TOP 100 SECONDARY SCHOOLS OUNDLE SCHOOL Church Street Oundle Northamptonshire PE8 4EE Established 1556 Notable fixtures MCC, take part in the prestigious Silk trophy (Eton, Shrewsbury, Oundle and a premier touring team each year). The U15s play in a festival involving St Peter’s, York, Oundle, Trent College and Cheltenham Director of cricket John Crawley Cricket professional Merwe Genis is in his 17th season Teams 1st XI, 2nd XI, 3rd XI, 4th XI, U16AB, U15ABCD, U14ABCD, U13ABCD Girls’ cricket The first girls’ match was against the Oundle Town CC women’s team in May 2016 Facilities A new sports hall is about to be constructed with four more indoor nets with technology facilities for data management and video facilities. The current sports hall will remain and has four nets. A state-of-the-art outdoor facility has just been constructed with 10 artificial nets,
OUNDLE SCHOOL // QUEEN MARY ’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL
plus 10 others. The school has eight grounds (including Oundle Town CC) Club/county affiliation Northamptonshire CCC and Oundle Town CC Brief history Cricket has been played at Oundle since at least 1830 although the first match for which a full score survives was against Uppingham in 1855. The awarding of proper cricket colours dates back to 1876 when the Rev Henry St John Reade (who played for Northants during his time at the school) took over as head. The current ground has been in use since the 1880s. Mike Mills, after whom the new pavilion is named, came to the school as a pupil in 1935, returned as a master after war service, was master in charge and then ran the Oundle Rovers side – an involvement spanning 70-odd years Cricketers of note Fifty first-class players including John Morley Lee (Cambridge University & Surrey), Reggie Ingle (captain of Somerset
QUEEN MARY’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL Sutton Road Walsall WS1 2PG Established 1554 Number of pupils 1,011 (361 in the sixth form – mixed boys/girls) Fixtures 120-150 per year including some Saturdays (includes the Staffordshire Cup from U12-U15, National U19 T20, The Cricket Paper National Schools U17 Cup, QMGS 10s (U12 & U15), Adams’ Grammar 10s (U12-U15), U13 Bromsgrove 10s Invitational, Tettenhall T8, KES Stratford senior six-a-side, Bablake T20, Solihull six-a-side (U12-U15), Staffordshire Chance to Compete Indoor/ Outdoor softball tournaments. Master in charge Ben Gibbons Teams U12 ABC, U13 AB, U14 AB, U15 AB, U17 XI (cups). 2nd & 1st XIs Girls’ cricket It is an all-boys school Y7-Y11 with girls in the sixth 48 | thecricketer.com
form. Potential to run some house competitions/fixtures Facilities Indoor Sports Hall – three-lane nets, Bola, Paceman. Outdoors – two squares (junior square includes an artificial strip), one outdoor roll-on net to be used on practice wicket. Tarpaulin cover Club/county affiliation Staffordshire. Walsall 3rd XI use the school’s ground as their home pitch Brief history It is a selective state grammar school (non-fee paying). The school has had a team since 19th century and the first recorded match took place in 1874 between Queen Mary’s and Walsall CC in Old Chuckery. Queen Mary’s’ most illustrious cricketer, David Brown,
1932–37), Frank Greenwood (captained Yorkshire to the title in 1931), Mills (the last surviving captain against the 1948 Australians), Tom Harrison (Derbyshire and ECB chief executive), Will Jefferson (Essex, Notts, Leics, England A) and Greg Smith (Leics & Notts) Extras The school is one of the first hubs for the MCC Foundation. WG Grace scored his 200th century in all cricket on the school’s ground. Clark Gable (stationed at a nearby USAF base during World War Two) brought a camera crew to film cricket at the school
was at the forefront of the school’s success in the Walsall Knockout in the late 1950s/early 1960s. Professional cricketers David Brown (Warwickshire & England), Leonard Taylor, Nicholas Archer (Staffs), Amit Sharma (Worcestershire 2nd XI) Finest moment on the field U15 Schools T20 – regional winners (Staffordshire 2015) – knocked out by Warwick School in the Midlands quarters. 2015 U14 Adams’ Grammar 10s winners. Hashim Iqbal scored an unbeaten 101 for the 2nd XI in 2017 at the age of 14. The RR Taylor Bowling Award (Mounted Ball) is presented to the leading wicket taker in the 1st XI each season – the cricket ball was presented to the school in the 1980s
Ben Gibbons Master in charge
Finest moment on the field The 1976 team was unbeaten against all school sides. The 2004 side, under Cameron Wake, won 15 matches with no defeats and lifted the Silk Trophy for the first and only time Cultural cricketers The 1949 team – which gave rise to ‘The Assassins’ – which included Sir Michael Pickard (prominent businessman and one-time president of Surrey) and Shahryar Khan (who has been Pakistan foreign secretary and a past chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board), Professor Richard Dawkins, Arthur Marshall
by the family of RR Taylor who took 10 for 17 against Tettenhall College in 1915. Three 1st XI batting records held by Ian M Wilcox (1990) – most runs in a season (836), most centuries (three) and highest score (191) Extras Queen Mary’s is a statefunded school where cricket has always been the main summer sport but has begun to flourish within the last five years. The appointment of Ben Gibbons has contributed to an enhanced profile thanks to the backing of Timothy Swain and Richard Langton (successive headmasters). Best prospect Jacob Clarke (Year 9) Walmley CC, Warks U14/U15 Tours 1993 South Africa, 1998 Canada, 2012 Sri Lanka, 2018 – U13 Isle of Man. Upcoming: U13 Isle of Man 2019 and overseas U16 to Sri Lanka 2019 Cultural cricketers Malvind Benning (Mansfield Town FC), FT Cozens (president, Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League)
