St George's College state-of-the-art facilities at heart of healthy participation levels

Commitment of school's staff major contributing factor on making Schools Guide debut

A state-of-the-art activity centre helps explain why participation is as healthy as ever at St George’s.

Opened just before Covid struck, the centre - approximately the size 12 badminton courts - features a glass floor, illuminated by LED lights highlighting whichever court or pitch one chooses when selecting via the control panel.

St George's head of cricket, David Keightley, puts its construction at the heart of all the good things taking place within the school's cricket programme.

^{St George's College boasts 27 boys' and girls' teams in total (supplied)}

He said: "We are extremely lucky to have this state-of-the-art centre which gives both cricket and sports as a whole opportunity to work concurrently. With six indoor nets available and then further space for other drills, we are well equipped.

"We have four cages available for grass wicket practice and four squares with two artificial pitches. Our groundstaff are unbelievable; they make sure the game is kept on and allow us use of the pitches when we want – quite different to what I am used to at club cricket!"

Keightley is keen to stress the commitment of the staff as a major reason in both St George’s success on the field and the school’s debut in the The Cricketer’s guide.

^{The school has over 10 girls playing at county level or higher (supplied)}

"To reach the top 100 is a huge accomplishment and testament to the dedication of the staff. Their work and enthusiasm over the last couple of years has been incredible and I cannot thank them enough – especially the academic staff who aren't in or around the sports department all the time but play a vital role in helping the programme to thrive and survive. It gives opportunity for the pupils to come and play cricket and be passionate about it. We are really happy with where we are at the moment with both boys' and girls' cricket.

"Girls' participation has seen a boom in the last four or five years while England's 2019 World Cup victory has seen a resurgence in boys' participation too, highlighted by the 27 teams we have across the school.

"The Hundred's exposure for the women's game has been a massive success while the 2017 World Cup victory was also a big factor in why we are now seeing, and will continue to see, county-level players such as Charlotte Lambert coming through. The development of the mental side of her game as well as technical is there for all to see and she, along with Ollie Pascall, are great role models for players at the school who want to go on and strive to succeed in the game.”

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

Related Topics

• MCC ask members which Lord's games matter most after Eton-Harrow and Varsity rebellion
• Scarborough College marching onwards in spite of adversity