THE Mount Kelly Marylebone Cricket Club Foundation (MCCF) Hub has been praised for helping to develop young cricketers in the region.

The hub is now in its fourth year and it continues to grow and excel. It provides 20 hours of free coaching throughout the autumn and winter months for 48 boys from state schools.

Four coaches deliver a mix of technical, tactical, strength and conditioning, with weekly match play scenarios. Games are also arranged with local county teams.

Some of the boys have improved to the extent that they have earned selection for county age group squads, with many more having won places in county development centres.

Reece Bird, National Cricket Hub manager recently visited the Mount Kelly centre and said he was extremely impressed. The hub has always been rated as ‘outstanding’ following inspections and players have been praised for the commitment to travelling, with some making trips of more than an hour to get to training.

Rees Kenyon, a father of a player in the hub, said:  “All players have developed – some to amazing levels of skill. It has been very easy to see how each player has benefitted from the programme. New friends have also been made – always a bonus for the players.”

Head coach Brenden Worth said:  “Mount Kelly is delighted to provide the facilities for this high profile community project.”

Mr Bobby Skelton, Director of Sport at Mount Kelly added: “Mount Kelly’s cricketing success has been impressive in the last couple of years and our player development programme continues to make rapid progress. It is fantastic to have the MCCF Hub as a focused pathway and to support cricket development for talented children in our local community.”