Cricket Cities Programme in Manchester launched with T20 games
Manchester is making major strides in grassroots cricket development through the ECB's Cricket Cities Progamme with Burnage Academy for Boys at the forefront.
Burnage Academy for Boys is set to become Manchester’s first state school-based cricket academy, with the milestone marked by the first in a series of matches played on the school’s non-turf pitch.
The Academy welcomed players from Lancashire Cricket Foundation (LCF) Community Programmes for evening T20 fixtures at the Under-13, Under-15 & Under-16 levels in June.
The games have been tightly contested and victories for Burnage Academy show the level of interest, enthusiasm and ability in cricket.
As part of the initiative, the Lancashire Cricket Foundation maintains a year-round presence at Burnage Academy through Cricket Cities Officer Arsalan Khalid, who is based at the site. Arsalan has played a pivotal role in connecting pupils with wider community cricket opportunities, including Street Cricket, and integrating cricket into both the school and local sports ecosystem.
Some of the very positive feedback from the School players after their training and games:
“It was a great experience to play at school in real games of cricket against strong teams from Manchester. It was a close game and we were all talking about the next day.”
“I have been enjoying the cricket sessions in school, so to have some games here is good. I want to keep improving and taking part in cricket here.”
“We won! I felt really proud of the school, I go to Street Cricket here with Khuram and this was good because it’s real cricket and I thought I did well.”
‘’I am not able to go the Cricket club as its too far for me and my parents doesn’t allows me but when its a School match i can make it easily.’’
Arsalan Khalid - Cricket Cities Officer for Lancashire Cricket Foundation, said: “Through Cricket Cities we aimed to offer what young people truly wanted. After consulting pupils and participants, it was clear that there was strong demand for match play..
“The school staff have been very supportive—especially Mr Trainer, who is particularly enthusiastic about expanding cricket provision.”
Arsalan added ‘’I feel very welcome here—it reminds me of my own school days. I always wanted to play hardball cricket back then, but my school didn’t have these kinds of facilities.’’
“I do believe it's a great opportunity for school pupils to gain experience of playing hardball from a very young age which could help them develop into strong players”
“Having worked on various community cricket projects in the area, I’ve noticed there’s a real lack of accessible hardball cricket facilities for school pupils. Many local clubs are already at capacity and can’t take in new junior players.”
“There are some fantastic training programmes with MCCF Hubs and Street but the pupils really want to get out and play cricket. Some of the pupils have either moved from Tape Ball or played hardball cricket for the first time and have had great done doing so.”
Lancashire Cricket Foundation is leading the Cricket Cities Programme in Manchester and Burnage with a key focus on playing more Cricket, growing the number of participants by providing high standards of coaching & training throughout the year both indoors and outdoors.
We would like to thank Islamic Relief Fund for their support of this unique programme in Manchester.