BRADFORD cricket Hubs are looking to make a historical double today in National Competition at Lord’s.

Two cricket teams from Bradford are looking to complete a historical double on Saturday when they play at Lord’s in the final of MCC Foundation Hubs, a competition and free cricket programme for state school children.

The MCC Foundation Bradford boys and girls teams will be at the Home of Cricket and are the first hub in the history of the programme and competition to provide finalists in the boys and girls competition.

Launched in 2012 the MCC Foundation Hubs Programme provides free cricket coaching to state-educated children aged between 11 and 16 in a number of boys and girls cricket Hubs across the county.

In that time over 20,000 youngsters have taken part in the programme which consists of 10 weeks of cricket sessions between January and April which is then followed by a national competition with the boys and girls’ finals played on the main pitch at Lord’s.

An extra £1 million of funding which includes £500,000 from MCC, (match funded by ECB) has seen the number of Hubs grow from 77 to 126 this year with plans to increase to 150 Hubs and over 5,000 participants next year to give more young people from hard-to-reach communities opportunities to play cricket and access the talent pathway. This year’s programme has also seen a 53% increase in female players.

Both teams got together for their final training on Wednesday night at the Park Avenue Cricket Centre in Bradford before travelling south for their big day.

Bradford Boys Hub will be looking to take it one step further when they take on Wembley Boys, after a 12 run loss to Reading Boys Hub in last year’s final, Maroof Khan, MCC Foundation Bradford Boys Hub Coach said: “It’d be good to go one step further this year and win the competition.

“To be there as a coach sitting on the balcony at Lord’s is a dream come true.

“Win or lose it’ll be a great occasion for these boys who worked so hard to get here and I hope they enjoy it and do themselves proud.”

Bradford Girls’ hub have a big task on their hands as take on last year’s victors Guildford Girls’ hub, Mohammed Salim, MCC Foundation Bradford Girls Head Coach, explained: “The MCC Foundation Hub programme is fantastic, and the 10 weeks of coaching is priceless giving them the opportunity to come regularly and get first class coaching.

“I’ve been to Lord’s once before when we reached the final in 2021 with our under 15s girls but this time I’ll try to take more in.

“The girls play for all different clubs but the MCC Foundation has made it possible to receive 10 weeks of free coaching and that helps enormously.

“They say that if the Yorkshire team is strong, the English team is strong and the women’s game has in the last few years has really taken off.”

Their games take place on Saturday at Lord’s Cricket Ground, with the Bradford Boys facing off against Wembley Boys at 11am, followed by the Bradford Girls Hub taking on Guildford Girls at 3pm.

Players interested in taking part in next year’s MCC Foundation Hubs programme can find out more at www.lords.org/mcc/mcc-foundation