Bradford League Cricket is set to enjoy two years of the biggest sponsorship it has had. But how will this benefit the game in terms of the wider community? JIM GREENHALF reports

Jack Tordoff's JCT 600 motor group is not a charity; when the company provides sponsorship for football, rugby league and now Bradford League cricket, tangible returns are expected.

For an estimated £10,000 for the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the company expects to expand its commercial interests among hundreds of potentially new clients: young cricketers, who usually like cars, and subscription-paying members of the 26 clubs who make up the league's two divisions.

"We're talking about product placement, access to players and members - giving them value-added packages, an affinity partnership scheme', which means discounts on cars and servicing and other things," said Christine Gilliver, JCT's marketing manager.

What is the money likely to mean for the players, members, supporters of the clubs and the game's prospective audience?

Reg Nelson, who played for Saltaire from 1980 to 1995 and is a member of the 12-strong Bradford League management board, said: "In the long term I think it will mean that the league will be able to continue to freeze club subscriptions - about £50 or £60 a year.

"There has been a huge attempt to widen the appeal of the game by introducing new rules this season - the points system, finishing earlier: that's the first big step.

"Coloured clothing has already been worn for the Sovereign Health Care Priestley Shield Final and will be worn for the Priestley Cup Final as well.

"Last year there was a 20/20 competition (each side bowls 20 overs) at Cleckheaton. Four teams took part. There were about 1,000 people watching.

"At the moment ten Sundays are taken up with two knock-out competitions. If one or both of them fold and we can free up some Sundays it might be possible to introduce more 20/20 cricket."

More exciting cricket means more people watching and, more importantly, greater involvement from local communities surrounding the clubs. Having role models helps, of course.

Jim Laker, Ray Illingworth, Brian Close, Sir Leonard Hutton, Matthew Hoggard; these distinguished cricketers are among those who graduated from Bradford League clubs to the professional game and international fame.

The most recent addition to the ranks, Adil Rashid, the first Asian to play for Yorkshire, was discovered bowling leg-spin for Bradford League first division side Bradford & Bingley.

The current Pakistan Test team includes Mohammad Yousuf and Mohammad Hafeez, who had spells with Bowling Old Lane and Idle respectively. Two other Bowling Old Lane old boys are Bob Appleyard, president of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, and former Yorkshire and England fast bowler Darren Gough.

On Sunday, August 27, Bradford & Bingley's Wagon Lane ground in Bingley will be hosting the most fascinating Priestley Cup Final in years. "It will be unique and a huge test for the Asian community to come out and watch cricket," Reg Nelson added.

The Priestley Cup Final is a David and Goliath clash between wealthy Woodlands, first division champions and in for a treble this season, and hand-to-mouth Bowling Old Lane, currently top of division two and one of only three all-Asians team in the league. Great Horton and Manningham Mills are the others.

The resurrection of the once-great Bowling Old Lane cricket club from a modern beleaguered backwater - there was a bad fire there in 1997 - to a catalyst for social change and community involvement points the way forward for the Bradford League.

Part of the JCT 600 sponsorship money has to go towards the development of junior cricket; this is another way of saying bring in more youngsters off the streets and engage them in sport. That is what the Bowling Old Lane club has been doing.

Alan Birkinshaw, media and marketing officer for the Bradford League board, said: "Bowling Old Lane are an inspiration to everybody in the competition. They have defied tremendous odds to keep cricket alive and it is wonderful that the Bradford League has clubs that can do so much to promote the game in their own communities.

He added: "With a new sponsor the league can continue to develop both the standard of competition and its wider role in promoting the game among the grass roots right through to the senior level where the Bradford League remains one of the most respected in the country."

Bowling Old Lane's metamorphosis mentioned by Mr Birkinshaw has seen the club go from being a target of vandalism - in the bad old days the area was known as Beirut - to a place welcoming youngsters from Settle, Grassington, Malta and the United States.

In spite of two failed National Lottery bids for new buildings, players, members and supporters have rallied round and are in the process of converting a former social club into a club house with new dressing rooms, a lounge, a tea room and toilets with access for the disabled.

Haqueq Siddique, club treasurer and captain of the second XI, said: "We use cricket as a means of engaging the kids, parents and others. The success we are having on the pitch highlights the work in the background.

"Our club was in the top five of clubs to fold. We didn't disappear because there are a lot of dedicated people behind us. The club's got it right in terms of social cohesion. Our club is a friendly community club. We have had exchanges, bringing kids from Settle and Grassington into Bradford 5 and taking ours there. It's been really good social integration.

"The cricket club is seen as a good venue for holding such events. It's a real success story. We are doing our bit; we understand how important it is to develop relationships and friendships with other groups."

Gaz Rehman, one of Bowling Old Lane's players, recently e-mailed a letter to the Bradford League's website in which he said: "To the Bradford League I say thank you for continually supporting us through our Dark Ages', giving us assistance and help and offering a kind word when hope was the only thing the club had to hold on to.

"I thank you for giving us every opportunity to try and bring Bowling Old Lane's ground up to the high standards demanded by the league. As you know we, like British Rail in the Eighties, are still getting there, but can see the light at the end of the tunnel."

The forthcoming cup final on August 27 demonstrates that progress has been made. How well the match is supported and the spirit of the game between rival supporters and players should tell us whether hope for the future is justified or misplaced.