A cricket hub has opened and aims to offer state school students in Brighton and Hove the sort of opportunities more commonly associated with pupils attending public schools.
The hub has been set up by the MCC Foundation and has been holding its first trials this week.
On Friday (17 November) another trial is taking place – for under 15 boys with an open invitation to youngsters in year 8, 9 and 10.
The hub is being hosted at the Sir Rod Aldridge Cricket Centre at the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA).
The trials are being held at the £1.8 million cricket centre which has top-level indoor and outdoor facilities.
Those who impress can look forward to 12 weeks of free structured coaching throughout the winter.
The foundation behind the hub is the charitable arm of the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) – one of the oldest and most prestigious clubs in the world.
The MCC, which owns Lord’s cricket ground, hopes the Brighton hub will help address the decline of talented children from state schools progressing into club cricket and representing county sides.
The MCC Foundation has said that it believes that this decline is reflected in the make-up of the England cricket team, “65 per cent of whom come from the independent schooling sector, despite this educating only 7 per cent of the population”.
To apply for trials or for more information, contact MCCF Brighton hub manager Alexia Walker at awalker@baca-uk.co.uk.
