Vigilance can report that the Combined Services Cricket Association can confirm that the Inter Services Twenty20 Tournament 2015 (IST20 2015) will, once again, be held at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Thursday 11 June 2015. This is the eighth year in a row that Services cricket has been hosted by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord’s, and the sixth year running for the Inter Services Twenty20 Tournament.
The Inter Services Twenty20 Tournament is a triangular competition between the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force senior XI sides and is fiercely competed for; the Army will be looking to retain their crown having won the last two years running in 2013 and 2014. This is one of the few tournaments that provide an opportunity to watch 3 games of high quality Twenty20 cricket in one day.
The Combined Services Cricket Association is also pleased to announce that IST20 2015 has chosen SSAFA as the supported charity and Gullivers Sports Travel is the event primary sponsor.
Vice Admiral Peter Hudson CB CBE, Chairman of the Combined Services Cricket Association said: “I am delighted that Marylebone Cricket Club have kindly invited us to play the Inter Services T20 event at Lord’s, once again, and we are very grateful for the continued support from this prestigious location. For the Servicemen, playing cricket at Lord’s will be one of the highlights of their sporting career but it is also a marvellous day for the supporters and I would encourage people to come along and support their team. The IST20 tournaments have proved to be an outstanding success both for the high standard and thrilling cricket but also for an excellent day out. I am also pleased to announce that we will be supporting SSAFA as our chosen charity again this year; and I am most grateful to Gullivers Sports Travel and British Forces Broadcasting Services (BFBS) for supporting this unique Services’ sporting opportunity at the Home of Cricket.”
John Stephenson, MCC Head of Cricket, said: “It is important that MCC continues to support Services cricket, and I’m pleased that Lord’s will be hosting the Inter Services T20 tournament for the fifth consecutive year. We were a bit unlucky with the weather last year but we still saw some fantastic performances and great matches, and I’m sure it will be as entertaining a spectacle again this year.”
Air Vice- Marshal David Murray, Controller of SSAFA said: “We are delighted to have been chosen again as the official Charity of the Inter-Services Twenty20 Tournament. SSAFA has been supporting the military community since 1885, and has been at the forefront of developing new services to meet changing needs. Today, SSAFA remains at the forefront of support for the entire military community. We provide a diverse range of advice, assistance and specialist services to servicemen and women, veterans, and the families of both, every single day at home and around the world. We support 55,000 individuals every year and our services are continually evolving to ensure we can meet their changing needs.”
MCC will also be broadcasting live ball-by-ball commentary for all the matches via the Lord’s website and there will be regular updates throughout the day on ForcesTV and BFBS .