MBL 2025 ran for 12 straight Fridays at Concord Sports Centre, turning indoor windball into a proper winter league again — six teams, local pride, and weekly cricket young people actually asked for.
After a year of friendly drop-ins and mixed sports sessions, the message from the lads was simple: we want competition. Not a one-off tournament, but something with structure — squads, fixtures, points, and a trophy at the end. So we delivered exactly that: a weekly league night that gave players something to train for, talk about all week, and turn up for consistently.
Six areas. One league.
The league’s identity came from its area-based teams:
- Netheredge (Zayan Khan)
- Sharrow Stars (Haseeb Yasin)
- Longley Lions (Fasih Khan)
- Pitsmoor Avengers (Zayn Wasim)
- Burngreave Tigers (Rizwan Ishfaq)
- Abbeydale Annihilators (Hassan Ibrar)
It created the right kind of rivalry — competitive on court, social off it — with new faces mixing each week and players travelling across Sheffield for games because the league meant something.
Why windball works indoors
MBL is built around a Readers windball — quick, skilful cricket without the barriers. No pads, no expensive kit, no “you can’t play unless you’ve got everything”. Just turn up. The new ball swings, spinners get real grip off the surface, and the game stays fast enough to keep everyone involved.
33 matches, big numbers
Across 33 matches, 85 players featured across the season as squads rotated week to week.
On the scoreboard:
- 7,082 runs were scored
- 330 wickets fell
Compared to 2024, batters had the edge this time — more boundary-hitting, more confident shot-making, and more teams pushing totals past par.
Finals night
Finals Night brought a packed hall and a proper end-of-season feel — awards, photos, and one last big game with something on the line. Representatives from organisations that have supported Cricket Arena’s youth work in recent years attended and helped present awards.
“Really great to see the work being completed and I thoroughly enjoyed the visit.” — Jess Humphries
For Longley Lions captain Fasih Khan, it was the perfect finish to a season he dominated.
“The opposition in the crowd motivated me so much. I work hard — I showed them how it’s done.” — Fasih Khan, Captain, Longley Lions
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