Young cricketers at a Worcestershire school have raised more than £2,000 in memory of a former pupil and rising cricket star.

Josh Baker, who played for Worcestershire, died in May at the age of 20 from sudden arrhythmic death syndrome.

At the weekend, pupils from Baker’s former school, Malvern College, held a 24-hour cricket marathon to raise money for Diabetes UK in his memory.

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His parents, Paul and Lisa, were at the school to watch the first few overs being played.

The event raised more than £2,300.

While at Malvern, Josh was a member of School House.

Mark Hardinges, his former house master and a former professional cricketer with Gloucestershire and Essex, said: "It was a fantastic, but also very challenging event.

"With these kinds of things, they start off unbelievably and they end unbelievably but there are a lot of hard yards in between.

"They boys all kept going and that was really inspiring to see."

He explained: "A rota was drawn up, with everybody there at the beginning and then the boys played in two-hour shifts.

"Myself, my deputy and another teacher were there throughout to keep the boys going with drinks and snacks.

"The whole thing was driven by the head of house team, who did a fantastic job.

"They knew Josh from his time here, so it was important to them."

Although no score was kept throughout the 24 hours, a competitive element did creep in.

Mr Hardinges added: "There was some amazing camaraderie.

"At one point a team from one of the other houses - House 2 - came and so we had a bit of competition there.

"There was another occasion at around 2.30pm on the second day when there were only three boys playing, so the message went out and more people just turned up."

The pupils chose Diabetes UK as Baker was diagnosed with the condition while he was at Malvern.

"Josh was a well-loved member of the School House community," said Mr Hardinges.

"We wanted to do something in his memory and this seemed like a very fitting way to honour him."

Baker made 47 appearances across all formats for Worcestershire since turning professional in 2021, the year he left Malvern College.

Last week, the club announced they would be retiring Baker’s number 33 shirt in his memory.