The 2026 MCCF Cambridgeshire Hubs successfully welcomed 32 boys and 26 girls into the winter training programme, which was broken down into four groups: U13 Girls, U13 Boys, U15 Boys, and U16 Girls.
10th May – U15 Boys
On the 10th May, the U15 Boys travelled to Bedford Modern School to play in a T20 festival against the Luton, Peterborough and Bedford Hubs. The first game was a mix of players, which gave Cambridgeshire an automatic place in the ‘winners’ match for the day. Unfortunately, the winners match didn’t go in our favour and the boys came away as runners-up for the event. Ewan Cunningham was the Cambridgeshire player of the day, scoring 46 in one game, 49 in the other and taking 4 wickets.
19th July – U13 Boys
On the 19th July, it was the U13 Boys turn to play a match against the Framlingham (Suffolk) Hub.
After losing the toss and being asked to field first, Cambs faced a tough start with A. Bryant-Howe taking advantage of the short boundary to make Suffolk race to 66 for 0 from the powerplay. A small respite came with an excellent pick up and throw from D. Deshpande to run out H. Elding for 12, unfortunately it was short lived as Bryant-Howe continued his assault on the bowling until he was caught (55) by W. Arkwright with a good forward diving catch at mid wicket. Mayes and Wells continued to knock the ball to all parts with the Cambs bowlers never really getting to grips with the conditions. Suffolk ended their innings on 204 for 3, Logan Andreou being the best Cambs bowler with figures of 1-19 off 4 overs.
In reply, Cambs got off to a decent start with Zac McGivern scoring 20 until being given out LBW in the 4th over. Rueben Hardy was resolute in his batting against what was a County bowling line up and really held the innings together, and was supported by all who came in to bat with him. Hardy was eventually out for 32 when trying to increase the scoring rate, 3 wickets then fell in quick succession, all run out to the same fielder with 2 direct hits from distance as Cambs looked to chase down the total. In the end the total was just too large to chase down and Cambs ended on 110 for 7 from their 20 overs.
In all it was a tough game against strong opposition and would have been a steep learning curve for the players, but they all put in a great effort with enthusiasm.
5th August – Girls & Boys
All four of our MCCF Hubs played at Mildenhall Cricket Club, against their Norfolk counterparts.
Girls
The day started with the girls 8-a-side T20 matches, which were interrupted by some much needed rain in the first hour, but thankfully did not impact the length of the matches. It was also a really good experience for the girls to have an all female umpiring team for both matches.
U13’s: Norfolk batted first, and lost 4 very quick wickets thanks to Kitty’s spell of 3 for 26 off her 4 overs. Lily (33*) and Molly (34*) steadied the ship for Norfolk and ended the 20 overs on 125-5.
Cambridgeshire also lost some early wickets, with Tenuli taking 3 for 7 off 3 overs. Santushi (15) and Kitty (14) tried hard to guide their team to the target, playing some brilliant shots, but unfortunately fell short, finishing the innings on 63-3.
U16’s: Norfolk also batted first on the main pitch, and they had a good start. Poppy scored 46*, out of a total of 139-3. Daisy was the pick of the Cambridgeshire bowlers, taking 1 for 13 in her spell.
The Cambridgeshire batters struggled a little against, a very strong Norfolk bowling attack, which included figures of 2 for 5 for Scarlett, and some very good fielding.
Boys
In the afternoon it was the boys turn, playing 11-a-side, 30 over matches.
U13’s: Cambridgeshire batted first, with Andreou scoring 24, supporting his team to reach a total of 105-8. Pailes was the pick of the Norfolk bowlers, taking 2 for 12.
In the 2nd innings, W.Arkwright was the only Cambridgeshire bowler to make a breakthrough, after the Norfolk openers, Harrod and Zeb, both retired on 33*. Norfolk reached the target after 16 overs.
U15’s: Cambridgeshire took to the field first, with a high standard for fielding on display. Norfolk’s batters were strong with Henry retiring on 51* and Noah being run out on 49. William took 2 important wickets for only 14 runs in his spell.
Norfolk’s opener, James Mixer, bowled the first over in the 2nd innings, which proved destructive to Cambridgeshire’s run chase. He bowled a triple wicket maiden, and finished his spell on 3 for 8 off 4. Cambridgeshire’s Nathanael scored 35 in a great attempt to keep his team in contention, but it was not to be, and they were bowled out 87.