NICK FRIEND: Among the 200 children who passed through the scheme to be picked up at representative level in 2022 are 81 girls
Two-hundred youngsters on the MCC Foundation's hub scheme earned selection for county representative sides in 2022.
The initiative, which affords free-to-access coaching and match opportunities, currently caters for more than 2,800 state-educated children between the ages of 11 and 16.
Within those parameters, the hubs are selective and talent-focused, with a finals day at Lord's for the leading regions.
Seven members of the Newcastle hub that won the competition earned county spots.
In London, where Croydon, Hammersmith, Lewisham, Leyton, Luton, Newham and Tower Hamlets are among 14 areas of focus, a showcase event featuring 40 of the most promising participants saw 12 picked up by Middlesex, Surrey and Kent.
In 2021, MCC Foundation hubs from Bradford and the Cotswolds took part in the first-ever girls' under-18 match on the main square at Lord's (Image: MCC Foundation)
At the charitable foundation's Belfast hub, 22 players were scouted and added to the Northern Cricket Union's pathway.
Of those, 14 were female, which speaks to the scheme's wider success story with girls' cricket in 2022: 40 per cent of girls on the overall programme – 81 out of 203 – were selected for representative cricket in 2022.
Josh Boyden, the Lancashire seamer who represented England Under-19s at last year's World Cup, previously came through the scheme's successful Bolton hub.
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