“I DID IT 100 times!” exclaimed one boy on Friday.

Another, stood next to him and with his name embossed onto a personalised sky blue shirt, replied: “Now watch me.”

They had been asked by Adam Garrod, a coach guiding them through a first All Stars Cricket session, how many times they could throw a ball upwards and catch it again inside 60 seconds.

READ: Why All Stars Cricket is important to the sport in mid-Cheshire

That scene at Davenham on Friday evening was no doubt replicated at Oakmere and Weaverham shortly afterwards, and again at Oulton Park the following morning.

An hour of running, throwing and catching held the attention of those I watched from the boundary rope at Butcher’s Stile.

I smiled too as I watched a swarm chase a huge tennis ball pushed past back past them after a satisfying swing of an orange plastic bat by one girl.

“Have you had fun?” Adam asked all 40 children sat in front of him after an hour of activity.

Their reply, in chorus, was emphatic.

I suspect they told mum and dad the same on the way home too.

Everybody I have asked about All Stars has, so far, given an enthusiastic reply.

More kids in mid Cheshire, a total above 250 at the latest count, are taking part this time than during the programme’s inaugural run 12 months ago.

Any initiative that gets them playing cricket, most for the first time, has to be a good thing.

At the absolute minimum, they will start to develop skills that are transferable to other team sports if they decide cricket isn’t the sport for them.

Being more optimistic, they could join a club’s youngest age-group team.

It’s obvious that plenty of thought has gone into the way All Stars is structured.

At first, it doesn’t even look like cricket – not for the youngsters.

But the essence of the sport is there.

It’s too early to say what the lasting impact of the programme might be, although there is some evidence of kids and parents staying on after eight weeks have passed.

The clubs I’ve asked to comment have all been encouraged by the feedback they’ve had.

Of course, words are one thing.

Engaging children in sport is more difficult than ever, but that shouldn’t stop us trying.

A lot rides on it at a time when fewer adults are playing for those same clubs every Saturday.

That same boy I described at the start had one more thing to say.

“Are you coming back next week?” was Adam’s final question.

The answer was delivered with a punch to the air: “Yeah!”