Michael Vaughan: Why the Knight-Stokes Cup can benefit the England teams

HUW TURBERVILL: The former England captain discusses the tournament he conceived, which drew entries from more than 1,000 teams

Michael Vaughan believes that a new competition for state schools with a final at Lord's will give England a greater player pool - though he insists that they still had the talent to beat Australia this winter.

The former England captain came up with the idea of a T20 hardball competition for non-fee-paying schools in Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the Republic of Ireland will hopefully follow), which will be staged for the first time this summer.

The uptake for the Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup has been exceptional, with over 1,000 schools due to take part in the inaugural event starting this April – with about 40 per cent of them girls' teams.

Run by MCC and MCC Foundation and with sponsorship from The Black Heart Foundation and Barclays, the competition is for under-15 sides (the same age as the Bunbury Festival), and entry is free.

"It was an idea that came to me about a year ago," Vaughan told The Cricketer. "I just felt that the state sector was not being represented at the home of cricket.

"State school players have played for MCC, MCC Foundation and other teams at Lord's, but a state school has never had the chance to represent itself at Lord's. There have been so many historical games there over many years, but that a state school hadn't been there triggered my mind, as I went to one.

"MCC, through Mark Nicholas (chair), Rob Lynch (director of cricket and operations), and Angus Berry (CEO, MCC Foundation), got on board quickly. Mark literally took one minute to say, 'that's happening. It's a great idea.' I've been a patron for the Black Heart Foundation now for nearly 20 years, and when they and Barclays got involved, the rest is history.

Related: More than 1,000 state school teams to aim for Lord's in new national tournament

^{Lord's will play host to the inaugural final on September 10 (Getty Images)}

"We've been out delivering the competition for 2026. I guess when you can start talking about putting something in place like this that's not been there before, you start to worry if there will be enough uptake, but more than 1,000 teams have entered, including so many girls' teams, which is absolutely fantastic.

"We've been overwhelmed. It is going to be tremendous for the game, to think that every youngster in the UK is going to have the opportunity to pester a teacher or two to make sure that they have a team, whether it's in 2026 or going forward. T20 is the easiest format for everyone to understand, and I hope that we can extend this to under-13s and under-11s in the future.

"I've been invited to the regional Cheshire finals, which are on June 23, and I will try to get to as many others as I can. I'd love the regional finals to be at the main county grounds in future years.

"Then the final is on September 10 at Lord's, and it's going to be a great day and year for the state sector. MCC will produce a good pitch, and they have also promised me good weather. I have also cheekily suggested that the players get the same food as the England players have on matchdays.

"I know the ambition is to try to produce the next superstars for the men's and women's England teams, but we also want to try to find the next generation of cricket fans.

"I went to a comprehensive called Silverdale in Sheffield. We had a half-decent team, not a fantastic one, but I had mates who were primarily interested in football and rugby. But because they could see that they were going to miss a biology or chemistry lesson towards the back end of the day, they got into cricket, and they are still fans to this day.

"We had a great PE teacher called Mr Bradshaw, but also an inspirational maths and economics teacher called Paul Kemp, and he was a cricket tragic. He got us in the nets at lunchtimes. He saw an opportunity for us maybe to win a Sheffield trophy or South Yorkshire final. I still see him at Sheffield Wednesday matches.

"I have great memories of Silverdale. There will be some schools that don't have a cricket teacher, but maybe there's a maths, history or biology teacher who loves the game, and it's up to the kids to pester them. This is a great chance for people who have never played before.

"The private sector is doing an amazing job in producing so many of our cricketers, so let's not put them down. A lot of pupils join those schools during A-Level time and get offered a scholarship opportunity.

"Private schools have incredible coaches and facilities, with great links to the major counties. But this is a great way of spreading the love and the game across the whole sector, for all the kids in the UK who now can see that they have a pathway potentially to playing cricket at the greatest ground in the world.

"To have finals day there every year is fantastic. Cricket in the UK has to do that better – to marry every part together. Independent schools, clubs and boards will provide pitches, so a lot of good people are working on this big picture.

"I hope this tournament will give cricket greater profile. That the kids talk about the game around their schools, and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out on TikTok, Snapchat and all the social media sites – the more we can spread the message about our great game of cricket, the better.

"This is just the start. When you think we have more than 1,000 teams in year one, I can only think what it will be like in seven or eight years. This is only going to grow and grow."

Related: The Cricketer Schools Guide 2026 reveals UK's best schools for cricket

^{Vaughan led England to Ashes glory in 2005 (Getty Images)}

Vaughan commented on the Ashes for Fox Sports and 3AW, and said England missed a big opportunity when they lost the Ashes Test series down under 4-1.

"Hopefully, the Knight-Stokes Cup will expand the player pool in the UK, but I do think we have enough talent in this country now to be competitive in Australia," he added.

"Look at the skillsets of the England team now, the development programme coming through, and those players in the county game.

"The game is not lacking talent, but this competition will hopefully give more talented cricketers the opportunity to come through the system, and hopefully we have even more talent available in five to 10 years' time, to make it even more difficult for people to get county contracts in men's and women's cricket as the pool is greater – that can only be good for the game.

"But the talent was there with England in Australia, the players were available, and they should have been more competitive. They will be the first to admit that it was an opportunity, a glaring chance to do something very special.

"They will say, ‘We didn't quite get that right'. I don't think that they were a great Australian side. They were a very good one, but when you have Pat Cummins playing only one Test, Steve Smith missed a game, Josh Hazlewood not bowling a ball, and Nathan Lyon hardly bowled, and to think we still lost convincingly, the players will know it was a great opportunity."

Watch the interview with Michael Vaughan in its entirety at the top of this page or on The Cricketer's YouTube channel.

Alternatively, you can listen to the episode below: