kentwood).

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Cllr Pauline Jorgensen (Conservative, Hillside) the leader of the opposition on Wokingham Borough Council said: “It was a fabulous day out thanks to the brilliant cricket teams who were playing in the charity cricket tournament at Shinfield Cricket Ground raising money for Sport in Mind.

“There was a nail-biting finish with a high-scoring final limited 6-over match.

“Brilliant cricket and fantastic fun all in aid of a very important cause.”

Cllr Jorgensen is also the Conservative candidate for the new Earley and Woodley parliamentary constituency, which covers Shinfield. 

Cllr Jones, who is also the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Wokingham constituency, said: “I’m very happy to have been invited, there was 160 people all raising some money for Sport in Mind which is a very good local charity and I’m very happy to be supporting it.”