A Bradford female cricketer has given a rousing speech about her team’s dramatic rise to prominence.

Zainab Goreja, 15, from Carlton Bolling girls cricket team, has made a rallying call in a bid to inspire all those who face challenges in their lives and have to overcome barriers in their own community.

Zainab, a self-appointed spokeswoman for the team, said they had gone from “having no recognition” to become a team with an ever-growing reputation.

Now a television documentary has been commissioned about their endeavours.

The team’s most recent success came when they won the Student Team of the Year at the Bradford Sports Awards to add to their already impressive collection of accolades, including winning the Yorkshire finals last June.

Zainab said: “The main thing is that we’ve gone from having no recognition and not even having the choice to whether we can play or not to suddenly being crowned winners on such a big stage. We’ve gone from the small little foetuses that we were to like these grown women.”

Coach, Zaheer Jaffary, reminded people “they weren’t brought up in cricketing backgrounds, they’re not brought up going to Headingley on an evening and having one-to-one sessions, they don’t have any of that.”

Mr Jaffary spoke of how the community’s reaction was still having an impact. He said one of the girls “should have been playing for Yorkshire.”

He said: It’s very difficult for her to get through because parents are asking her to drop out now. With the right tailoring and everything, she’d go on to play for England and that’s the frustrating part of it all.”

Zainab agreed that the struggles and barriers in the community still remained, despite the team’s incredible journey.

But she said the girls would always remain defiant, adding: “I mean Bradford has a reputation for being a bit rebellious. And that’s literally the only reason we’re here, because we decided we weren’t going to give up.”

Zainab wants other young people, particularly those from backgrounds where barriers prevent success, to take inspiration from their story.

Zainab added: “To the people who oppose us and to the people who say you can’t do it I’d say take a backseat and just watch it happen.”

Mr Jaffary said a TV documentary has been commissioned on the team and filming will start next month. He’s also hoping to bring the first ever girls team to the JCT Bradford league.

Former Bradford City star Wayne Jacobs said people could “achieve all your dreams in this district.”