The college is undergoing a £500,000 project following the gutting of their historic pavilion
In September 2019 the historic cricket pavilion at Scarborough College, which had stood since 1911, was gutted by a fire and its contents destroyed.
"The memories of so many children who've played sport here have gone up in smoke," said headmaster Guy Emmett. "But we’ll do everything we can to recreate and rebuild."
Combined with the onset of Covid-19 the same academic year, it was a two-pronged blow to the school in the North Yorkshire seaside town synonymous with cricket.
A £500,000 project is underway to replace the pavilion, with Emmett and head of cricket Piet Rinke recently scoping out a couple of potential designs.
In the meantime they can call on a pretty nifty replacement ground: since the fire, the College have played a number of their games on the famous ground at North Marine Road, iconic home of Scarborough CC. It helps that Rinke, the former Zimbabwe all-rounder, doubles up as Scarborough CC head coach and 1st XI captain.
Things may just be returning to normality, not that Rinke can remember what that was like at the college.
Ryan Sidebottom imparting his experience to a Scarborugh College batsman [supplied]
Rinke says: "To be honest I don't know what normal is! I started in September 2020 at the height of Covid. But I slowly started one-on-one coaching and two-on-ones and eased back into a squad session.
"Since the fire our players are now used now to getting changed within the main school building 50 yards away. Everyone has got accustomed to that.
"But lots of benefits come from playing at North Marine Road and a couple of other local clubs. So many cricketers would love the opportunity to play regularly on a first-class ground."
Aside from Rinke and the other staff, the school have engaged former England internationals Ryan Sidebottom, Craig White and Stephen Parry to help coach their boys and girls.
A further plan to enhance the net complex would further help.
And Rinke has the ideal headmaster in Emmett, who was a left-arm seamer for Cheshire in the mid-2000s. Emmett even caught a certain Andrew Flintoff in a charity game for the ex-England allrounder’s foundation in 2011.
Even so, says Rinke: "In fairness Guy does look at it all in the round – whether that's art or the sciences or sport."
The school's ethos means that three-quarters of the college's 419 pupils played cricket in 2022. Overseas boarders from non-Commonwealth countries – traditionally a tough nut to crack in schools cricket – have gleefully taken up the game, including Germans, Ukrainians, Russians, Thais and Mexicans.
Rinke says: "We don’t have fixtures on Saturdays, so all our players go out and play club cricket, and there is so much club cricket in Yorkshire that we're always able to find a standard for our players, even for international students not from traditional cricket countries.
"I run the boarding house too. We had a German boy who wasn't interested in cricket at all at the start of the year. In the last two weeks of term they all played three hardball fixtures and by the end he walked out with a cricket bat autographed by all the other players. It's the small things like that which stand out for you.
"A Mexican lad played a couple of senior games, and has now made connection with the Mexican Cricket Association back home. We have a Russian lad of Indian descent who is steeped in the game."
Got him! [supplied]
And in July the College provided a week's accommodation for a youth team from Czech Republic and Hungary that was visiting the county through the Yorkshire Cricket Board.
Taking this pastoral view has earned the school wider recognition. Scarborough College were selected by Mohammed Sadiq Patel, the Bradford-based organiser of the ECB’s Unity Statement, to deliver the message at Lord’s before England’s first Test of the summer against New Zealand.
It came after Patel visited the school earlier in the year and was impressed with the diverse intake playing cricket. Emmett, head of school Chidera Olalere and sixth form pupil Emily Hazeldine did the honours on the school’s behalf on an unforgettable day at Lord’s.
Emmett said: "I feel very lucky to work at our school and the values we stand for. I saw our pupils speak with passion, eloquence and integrity.
"They were nervous, in front of over 20,000 people at the Home of Cricket and being filmed on Sky TV.
"However, I couldn’t have been prouder as they spent time among wonderful faith and community leaders.”
Scarborough stand out on the northern schools cricket circuit, so much so that they made The Cricketer’s top 100 senior schools list for the first time this year.
Promising batsman Cian Dickinson has just completed a two-year programme at the school, and was vice-captain of the North in the ECB's Super Fours competition. He has appeared for Lancashire 2nd XI a number of times this season.
The 1st XI skipper Duncan Brown plays alongside his head of cricket for Scarborough CC in Yorkshire Premier League North.
Scarborough College's regular opponents include Pocklington, St Peter's York, Bradford Grammar, MCC, the Forty Club and the Yorkshire Gentlemen. Pre-Covid the school was playing 80 fixtures a year.
Rinke especially relished this year's 1st XI two-day game against Sedbergh School at North Marine Road – even if they contrived to lose a lot of time to rain in one of the driest summers in years.
"Sadly it rained a lot on the second day. But we want to repeat that fixture as we rarely come up against the strongest cricket schools. We also lost narrowly against Yorkshire Academy, which was another great fixture."
Bizarrely, there was more rain in Spain – of all places – when Scarborough College took part in The Cricketer 100-Ball Tournament at Desert Springs in pre-season.
Scarborough College 1st XI during a drier moment at Desert Springs [supplied]
Scarborough were very much the northern representatives in the four-team tournament. After beating Radley College and Canterbury Academy in their first two games, Scarborough were made to rue defeat to Winchester College.
Brown walloped 82 from 44 balls against Radley, leading Rinke to label him "a star in the making."
Dickinson's unbeaten 44 then saw them home against Canterbury, the sole state school in the competition.
The likes of Dickinson and Brown have a decent chance of emulating the likes of past pupils David Byas, Simon Dennis and Richard Doughty, who all went on to play county cricket.
But rain in Almeria – a surprise to anyone who has watched Sergio Leone's classic spaghetti westerns – meant two days’ cricket were scrubbed. Scarborough were left in second spot in the table on net run-rate behind Canterbury.
Scarborough College are equally proud of their girls' cricket. The school has four girls' teams from U12 to U15 level, and the best girls play in the boys' teams. The school hosts annual girls' festivals.
All in all, Scarborough College is a place with cricket in its DNA.
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