Transforming lives in the UK

Within the UK, our mission is to open up access to the talent pathways so that every young cricketer has the opportunity to reach their full potential in the game, regardless of race, gender, or economic circumstance. 

The MCC Foundation is committed to creating and maintaining the safest possible environment for children and vulnerable adults to enjoy the experience of playing cricket. You can read our Safeguarding Policy below.  

Our Hubs are designed to identify and support talented young cricketers who may not otherwise have access to traditional cricket pathways. Many participants first engage with the sport through school, community programmes, or non-traditional formats before progressing into hard-ball cricket, local clubs, county pathways, and wider development opportunities. 

Alongside developing cricket skills, the programme has a lasting impact beyond the game. Independent evaluation confirms that the MCC Foundation’s Hubs deliver far more than cricket coaching, they build confidence, belonging and future aspiration for young people. Creating inclusive, supportive environments where participants feel valued and inspired is central to everything we do. 

Every summer, all Hubs take part in the MCC Foundation National Hubs Competition which is a nationwide tournament played at inspiring venues across the country, culminating in finals at Lord’s Cricket Ground. The competition provides unforgettable experiences for young players and celebrates the very best of the Hub network. 

In 2025, after 20 weeks of competition between 5,500 schoolchildren, across 164 sites, the MCCF National Hubs Competition concluded at Lord’s in September. Guildford and York were worthy winners of the girls’ and boys’ under-16s tournaments respectively.  

The National Hub Competition continues to grow each year, creating opportunities for thousands of young cricketers across the country. This opens doors to cricket and ensures talented young people have the opportunity to thrive, regardless of background.

he Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup is a new national hard-ball cricket competition for state schools, named after two of England’s greatest state-educated cricketers, Heather Knight and Ben Stokes. It aims to inspire more young people in state schools to take up cricket and increase opportunities for boys and girls to play regularly with friends at school. 

The inaugural edition has now begun, with over 1,100 boys’ and girls’ teams from around 820 state secondary schools, around one fifth of all state schools in the UK. Since the start of the 2026 summer term, matches have been taking place across the UK, with local county fixtures underway in schools and at community venues nationwide as the competition gets fully up and running. The competition progresses from these county stages into regional and national rounds, culminating in boys’ and girls’ finals at Lord’s Cricket Ground on 10 September 2026. 

The initiative, conceived by Michael Vaughan and MCC Chair Mark Nicholas, has also received strong backing from ECB, county cricket boards, and charitable partners across the country. Heather Knight and Ben Stokes have both supported the project, championing its goal of improving access and participation in cricket for state-educated players.  

Entries for the competition were launched at Lord’s in June 2025, which also saw significant national media coverage and participation from schools in cricket activities at the ground.