Rikki Clarke shares Hampshire and Middlesex hopes for young charges

Former England man enjoying life at King Edward's School, Witley

Rikki Clarke took nearly 600 catches as a professional cricketer, so it’s no surprise to hear that he has the youngsters at King Edward's School, Witley, working hard on that aspect of their game.

The allrounder, who played two Tests and 20 ODIs for England, took slip catches for fun for Surrey, Derbyshire and Warwickshire from 2002–21.

"While it's fair to say not all my team-mates enjoyed fielding, I always loved it," he told The Cricketer. "So I do like testing the boys and girls. We get the bowling machine out, I hold the bat and we get the edges flying. I also like to see them diving and sliding. Of course, we focus on batting and bowling, but fielding is important too."

Clarke, 42, joined the school in Godalming, Surrey, as soon as his return spell at The Kia Oval came to an end after the 2021 season.

"Our focus has been to really build up the cricket programme. We have more teams now, 21, for boys and girls with C, D and even E sides. The girls' A teams are playing with a hard ball. The girls' under-14s reached the quarter-finals of the county cup, which was fantastic, and the under-13s were runners-up in the T20 softball competition.

"The girls have been a bit more successful, but the boys are progressing too. In recent years we have had 80 fixtures, this season we had 122. The boys and girls are also getting into the county set-ups.

"We have had two under-16 lads – Will Cook and Myles Haarhoff – training with Hampshire, and Tom Harrison spent the winter with Middlesex and then was leading wicket-taker last summer. That is brilliant for us, because we have never been that sort of school where cricket is the main focus. We have big plans this winter too. Surrey Women also want to play here, so it’s exciting times for us."

Watch Rikki Clarke on the latest episode of Huw Meets... recorded live in December

Clarke says he does not miss playing. "I played as long as I could. I wanted to go out on a high which I think I did with a particularly good year in 2019. I wanted to play T20s, but Surrey went for the younger lads, and the 50-over game was difficult for us as we lost a lot of players to The Hundred in 2021. I was 40 and this was a tremendous opportunity. I had talked with the (PCA) players' union about what I wanted to do, and it was always teaching, and my friends/former team-mates Chris Adams, Keith Medlycott and Martin Bicknell told me it was a good life. I still watch county cricket, though, and am proud to be an honorary life member of Surrey."

He still plays in the Legends League in India, as well as running his Rikki Clarke Cricket Academy.