UoG students bring the ‘Grey Ashes’ to life with innovative media coverage

University of Gloucestershire students have joined forces with the England Over 60s Cricket Team to deliver media coverage of the ‘Grey Ashes’ series against Australia.  

Students from Sports Journalism and TV Production courses have teamed up to create engaging content and live broadcasts across multiple social media platforms to amplify awareness of England Seniors cricket.

The collaboration began two years ago, when UoG Sports Journalism students took over the England Over 60s Men’s Cricket Team’s social media accounts, successfully growing their digital presence. The partnership has now expanded to include filming and live streaming matches.

Led by Ivor Richards, Technician Demonstrator, students brought together their areas of expertise to make the project possible. A satellite truck system enabled games to be streamed with TV Production students taking on the roles of camera operators, vision mixers and directors. Meanwhile, Sports Journalism students worked on commentating and presenting the live streams.

As a result, UoG have covered 16 matches this year, leading to greater exposure for the cricket team, including being featured on BBC regional TV. The first four days of coverage of the Grey Ashes produced by the University drew 66,000 views across 23 countries.

Ivor Richards said: “The collaboration between UoG students and England Over 60s has been incredibly successful and has given students the opportunity to develop industry-level skills. It has pushed them to be increasingly creative and learn from one another to deliver professional-quality broadcasts.

“We have covered numerous games and training sessions across the country and met with cricketers from all over England. This has allowed us to send material that we have created on to regional TV and media outlets, who have then covered the story, resulting in greater exposure for the game.”

Originally established in 2009, England Seniors Cricket is comprised of teams in the over 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s age brackets. The Grey Ashes, in which England compete against Australia over 5 one-day games, is the pinnacle of the England Seniors cricket.

Matt Evans, a third-year student on the Sports Journalism course, said: “Covering the Grey Ashes has allowed me to gain skills that are only possible to achieve by having real-word experiences, and it’s all down to the University giving us opportunities that I don’t think we’d otherwise have had.”

The partnership will continue into the next academic year, with incoming final-year students set to build upon the momentum achieved across social media to date.