Within weeks, he found himself working for Tailor Made Systems Ltd, which makes mobile machines to test the quality of airport runway lighting.By building a computer model that simulated the movement of the trailer-borne device, David was able to calculate how accurate its readings would be if it were manufactured at a more compact size. By its nature, it tends to appeal more to science and technology than humanities or arts students.Most undergraduates find out about the initiative through trade fairs and marketing campaigns targeted at their faculties. During internships, they are paid £185 a week, free of income tax and national insurance, thanks to a neat loophole that allows companies to classify these short-term earnings as a training allowance.So who is eligible, and how can they apply? The answer to the first question is that Shell Step is open to all undergraduates approaching their final year. The scheme is hugely popular among undergraduates, too: for each successful applicant, seven are turned away because recruiters cannot find ideal placements.It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out why students find the programme so appealing. Her innovation saves the company £64,000 a year.So it’s hardly surprising that 94 per cent of businesses that have participated in Shell Step would happily do so again. Her creations – together worth nearly £400,000 a year to the company – earned her a £1,000 cheque and Shell’s annual award for the UK’s Most Enterprising Student.In 2002, Danielle Holden, 20, an environment and economics student at York University, won the same accolade after inventing a simple tilting system to help workers at a small textiles firm in Accrington ensure their drums of bleach were drained properly.

In 2004, 24-year-old Martina Rieder, a biochemistry and management studies undergraduate from the University of Sussex, devised surgical aids including a silicon skin adhesive for a private medical firm. By matching undergraduates to companies suited to their skills and interests, it aims to promote industrial innovation while providing the students with valuable work experience.Now in its 20th year, Shell Step has brought real benefits to hundreds of such SMEs. Yet this is how thousands of students are whiling away the summer vacations before their final year – thanks to the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme, a scheme set up by the oil giant to improve graduate employment prospects.
Shell Step, as it is known, recruits 1,000 interns each June for eight-week placements with small- and medium-sized UK businesses (SMEs). For many undergraduates, holiday jobs are spent surgically attached to headsets in sweaty call-centres, or stifling yawns through night shifts at service stations. The idea of being paid £185 a week, tax free, to enhance your career prospects by putting your degree subject to practical use in the workplace simply doesn’t compute. Girls should know it’s not just a boy’s game, it’s for everyone.NJ.

I wanted to get involved so I started playing at school and then at clubs It’s great fun. Now I play in after-school clubs and I go down to the nets on Wednesdays with friends.Seniz Hussein, 11, has been playing for five yearsI started at primary school, and then with a few friends Watching TV got me in to it I play with boys and girls. Now I play outside school, too.Tobi Fayeun, 13, has been playing for four yearsWhen I was younger I used to watch cricket on TV. It’s an exciting few years ahead.”Stars of tomorrow?Frankie Cadby, 13, has been playing cricket at City of London Academy for the past six weeksI started playing at school for two hours a week, and I was really good at bowling That got me interested. Is the cricket season in danger of being overshadowed by the football frenzy of the World Cup?Not according to Edwards: “Cricket is now exciting in a way that in the past it’s not been,” she says “Cricket is the word on the street It’s phenomenal, really. Last year, she led the England team to victory against Australia in the Ashes.A repeat of last year’s double Ashes victory looks unlikely, with Australia playing strongly and England crippled by injuries.

Edwards was spotted as a schoolgirl at Chelmsford cricket club. “Cricket at school was very important for me; it all went from there,” says Charlotte Edwards, captain of the England women’s cricket team. It’s part of a wider life education.”For fans, the focus is on finding the future stars of Lords. Anyone who shared the thrill of last year’s Ashes will want us to be beating the Aussies a decade or two from now That means finding and nurturing talent early. Clare Connor, a former England captain and PR director at the school, explains the benefits “It’s not rich kids’ charity,” she says “They learn from each other Sport brings people together. But there is more to this, say advocates, than a bit of wily generosity.Brighton College has opened up its facilities and provided coaching to the local comprehensive Falmer High School.