Merseyside's newest LGBTQ+ team 'created to meet the diverse needs' of the region

Merseyside’s newest LGBTQ+ sports team is determined to “meet the diverse needs” of the region.

Mersey Rose Recreationals Cricket Club has been formed to promote diversity and inclusion within the game. Inspired by the Birmingham Unicorns, the team is hoping to replicate a similar welcoming environment for queer people but is also enthusiastic about becoming a movement for inclusion in other areas - disability, age, ethnicity, social background and neurodiversity.

Andi Page, one of the club’s captains, told the ECHO what it hopes to achieve. The 46-year-old from St Helens said: “As an LGBTQ+ person, it’s always been important to me to be visible and be honest about who I am.

'Drug taxer' who carried out raids on dangerous gangs met a grisly end

'Beautiful' woman found dead in Kirkby home was 'amazing mum'

“I’ve been playing cricket for 10 years and while I’ve only encountered a small amount of overt homophobia and transphobia, I’ve found that there aren’t too many LGBTQ+ people playing cricket. That’s often because clubs don’t know how to be welcoming and reach out to our community.

“We want to be a club where LGBTQ+ people know they will be welcomed and included. Not only that, we want to be a club where anyone who wants to enjoy this wonderful game will be welcomed and included, irrespective of ability, age, gender, disability or race. We want to enjoy cricket, but we will be doing it in a different way with the emphasis on inclusion rather than competitiveness.”

The club will play only friendly matches against other local teams. There will be two mixed-gender teams: a hardball team that plays on Sundays and a softball team that plays shorter midweek matches. Softball is aimed at players who are disabled or new to the