TOP 100 SCHOOLS
MILLFIELD
MERCHANT TAYLORS’ SCHOOL, NORTHWOOD Sandy Lodge Road Moor Park Northwood Hertfordshire HA6 2HT
Established 1561 Notable fixtures Harrow, Haberdashers’ Aske’s, MCC Cricket coaches Ian McGowan, Graham Furber, Adam Cuthbert, Connor Patterson, Leigh Wooldridge Teams Eighteen – 1st XI to U12 Facilities Twelve grass squares, 20 grass, 12 astro and two indoor nets Club/county affiliation Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Buckinghamshire Brief history Merchant Taylors’ has a distinguished cricketing history. The first cricket match recorded on the school’s cricket ground was between the Norwood Club and MCC in 1892. County 2nd XI cricket was first played there in 2002 when the Middlesex 2nd XI played Kent 2nd XI. The ground hosted its inaugural firstclass match in 2012 and Middlesex beat Hampshire by an innings and 116 runs on the way to winning the 34 | thecricketer.com
Butleigh Road Street BA16 0YD Tom Webley Director of cricket
2016 Championship Cricketers of note Ravi Patel and Oli Wilkin (both Middlesex) Extras Merchant Taylors’ is officially ‘The Home of Middlesex Youth Cricket’. The Australians held their pre-Ashes training camps in 2013 and 2015 at Merchant Taylors’, and the former India Test spinner Piyush Chawla has held masterclasses at the school. Former Australia captain Michael Clarke was quoted as saying that the school’s facilities were “world-class”. Old Merchant Taylors’ CC, who compete on Saturdays in the Thames Valley League, play on the War Memorial Ground next door Finest moment on the field Reaching the national finals on the ESCA U15 Competition in 2015 Cultural cricketers Comedian Michael McIntyre played cricket for the school in his three years there
Established 1935 Notable fixtures Surrey Academy, Worcestershire Academy, Gloucestershire Academy, MCC, Wales U17 Master-in-charge Richard Ellison (Kent & England) Director of coaching Mark Garaway (Hampshire) Teams 14 Girls’ cricket Senior and U15 level. Numerous county fixtures and matches against RAF Ladies and MCC women’s teams Facilities Four cricket squares, three indoor nets and six outdoor nets. The campus has several cricket pavilions including the stunning Wilson Pavilion. Match analysis system on the main field, Merlyn bowling machines, Pitchvision net system, Zepp power-hitting sensors, SAQ Aerofloor for fast bowlers as well as radar guns for registering ball velocities in our bowling, hitting and throwing programmes Cricketers of note Ian Ward (Surrey, Sussex & England), Paul Terry (Hampshire & England), Kieran Powell (West Indies), Craig Kieswetter (Somerset & England), George Hankins (Gloucestershire), Tom Moores and George Bartlett Extras In 2016 63 days of county 2nd XI cricket was played by boys at the school. The 12-month Performance Programme led by Garaway integrates specialist technical, tactical and lifestyle coaching with sports science input from the Millfield Institute of Sport and Wellbeing team. The programme is individually tailored to optimise performance. There are 53 boys and girls on the programme. Every pupil has the opportunity to be coached by ECB Level III and IV coaches