The Yorkshire Cricket Board have progressed three players into its district and regional pathway system thanks to the Community Talent Champion (CTC) programme.
In April 2021, in conjunction with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and National Asian Cricket Council (NACC), the role of Community Talent Champion was created to improve the connection between South Asian communities playing in non-affiliated cricket environments in Bradford, Dewsbury and Batley, and the existing talent pathway in Yorkshire.
Following various observations, Anas Yahya (under 13s), Muhammad Hariss (under 14s) and Ayan Ahsan (under 12s) were successfully picked and will join Yorkshire’s district and regional pathways.
Rohan Randhawa, Community Talent Champion Lead said: “It’s been a fantastic first year for the new CTC programme in Yorkshire. The main objective at the start of the year was to ensure that we improved on our connections between South Asian communities playing in non-affiliated cricket environments and the existing talent pathway for players aged 10-15.
“We worked closely with our partners at the ECB and NACC to build a trusted network of information providers that has helped us create a database of talented players from South Asian communities in Bradford, Batley and Dewsbury.
“We have seen over 1,000 young cricketers this summer and we look forward to continuing this crucial work through the winter and in to 2022.”
Shakil Manir, Community Talent Champion added: “I was mindful of ensuring that any players that the programme recommended were of the required ability. It was important that the scheme did not set the players up to fail as we continue to look for talented players across the region.
