TOP 100 SENIOR SCHOOLS
BEDFORD SCHOOL
BEDFORD SCHOOL De Parys Avenue Bedford Bedfordshire MK40 2TU Established 1552 Number of pupils 1,100 Director of cricket Gary Steer (Derbyshire) First-team coach Tom Brett (Northamptonshire) Teams 1st XI, 2nd XI, 3rd XI, 4th XI, U17, U16, U15ABCD, U14ABCDE. Prep School – 1st XI, 2nd XI, 3rd XI, 4th XI, 5th XI, U11ABCDEF, U10ABC, U9ABC, U8ABC Girls’ cricket An all-boys’ school, but Bedford Girls’ School have run a cricket festival at the school Notable fixtures MCC, Eton, Harrow, Shrewsbury, Bromsgrove, Stowe Facilities Six indoor nets, 16 outdoor grass nets, six outdoor artificial nets, seven grass squares Club/county affiliation Bedfordshire play matches at the school and at least 40 pupils play for the county. Beds are playing Northants at the school next summer Best prospects Gus Miller Alastair Cook
(Northants academy) allrounder – opening bowler and can bat anywhere in the top six; Rohan Mehmi (Northants academy) allrounder – top-four batter and medium pacer; Charlie Mumford (Hampshire academy) – wicketkeeper/batsman Professional cricketers produced Alastair Cook (Essex & England), Alex Wakely, Toby Bailey, Ian Peck, Christian Davis (all Northants), James Kettleborough (Northants & Glamorgan), Will Smith (Notts, Durham & Hampshire), Adrian Shankar (Worcestershire & Lancashire), Brian Disbury (Kent) Brief history Records go back to 1886 but it is in recent years that Bedford has become one of the leading cricket schools. They won the under-17 tournament in 2010 and 2014. The Alastair Cook Room in the refurbished pavilion is a daily reminder of his inspiration What sets the school apart? The school offers a challenging all-year-round cricket programme in terms of training and match play during the summer. The school is fortunate to have access to several ex-professionals such as David Capel, Tom Brett and James Kettleborough who, along with many other coaches, help to deliver a first-class coaching programme for the boys.
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Steer was academy director at Warwickshire and played first class cricket for Derbyshire, so he has an understanding of what it takes to progress from school cricket into the professional game and can guide them through Finest moment on the field Seeing Emilio Gay given get his Northants contract and make his debut in the County Championship. At school he batted anywhere in the top three and scored a lot of runs. The school got to three national finals in 2018 – T20 finals, U17 finals, U15 finals – without winning any but still a huge achievement Recent progress Offering D and E teams and cricket to every boy at the school. Helping those who could make it further in
Gary Steer Director of cricket the game to fulfil their potential Future plans Upgrading indoor sports hall with new netting, new roof and lighting Tours Prep school to Cape Town (February 2020) and senior school to Barbados (Easter 2020). Prep school tour every two years and the upper every three
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