HACKNEY Community College's cricket academy programme is to offer a Foundation degree for cricketers with academic aspirations, writes PHIL RAVITZ.

This follows the Falkirk Street based college announcing a major expansion by going into partnership with the London Metropolitan University and the London Community Cricket Association.

Says Sports Academy administrator Chris Morris: "This is a very exciting development for North and East London in particular and the capital in general.

"It's been a long term aim of the HCC Academy programme and the LCCA to provide a continuum of cricketing and academic development from school through to university.

"By us linking up with LMU, the largest university in London, we're a long way to achieving our goal. And our new links will provide a sustainable framework and real opportunity.''

The foundation degree is to be launced next September and in the meantime the LMU and HCC have combined resources to provide a cricket coaching programme at the College's SPACe facility and at the Peter May Centre, Walthamstow, four days a week.

The coaching team will include Hackney born former Middlesex county and England A player Paul Weekes, who only retired from the county game at the end of last season.

To celebrate the new programme, Academy head coach Mikey Thompson has organised a 20/20 indoor tournament at SPACe next Monday evening (February 5), featuring teams from HCCA's partners including the The Army, Met Police, Stoke Newington CC, London Met University and Brentford FC.

The tournament will be an indoor version of the Urban 'tape ball' cricket pioneered by Thompson, the LCCA and HCCA last winter, that was taken up by the English Cricket Board last Spring.