Children knocked their learning difficulties for six last week during the biggest special schools cricket festival staged in England.

Players with multiple disabilities were given the chance to emulate their Ashes heroes at the Cricket for Change Centre in Wallington.

A team from St Giles School in Croydon bent it like Flintoff to win one of the Hit the Top tournaments, supported by the Lord’s Taverners.

Pupils at Carew Manor School also took part in a new form of the game, benefiting from specialist coaching and access to cricket clubs in the build-up.

Matthew Patten, chief executive of the Lord’s Taverners, said: “Funding raised by this year’s Lord Mayor’s Appeal has enabled us to support this fantastic project and will help us to give even more young people a sporting chance.”

Andy Dalby-Welsh, a former opening bowler for the England Blind Team and now manager of Hit The Top, said: “It was fantastic to have so many schools competing last Monday.

“We are hugely grateful for the support from The Lord’s Taverners which is really assisting us to change young people's lives. "The winning schools should be incredibly proud of their achievements and look forward to defending their crowns in 2010.”

The purpose-built Cricket for Change Centre in Plough Lane, Wallington, also provides opportunities for disadvantaged youngsters from housing estates.

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