Merchant Taylors' School keep one eye on new £4.5m, five-lane indoor cricket centre

The foundation of the forthcoming centre derives from a £1m donation from former pupil Julian Hill

With a brand new, £4.5million, five-lane indoor cricket centre on the horizon, future prospects at Merchant Taylors' look exciting.

The project was only made possible thanks to a £1m pledge from old boy Julian Hill. Director of cricket Ian McGowan is excited about the potential the new facility has for the school's community.

“As a day school, it gives us huge platform to showcase our ambition for cricket and provides opportunity for all abilities. Hill was a B/C-team cricketer and his donation will help allow us to develop players of his ilk throughout the school year no matter their level of skill," he said.

"Our Scholarship programme very much focuses on player development from a young age and the new Julian Hill Indoor Cricket Centre will only enhance the coaching programme further, adding to the fantastic outdoor facilities that we already have available to us. The centre will see our pupils training alongside the likes of Eoin Morgan and other Middlesex CCC players as our partnership goes from strength to strength."

^{Merchant Taylors' under-18s 'reaped the rewards' of their hard work on and off the field (supplied)}

Merchant Taylors' inclusion in this year's Schools Guide highlights the instution's prowess. McGowan is aiming for it to be a regular slot. "It’s a benchmark for cricket schools in the UK - we are a day school who punch above our weight so it’s testament to our programme that we are included alongside the big powerhouse boarding schools," he said.

McGowan recognises the importance of combining cricket with academia. He said: "We had a group of under-18 boys who really bought into the ethos of the school and worked really hard in the winter and reaped the rewards in the summer as a result. Four or five of the lads scored 400-plus runs, which sets the season up nicely.

"We unfortunately had to pull the plug on a tour to South Africa in February but finished the season off with a trip to Desert Springs, which was a lovely way to see the boys off. Six of those boys have played representative cricket at Middlesex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and have gone on to university - where we linked them up with respective local clubs.

"They will probably play club cricket for the next 10-plus years which is a mark of our programme and something we are proud of."

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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