Rising Cricket Star Jacob Shines on His Path with ACE

Jacob's journey with ACE (Afro-Caribbean Engagement) in Lancashire, has been one of perseverance, hard work, and impressive progress.

Starting in Summer 2023, he joined the first-ever ACE Community Hub at Trinity High School, where his humility and exceptional talent quickly became evident. His commitment only grew when the ACE Academy was launched in Manchester later that year, where he trained relentlessly, even whilst recovering from injury, to hone his skills.

Over the winter, Jacob earned a training opportunity with Lancashire's County Age Group (CAG) team, although he was not selected in the squad. Undeterred, he took their feedback on board and improved his batting technique.

This determination paid off as he represented ACE in summer matches against other county age group teams, performing exceptionally well. His standout performances led to his selection for the ACE Rookie contract trials, where he was the youngest player taking part.

Jacob continued to impress, earning a spot in the GMCL U15 interleague and later being chosen for the prestigious "Best of Interleague" squad.

Ammar Ashraf, Urban Cricket Manager commented “We are delighted the ACE programme continues to grow in Manchester and are seeing greater levels of grassroots participation, through our community hub delivery.  As the base has grown this has led to our ACE officer Jameel Stuart starting an ACE cricket academy to support the development of our talent pathway.  So, it comes as no surprise that we are incredibly happy that the hard yards have paid off as we see Jacob William at county age group level, congratulations to Jacob.  However, we do understand that there is still a lot of work to do and by creating the opportunity to play and a talent pathway with an ACE academy is just the start of this journey.”

His exceptional performances have now culminated in his selection for Lancashire's U16 CAG team, marking a significant milestone in his cricketing journey.

For more information on the 2025 Ace Programme trials click here