A WORCESTER company is celebrating a deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Tacklesport Ltd, based in Pierpoint Street, manufactures and produces sports coaching and teaching CD Roms and websites.

The company has just signed an eight-year agreement with the ECB, the governing body for cricket in the county, to produce cricketing teaching aids.

The deal came on the back of a highly successful package written and produced by Tacklesport, called Howzat. This was given free to every secondary school in the country.

The package was launched by Kate Hoey, then Minister for Sport, and is endorsed by the Teacher Training Agency.

"As a result of that package being so successful, we have an eight-year agreement to produce further resources," said Andrew Cushing, managing director.

The company's multi-media CD Rom teaches children cricket within the National Curriculum.

"It is a fully interactive resource for use by teachers and pupils," said Mr Cushing, an ex-rugby coach.

The company, established eight years ago, is currently working on the development of a coaching package for the ECB, as a first stage to what will become its standard coaching resources.

Other sports

As well as cricket, the company, which employs four people, produces teaching aids for rugby union, rugby league, Aussie Rules and basketball.

It has even signed an agreement with the Physical Education Association of UK to produce a CD Rom for people teaching movement to young children.

"We have produced a coaching package for the head coach of the Northampton Saints, Wayne Smith, who is a former All Blacks coach," said Mr Cushing.

"We have also just completed a teaching and coaching CD for Great Britain Rugby League, which we developed in partnership with them.

"We have also produced coaching packages for the West Coast Eagles, an Aussie Rules side in Western Australia, similar to the stuff we did for the Northampton Saints."

The company is also in the final stages of an agreement to supply teaching resources to New Zealand Hockey, New Zealand Cricket and Sport Auckland, in New Zealand, and also has a relationship with English Basketball, which is endorsing and promoting a basketball CD Rom produced by Tacklesport.