Chance to Shine graduates Lauren Bell and Issy Wong excited to keep on inspiring

Chance to Shine graduates Lauren Bell and Issy Wong are eager to keep inspiring the next generation of cricketers during the second season of the women’s Hundred.

The female edition of the domestic franchise league will get under way on Thursday and England seamers Bell and Wong will be among the star players involved, for Southern Brave and Birmingham Phoenix, respectively.

Both used last year’s tournament as a springboard to a memorable 2022, with the duo earning international debuts in multiple formats this year.

It was back in June when England handed caps to Bell and Wong for the one-off Test with South Africa at Taunton, which not only made for a special occasion for the bowling duo but also national charity Chance to Shine after it gave the youngsters their first taste of cricket through its free sessions.

“It is so exciting for any young player who might be doing Chance to Shine right now and hopefully gives them some role models to look up to and see you can make it,” Bell told the PA news agency.

“The platform for children playing cricket now is so much better than when we played. Hopefully there will be some good youngsters coming through who can push the game on.”

Since the charitable organisation celebrated Bell and Wong becoming its first participants to play for England in June, it has had another milestone to acknowledge.

Last month Claremont Primary School pupil Dhanya Muralidharan had the honour of being the charity’s six-millionth participant in a free session put on at the Manchester school.

Chance to Shine has continuously strived to make the game more accessible with cricket put on for free up and down the country following its foundation after the 2005 Ashes, and Wong feels plenty will follow in