Raby Castle is hosting a Cricket World Cup event that will include not only the trophy but also Sir Ian Botham - and the whole day is free.

On Saturday April 6, Raby Castle will welcome the Cricket World Cup trophy with a family day and cricket match as part of the build-up to the Cricket World Cup, which takes place in England and Wales from May 30 until July 14 2019.

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The Raby Castle cricket day will include photo opportunities with the Cricket World Cup trophy and a chance to watch a Sir Ian Botham XI take part in a 100-ball cricket match.

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And best of all - the whole event is free to attend.

At 1.30pm on Saturday April 6, a cricket match will start on Raby Cricket pitch between a Sir Ian Botham Raby XI and a Durham Cricket XI, which will also showcase the new 100 ball format.

The match is due to finish at 3.45pm. You can watch the game and meanwhile the trophy will be there ready for photos.

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There will also be cricket games from Durham Cricket's matchday family zone that you can take part in, and there will be refreshments for sale.

The Raby Castle family cricket day is part of a nationwide event ahead of the Cricket World Cup, which starts at the end of May. The trophy has been on a 100-day tour of the venues that will be hosting the competition's matches, which are Durham, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds, Southampton, Cardiff and Taunton.

The Cricket World Cup trophy reached Britain in February after an international tour in which it visited 18 countries. The trophy was taken to each of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 participating nations, and also made additional visits to countries in Europe and Africa, and as far as Nepal and the USA.

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Raby Castle's connections to cricket go a long way back. It was the site of one of earliest recorded cricket games in the world.  The match - the first officially recorded game of cricket ever played in Durham in 1751 - was contested by The Duke of Northumberland XI and Lord Barnard XI, and was recreated in 1992 featuring the full Durham XI, including Sir Ian Botham.

Feature image credits: GlenBowman CC BY 2.0 and Bingabonga1 CC BY-SA 3.0