The school's master in charge Ryan Brotherton says they try to instil Cumnor's values of 'compassion, integrity and endeavour' in all pupils
Cumnor House for Boys' five core values stood Mark Butcher in good stead when he was facing Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and that great Australia side of the 1990s.
Butcher made three of his eight Test centuries against them, including the unforgettable, match-winning 173 not out at Headingley in 2001. He certainly needed 'belief' and 'courage' then…
The other three of Cumnor's values are 'compassion, integrity and endeavour', making up 'the Cumnor Way' – and the school's master in charge Ryan Brotherton says they try to instil these in the youngsters' approach to cricket.
"We take cricket very seriously here, from the pupils to the parents to the teachers, but we also set high standards for the lads," Brotherton told The Cricketer. "For instance, encouraging batters to walk when they have hit it. The 'Spirit of Cricket' is vitally important to us."
Cricket at Cumnor House [supplied]
Cumnor has superb cricket facilities – the main square has 12 wickets, the second three, and there is also an area used mainly for football that can be used for softball tournaments. It has more than 150 cricket fixtures a summer.
No wonder the school – which also includes Mark's brother Gary, Scott Newman, master blaster Ali Brown (all Surrey) and Northants legend David Sales among its alumni – has achieved such success.
In 2017 and '18, the under-13 boys were national runners-up; they won the Surrey Cup three years in a row from 2016–18, and their year 6 team were also county champions from 2014–2016.
Recent success also includes being Under-11 Surrey Schools Cricket Cup 8-a-side winners 2021; U11 South of England Schools Cricket Cup 8-a-side winners 2021; U11 National Cricket Cup ESCA National winners 2021; and U11 Surrey Prep Schools Cricket Cup Winners in 2021.
"I have very special memories of being at Cumnor from 1977 for five years," Butcher told The Cricketer. "My old man (Alan) coached the football teams in the winter, and played for Surrey and later Glamorgan in the summer, before Steve Kember (Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Leicester City and Vancouver Whitecaps) retired and came in as football coach. Steve coached cricket in the summer – a nice change for them both!
"We recruited sporty youngsters from the local state schools on scholarships. Pretty much all the teachers were cricket mad. We were a little prep school in Purley, and the headmaster realised that the way to get on the map was to beat these bigger schools."
Cumnor House has enjoyed cricket success in recent years [supplied]
The school has considerable strength in depth, allowing them to play a lot of internal matches during the time of the pandemic, and its aftermath. They have also tried some 100-ball matches.
Their circuit includes The New Beacon, Feltonfleet, King's College School, Wimbledon and The Worth. Close cricket clubs include Sanderstead, Purley, Croydon, Old Whitgiftians, Trinity Mid-Whitgiftians, Banstead and Sutton. There were five overseas tours before the pandemic between 2012 and 2018.
Butcher and current player Sam Curran also sent video messages during Covid to spur the young cricketers on. The school seems steeped in Surrey CCC.
Former England rugby star Elliot Daly loved his cricket there as well – he was on Surrey’s books. He was the school's head boy in 2003 and has retained his links with the school.
Brotherton is a good allrounder himself, currently playing for Sanderstead CC.
"We are competitive despite being a relatively small school" he said. "We have 35–40 boys in a year but regularly beat ones with 50, 60 or 70 at A-team level."
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