TOP 100 SCHOOLS
KING’S COLLEGE, TAUNTON South Road Taunton Somerset TA1 3LA
HYMERS COLLEGE Hymers Avenue Hull East Yorkshire HU3 1LW Established 1893 Notable fixtures MCC, XL Club, Durham Pilgrims, Sports Turf Academy (India), St Peter’s York, Ampleforth College, Cricket Festival with Strathallan School, Stewart’s Melville College and Pocklington School Director of cricket Graham Tipping Teams Nineteen teams U9–U18 Girls’ cricket The school runs sessions led by Joe Ashdown, development officer for East Yorkshire Facilities A four-lane indoor facility that employs the Uni-turf flooring used at Headingley. Eight-lane grass net facility, four squares on the school site and a further ground Club/county affiliation Yorkshire Brief history Hymers were at the forefront of the MCC hub scheme and the programme was used as a model for others. The MCC Foundation national hub manager, Reece Bird, works with Hymers’ U14 team. The school has hosted Lashings in recent years Extras In 2017 Hymers will be hosting a T20 warm-up game as an outground for Yorkshire CCC. The school works closely with the cricket development officer for East Yorkshire and host county age-group matches. There is also a partnership with Hull Zingari CC
28 | thecricketer.com
Established 1879 Notable fixtures MCC, Whitgift, Eton, Millfield, Cardiff MCCU, Exeter University Cricket professionals Rob Woodman (Somerset & Gloucestershire), Ben Phillips (Kent, Northants, Nottinghamshire & Somerset), Dennis Breakwell (Northants & Somerset) Teams 1st XI, 2nd XI, 3rd XI, 4th XI, 5th XI, Development XI and five junior teams Girls’ cricket 1st XI, U15. Finished runners-up in the regional indoor Lady Taverners’ league, and beat Millfield Facilities A new cricket centre is due to be ready for this winter’s training. Six squares all in close proximity, six grass nets and eight artificial strips, four indoor nets, four bowling machines and three pavilions Club/county affiliation Most players go to Somerset, but there are players on academies at Warwickshire and Glamorgan Cricketers of note Jos Buttler (Somerset, Lancashire & England), Roger Twose (Warwickshire & New Zealand), Richard Harden (Somerset), Nicholas Boulton (Somerset, Worcestershire), Tom Webley (Somerset), Phil Lewis (Somerset), Craig Meschede (Somerset & Glamorgan), Alex Barrow (Somerset), Charlie
Morris (Worcestershire), James Regan (Somerset), Neil Brand (Glamorgan) James Turpin (Cardiff MCCU) Finest moment on the field Last season the 1st XI took on a strong PCA Masters (all ex-England) and gave them a good run in front of thousands of spectators Extras King’s believe they have the best results and production line of professional cricketers of any school in the country in terms of its size, which is around 450 pupils. King’s have beaten local rivals Millfield. King’s have also just beaten Exeter University for the first time. The West Country schools circuit is one of the strongest and King’s tend to be up there each year. The school offers oneto-one work, group sessions, a strength and conditioning coach, indoor cricket competitions and regular tours, including pre-season training camps to La Manga in Spain. The school also runs a cricket exchange programme for a talented cricketers to go to play cricket in South Africa at the exchange school for a term. The school then receives an exchange pupil in return who plays development games for King’s and for a local club side. Breakwell has been professional or head groundsman for more than 30 years