BRADLEY Cricket Club is building a strong backbone by investing time and money into junior cricket.

David Ryan, secretary of Bradley Cricket Club, said: "We are a progressive and growing club. We won the Cowling Cup last year and now have 50 juniors registered with us.

"We've put a lot of time and effort in the coaching side and we hold winter nets before Christmas to keep the kids interested all year round.

"We use our second team to give a lot of youngsters an opportunity. The second team, which also features a few old heads, is made up primarily of under-17 players.

Bradley currently has a first team who play in the Craven League's Division Three, a second team who play in Division Four as well under-13s, under-11s and under-9s teams.

"We are also are making Bradley more of a family club, as we've also been registering parents to fill out the teams if needed. Quite a few parents will play because their kids play."

The club has also started a ladies rounders team and has a young girl cricketer Lilly Bell, who is also registered in the women's Yorkshire Academy, playing for them.

The club has invested in its juniors with £2,000 bowling machine which is exclusively used for juniors. They have also spent £1,000 on gloves, pads, balls and the same shirts for everyone throughout the club.

If any juniors or seniors would like to participate in Bradley CC nets on Thursday evenings at South Craven School, ring or email David Ryan on 07973 800776 or dryan@nor-com.co.uk