Cricket coach turned social entrepreneur named on national ‘ones to watch’ list

A Northumbria University graduate who turned his love of cricket into a social enterprise supporting communities across the North East has been named on a national list of the country's most promising social businesses.

Alosh K Jose moved from India to Newcastle to study an MSc in International Sports Management at Northumbria, graduating in 2019. Four years later he founded Cricketqube, a Community Interest Company that brings cricket-based sessions into care homes, schools, parks and community spaces. 

Working with groups that mainstream sport often overlooks, from young children and families to isolated older adults, Alosh aims to remove barriers to physical activity and make cricket accessible, inclusive and culturally responsive for communities across the North East and beyond.

Cricketqube now runs fun, inclusive sessions across the region, reaching four year olds who are only just learning to play, to centenarians rediscovering movement and connection through care home sessions. Their oldest participant to date is 104 years old. 

The Cricketqube business model has proven so successful that it has been featured on the NatWest SE100 Ones to Watch list, compiled annually by the magazine Pioneers Post and NatWest Social & Community Capital. The list recognises some of the UK's most promising social enterprises. 

Cricketqube was also shortlisted as a finalist for the Outstanding Social Enterprise Award at the North East Charity Awards 2026. 

Alosh said: "It’s a privilege to be named on the Ones to Watch list. It has been a challenging journey to reach that point, but it was also thoroughly rewarding. Our whole team deserves all the plaudits."

Alosh's route into entrepreneurship began with a simple frustration. He had found cricket was far less accessible in the UK than he expected, with potential players held back by the costs associated with equipment, kit and the time commitment required for a sport traditionally played on a Saturday. 

Cricketqube Initiative CIC was established in 2023 with support from Northumbria's Student and Graduate Enterprise team and the University's Incubator Hub, where the business is still based today. 

The business has now grown into a team of 15 based across the North East and Yorkshire. A third of his team have come directly from Northumbria, with the University advertising vacancies to students and alumni. 

"The University’s support was instrumental in getting Cricketqube up and running," he said. "I don't come from a business background, and starting a business straight out of university brings many unknowns. The Enterprise team helped me refine the idea and build the skills to run the business, with spotlight programmes and one-to-one mentoring.” 

Graham Baty, Head of Enterprise Development at Northumbria University, said: “Alosh arrived with a clear purpose: to make cricket more accessible to people who might otherwise never pick up a bat. Our role was to help him turn that purpose into a viable, sustainable business, and he has done the hard work of making it happen. In accessing advice from our network of specialist advisors in areas such as around marketing and business growth, as well as accessing our Incubator Hub, Alosh has used every opportunity to test his ideas, sharpen his model and build the right connections. 

“He’s still a regular in the Hub today, sharing his experience with the next wave of founders, which says a great deal about him as a person and founder. Cricketqube is a brilliant example of what a graduate enterprise can achieve, creating real social impact while building a business with a future.” 

Cricketqube's next step is geographic expansion, with North Yorkshire and the North West identified as target regions, supported by social investment. Alosh's ambition is for the organisation to be operating nationwide within the next three years. 

"Cricket is a global game, there is nothing stopping us from being a global organisation," he said. "That's the plan for the company." 

Alosh's community work extends beyond cricket. He is a HAF Plus ambassador, supporting the delivery of the Holiday Activities and Food programme for teenagers by local authorities during school holidays - a role that connects directly back to his own university experience. 

"As someone who has seen first-hand the profound impact of the HAF programme on underprivileged children, I found it very easy to choose to be a HAF Plus ambassador,” said Alosh. “Being a graduate of Northumbria University, which played a critical role in developing the HAF programme, made it even easier." 

Professor Greta Defeyter OBE, Dean of Social Mobility Policy Engagement and Director of the Healthy Living Lab at Northumbria University, said: "Alosh has been an outstanding HAF Plus ambassador. Cricketqube's work with young people demonstrates a real understanding of what engagement with this age group really needs, and Alosh has been generous with his time and insight as a HAF ambassador. It's also a brilliant example of what we hoped the HAF Plus ambassador programme would achieve: bringing in people with lived experience and community reach who can act as a genuine bridge between the University and young people. The fact he's a Northumbria graduate who's gone on to build something that gives back to the communities we work with makes it even more fitting." 

Northumbria’s Graduate Futures support is available for all students from first year through to final year and beyond graduation, providing advice and guidance on everything from exploring careers options to starting a business. 

Northumbria has been ranked in the top 10 in the UK for the last 17 years for graduate business start-ups, based on estimated turnover, according to the Higher Education Business Community Interaction Survey (HEBCIS) for 2024/2025.