A new series of events launched by the team at Digbeth Dining Club, “Second City’s Finest”, is looking to celebrate some of the biggest names to come out of the city and who have helped put Birmingham on the map.
In the style of ‘An Evening With…’ event and set in the casual and fun environment of Hockley Social Club, the first event will be hosted by cricket loving BBC News Presenter and multi-award winning journalist Nick Owen as he talks to one of the stars of the World Cup Winning Cricket team, Chris Woakes.
The multiformat all rounder, has played 45 tests for England, scoring over 1500 runs and taking an amazing 130 wickets in that time as well as being a double World Champion as he was a vital part of both the One Day and T20 winning squads.
The night will take place at Digbeth Dining Club’s city centre venue which is just a stones throw from the Jewellery Quarter and City Centre, on Tuesday 16th May, exactly one month before the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston kick off.
With it being so close to the Ashes, expect some great anecdotes and insights from someone who has been through the roller coaster of the biggest rivalry in cricket and is hoping to be given the nod for the series which England are hoping to win for the first time since 2015.
As the event is at the award winning street food venue, food will be provided by Only Jerkin and the winner of Britain’s Best Burger: The Patty Freaks.
The night will be concluded with a Q+A with the audience, as well as a raffle where all money raised will go to the Digbeth Dining Club C.I.C, a community interest company that provides food, workshops and holiday activities to local children living in poverty. Prizes will include some cricketing goodies as well as some “money can’t buy” access.
Tickets will be just £10 in order to keep it as accessible to anyone and everyone whilst under 18’s are allowed in free with an adult ticket.
The show will start at 8 and will be wrapped up by 10 and the doors open at 6 so those wanting to have a drink and food before the main event. The night will be very informal, no dress code or table bookings required.
Jack Brabant, founder of Digbeth Dining Club said “this style of event is something that we’ve wanted to do for quite some time now. Whether it’s in sport, the arts, media, education or comedy – Birmingham has such a wealth of talent across all generations and I think it’s something we still don’t shout about enough.
The whole of the DDC office are huge cricket fans so Chris Woakes, given he has played such a huge part in winning 2 world cups, plus being the face of Warwickshire Cricket and playing over in the IPL – seemed like the obvious choice for us.
“Chris is famously regarded as being ‘the nicest guy in cricket’ – and we can see where he has got that nickname now. He didn’t hesitate at all in wanting to kick-start this series of events with us and he’s been a joy to work with already. Nick Owen and him coincidentally go way back too, so we think this is just going to be a truly special evening, celebrating what has been a pretty incredible career”.
Chris, who originally hails from the north of Birmingham and played for Aston Manor Cricket Club as a boy, said of the collaboration, “As soon as the team at DDC approached me I was really keen to be involved. They are a cool brand in Brum and what they are doing with the CIC is really inspiring stuff and I am keen to help in any way. Obviously I am a proud Brummie so it’s nice to be asked to speak about your experiences to the people you’ve grown up around and with it being so close to the Ashes, I imagine there will be a lot of fun questions”
Tickets are available here – https://bit.ly/40p984l