'Having first appeared in the Schools Guide in 2018, they have since made the cut four years in a row'
Brighton Aldridge Community Academy, the flag-bearer for cricketing state schools, are in safe hands with former England allrounder Alexia Walker at the helm.
Having first appeared in the Schools Guide in 2018, they have since made the cut four years in a row, proof of the incredible work going on at the Sussex institution.
Walker, the BACA director of cricket, said: "We are lucky we have a lot of people who raise money for our facilities who 100 per cent believe in our philosophy. Kids should be able to follow their dreams whether that be academically or on the sports field.
"We have a great partnership with Sussex, who are supportive of state-school initiatives and deliver coaching sessions to our players on a weekly basis. We had a lad who came to us three years ago and joined their academy – he made his debut for the Sussex second team in September. They know it works and can pluck players from us who they know are receiving top level coaching with fantastic facilities.”
'We are lucky we have a lot of people who raise money for our facilities' (supplied)
Walker is talking to The Cricketer from BACA's £1.8million purpose-built cricket centre, where the Sussex men and Southern Vipers women regularly come to train.
"It's natural to see professional players from both the men’s and women’s game walking around site every day," she said.
"We had Jofra Archer who came in and spoke to the kids and did a Q and A session and was fantastic with them. The late, great Shane Warne also came in last year and stayed with us for three hours, delivering a masterclass and speaking to every single player (13 of whom were spinners).
"We were so incredibly grateful we got to experience that before his tragic passing. We find, because we are a state school, current or former pros give us more time because they like what we are doing, which provides the kids with so much inspiration."
The late Shane Warne delivered a masterclass to the players (supplied)
BACA offers a specialised programme for their sixth-form seniors (as well as a junior programme for the rest of the school), with four hours of coaching a day, five days a week. Southern Vipers captain Georgia Adams delivers these sessions alongside Walker, while the school recently announced the exciting signing of former Pakistan allrounder Yasir Arafat, who will spend a day a week over winter working with players from all year groups.
The school has also seen two boys fly off on an all-expenses paid scholarships to New Zealand to play cricket over the winter, linking up with The Willows CC in Christchurch while working with two charities.
"We want to create good cricketers as well as good people," Walker said. BACA are certainly paving the way for state schools.
The Cricketer would like to thank Durant Cricket for their ongoing support of our schools cricket coverage. For more on Durant Cricket, including booking a site visit, please click here
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