Brand new indoor centre to transform cricket at Merchant Taylors’

Local community will benefit from five-lane facility

'Cricket is an opportunity to express your personality not define it'.

The mantra instilled in Merchant Taylors' students by director of cricket Ian McGowan speaks volumes to the type of cricketers, and human beings, that the school is striving to mould.

"Part of the philosophy is trying to create memories," says McGowan, who recently completed his ECB Specialist Coach (Level 4) qualification.

^{The school's new indoor facility will be completed in 2024}

"It’s not just about 'did we win or did we lose', but it’s more about the moments. It's important to keep these lads enjoying it so they will want to play past the gates of the school and into adulthood.

"I walk through the inner quad at our school and there are five or six games of cricket being played with bats and tennis balls. When I was at school, that would always be a football or a rugby ball. So it’s really unique to see those boys playing the game."

The enthusiasm is plain to see in the sheer number of teams that the school is able to produce, with as many as 18 in action on a Saturday. And that culture, it seems, extends to the common room, too.

^{Barbados was one of the destinations Merchant Taylors' cricketers toured in 2023}

"I have 50 academic staff helping out on the cricket programme – at Merchant Taylors’ there’s a big investment in the co-curricular side of the school," says McGowan. "We rely heavily on maths teachers and English teachers supporting us on Saturdays."

Next year will see the completion of the school’s brand new indoor cricket facility, funded in large part through philanthropic donations. Going from two lanes of nets above a sports hall to a purpose built five-lane cricket centre, the upgrade is set to transform the indoor cricket provision both for Merchant Taylors’ and the local community.

The extra space will allow boys that are not necessarily in the top teams a chance to develop their cricket. Plus, it is planned that the money the centre generates will go back into bursaries.

McGowan describes it as a "feelgood project", knowing that an elite facility that will host international and professional teams, will also give school players in B, C or D teams the chance to improve their games.

Away from the building site (the centre is set to open this January), 2023 saw tours to the UAE/Dubai (under-15s) and the Caribbean (under-18s) – the school's first since the outbreak of Covid-19 – which again show the inclusive nature of Merchant Taylors' approach.

"The way we run our tours, is we open them up to any boy that wants to go and we try and take as many as possible away," says McGowan.

"You create unique memories with your mates whenever you play a sport you love, and that’s something we really want to embrace with our touring policy."