Promising young cricketer Noah Murphy enjoyed the best day of his life so far when he travelled over 200 miles for a cricket package that he won in a charity auction which included a one to one coaching session with England cricketers Steve Davies and Jack Leach as well as a bespoke top of the range bat and batting gloves donated by Millichamp and Hall.
The 12-year-old who lives in Sheffield where he plays for Hallam Cricket Club as well as representing Sheffield District and South Yorkshire, spotted the charity auction that was being run by the charity ‘Don’t Lose Hope’ who are based at Bourne in Lincolnshire, back in the autumn.
Noah’s mum Tania Murphy takes up the story: “As soon as he spotted the auction Noah was so excited and keen to be the winner.
“He begged and begged us to let him make a bid as our Christmas present to him and he was even happy to add to it from his own money, if what we would spend on his present wasn’t enough. In the end he was the one who made the winning bid and since he discovered that he has just been so excited.”
As Noah lived over four hours away from Taunton and is at school in Sheffield his parents David and Tania had to arrange a time that was convenient for everybody, especially for Leach who was in the England tour party to Sri Lanka.
On Thursday evening Noah and his family travelled down to Taunton and stayed overnight to ensure that he was there on time the following morning.
On Friday the long wait was over and Noah got to meet his heroes and enjoy his coaching session in the Centre of Excellence at the Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton.
The young cricketer made quite an impression on those who watched him bowl, which included Brian Rose who captained Somerset during the Glory Years and who is now President of SCCC.
Leach, who has since flown out to Sri Lanka said: “Noah certainly looked impressive and is one of the best young off spinners that I have seen and it was great to be able to work with him.”
Rob Chambers who is the proprietor of Millichamp and Hall said: “When we were asked to donate a prize for this very worthwhile charity we were only too pleased to support them in the way we did.
He added: “Noah was thrilled to come down and look around the workshop with the rest of his family and loved his coaching session. it’s just great to be able to give something back like this.”
Post written by Richard Walsh.
