Cricket unites in wake of devastating killings in Southport

Merseyside’s cricket clubs have joined the flood of support flowing to the town of Southport after three young girls were killed at a dance class on Monday.

All games in both the Love Lane Liverpool Competition and the Southport & District League will begin with a minute’s silence today in memory of Bebe King, Elsie Standcombe and Alice Aguiar.

Whether symbolic or practical, clubs and players from across the region have shown support and solidarity with Southport.

Many clubs have donated to an online fundraiser to support Alder Hey hospital, where the victims and survivors were treated.

And after a sickening coda on Tuesday, in which rioters targeted a local mosque which was entirely unrelated to the killings, the brickwork firm owned by Southport Trinity player and former Firwood Bootle skipper Craig Prince helped to repair the damage, free of charge.

Birkenhead Park captain Ste Hird was in the nets one night in May 2021 when teammate Josh Downie, just 24, collapsed due to an undiagnosed heart condition. He died later that night.

Hird knows both how hard it can be to focus on sport at a time of tragedy, but also how important it can be.

He said: “It’s never easy, especially when it’s so close to home. 

“It takes people different times – some people don’t show it at first but it affects them later on, some people it affects earlier on but it gets easier. 

“I’m sure anyone in the Comp, and the league itself, will do anything they can for anyone affected.” 

Downie’s sister, Becky, competed in an Olympic gymnastics final this week. Life does go on, even if some pain lasts forever.

Hird added: “Sport is a lot of people’s release and a lot of people use it to get away from things. 

“But what happened in Southport is so fresh and raw that it is going to take a while. 

“We should all come together and show our solidarity in times like this, because it’s so devastating.”

from Merseyside Cricket Online https://ift.tt/3AZyBNU