Cricket in all-girls schools: "We do aspire to be great at cricket, but what we aspire to more is that our girls enjoy the game"

An increasing number of all-girls schools are introducing cricket as a major summer sport. Guildford High School did so a few years ago and their thriving programme has set the blueprint for others to follow

Girls’ cricket in schools is on the rise. As readers of The Cricketer’s Schools Guide will note, many mixed schools now offer a girls’ programme to run alongside the boys.

Mixed schools do have an advantage, though, when setting up a girls programme simply because the facilities are already there. Also, there are often other mixed schools in the area at the same stage of their female cricket journey, making fixtures easier to arrange.

But what about all-girls schools who want to introduce our summer game? Not only is there the question of facilities, but also interest and importantly the staff may not be familiar with how the game can be effectively delivered.

Guildford High School are a shining example of how an all-girls school can overcome these obstacles and help the game thrive.

Led by director of sport Keely Harper, enthusiasm is key and Guildford High’s willingness to embrace a new sport has produced superb results.

^{L-R: Keely Harper (director of sport), Ben Collins (cricket specialist), Georgie Dustin (head of junior school PE)}

“For the first time, in September 2020, we ran cricket as part of our carousel lessons,” Harper tells The Cricketer. Girls in year 9 and 10 had weekly sessions while the junior school – years 4,5 and 6, had sessions for the entire term.

“They had so much fun with it, especially after the summer they were just so keen to play some sport again.”

Guildford High recently recruited Ben Collins as a cricket specialist. The former England U19 international’s arrival is a real statement of intent from the school, and is ensuring cricket is available to all ages.

“I’ve run clubs for year’s 5 to 10 across the week which will run from September to July,” Collins explains.

“The first 12 weeks before Christmas allowed us to really focus on skills and placed an emphasis on technique. It was good for me too to have a chance to get to know the girls who may be at the higher end of skill level.

“What I’ve seen in the junior school is that they just enjoy learning a new skill, and that’s an ongoing thing with all the Guildford girls. In the junior school before Christmas, we had 50 girls playing cricket on Friday morning which is amazing for a 7:45am start! It was brilliant.”

An aforementioned hurdle that all-girls schools have to overcome is that cricket-specific facilities generally aren’t in place, and with their significant expense it can often be difficult for schools to sign off on this expenditure until cricket is fully embedded in the curriculum after a number of years.

But Guildford High have adapted what they have. A large sports hall has had four nets installed while they also use local pitches at the nearby Stoke Park.

Cricket has long been on the radar at the school, with a recreational club and extracurricular practices running for several years but it was at the start of 2018 that the senior management decided to give cricket a proper go.

“I came back from maternity leave in January 2018 and was told that cricket was my baby and that by the summer I had to have a whole programme going!” Harper reflects. “I hadn't played much cricket and my staff had very limited experience. So I got in touch with Lydia Greenway’s Cricket For Girls. She was brilliant, really approachable and her knowledge was excellent.

^{Guildford High have turned their existing playing fields into cricket facilities}

“It was great to get her and one of her coaches come in and work with us, and we also had girls come in that Easter for cricket courses run by Lydia.

“The initial uptake was brilliant considering very few girls had played before. It really showed the culture at Guildford High of giving everything a go.”

Greenway and her Cricket For Girls coaching programme ran the initial sessions with school staff taking note. Initiatives such as pairs cricket are effective when launching a new cricket programme with its fast action that keeps all involved and adds a spice of competitiveness. 

Collins arrived in September 2020 to firmly cement cricket as a major sport at the school.

“It’s been a clean slate for me. With the help of Keely I can stamp my authority on Guildford High cricket and work from the bottom up, which in time will generate a passion for the game at all ages,” Collins adds.

“The staff are really enthusiastic but the kids are also very keen which, as a teacher, is exactly what you want. You don’t care too much about their ability but as long as they are giving you something back and are improving that’s what you want to see.”

“It comes down to how you promote a new sport to the pupils,” Harper says. “As staff we’ll always project how exciting it is that we’re doing cricket, rather than saying ‘come on, we’ve got to do cricket now’.”

As well as his coaching expertise, Collins – a level 2 coach, also has connections with local clubs. He ran the girls section at Esher CC from 2017-2020. Fast forward four years and 140 girls are playing at the club, a remarkable and impressive growth.

An increasing number of that group are Guildford High girls who will undoubtedly benefit from the extra coaching and experience. It is a great testament to how cricket has been implemented at Guildford High that so many girls who were introduced to the game there now want to play club cricket.

The missed summer of 2020 was a shame, but the appetite for the programme run in the autumn term is encouraging to see.

Cricket is now played year-round and the game will only further develop in the coming years with P.E. staff all buying into the plan and there is crucial support from senior staff members too.

“Our head loves sport and she loves cricket,” Harper continues. “We’re really fortunate that she is a real advocate for sport, she is very on-board and supportive. One of our limitations is that we don’t have all those facilities ready to go like mixed schools have, but we’ve just bought a bowling machine and are investing as much as we can.”

A summer tour is in the works when travel is permitted, meanwhile in the short-term Collins is planning to run cricket courses over the Easter holidays (also dependent on restrictions). Greenway and Cricket For Girls will be back too during the June half term for a roadshow.

Introducing a school with 1,000 pupils to a new sport is no easy task. But through commitment and enthusiasm, from both staff and pupils in equal measure, Guildford High are showing how it can be done, with Harper explaining the key aims for cricket at the school.

“We do aspire to be great at cricket, but what we aspire to more is that our girls enjoy the game. We want to promote inclusivity with as many coming out to practice as possible, then if girls go on to play for clubs and get picked by their county, that’s brilliant.”

The positive impact they are having, and will continue to have, on women’s cricket in this country is invaluable.

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