“I am delighted to be working with Neil, hopefully, Serious Cricket will enjoy being associated with the Rest of the World and it will be a great meeting of minds.”
Colin Walters, Manager, Rest of the World XI
Cricket
Serious Cricket Provide World Cup Kits for The Rest Of The World XI
Serious Cricket kit will be worn at the upcoming Over-60s World Cup in Chennai by the Rest of the World XI.
Before that, however, they will head to South Africa for a triangular tournament with Zimbabwe and will also be donning Serious kit.
The Rest of the World XI was formed almost ten years ago by Colin Walters, and they have since embarked on Over-50s/60s tours all around the world, including Dubai, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Barbados, and the previous World Cup in Queensland, Australia.
Walters said: “In 2014, I organized the first-ever senior cricket tournament in Dubai. We had a team from Wales and a couple of other county teams. Then we had a team of individuals from various places, including someone who had played internationally for Malta, so we called ourselves the Rest of the World, and it just stemmed from there.”
The team will travel to South Africa in the middle of October after being invited to attend South Africa and Zimbabwe’s trials for the World Cup in Johannesburg before taking on the South African XI in Cape Town.
The team for South Africa includes players from New Zealand, South Africa, the United States of America, and Scotland, while the World Cup squad will consist of players from “associate” nations, including Ireland, Namibia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Walters said, “We’re getting there in terms of bringing lots of different people together from all over the world to have the chance to play cricket with each other when they otherwise would not.”
Initially, the team was designed to be a one-off, but after successfully taking 110 people on tour in 2014, Walters was convinced to make it a regular occurrence and set up a non-profit called the Rest of the World Limited.
The Rest of the World were asked to be part of the inaugural Over-60s World Cup in Australia last year when a spot became available and it was a welcome return to touring after Covid-19 derailed a trip to Bermuda. They finished a respectable sixth out of 12 as Pakistan took home the trophy.
The upcoming World Cup will be streamed, so be sure to watch the team wearing their Serious Cricket kit as they take on the world.
“We are delighted to be working with the Rest of the World XI for their upcoming tours to South Africa and the World Cup in Chennai. It will be great to see our high quality match kits and teamwear on display at International Tournaments, and we wish them every success in both competitions!”
Neil Rider, Managing Director, Serious Sport Group
The cricket does not stop there, with plans in place for tours of Scotland and New Zealand as well as a huge tournament in the UAE next October to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the formation of the team.
