Cricket proves popular among Chinese students at Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate

Different cultures embrace sport as girls programme also expands

When Ben Gibbons arrived at Queen Ethelburga’s in November 2021, he was faced with year groups who had not played cricket for the best part of two years, after the Covid pandemic halted school cricket in its tracks. 

It took him only 18 months to rejuvenate the programme, with the school running 16 teams over 120 fixtures in 2023.

Gibbons is clear on the many reasons why students at QE are now enjoying the game in their droves: "The biggest successes in the last 18 months have been engaging a number of different pupils in the sport.

"We've got pupils where cricket isn’t traditionally one of their focus sports, in different cultures where cricket isn’t as popular – China, Hong Kong, Nepal – and then also with the girls. 

"QE hadn’t done any girls cricket at all when I started… in 2022 we got them playing soft-ball games, house cricket games. And then this year we’ve been transitioning a lot of the girls to hard-ball, getting teams from under-11s to under-15s, getting it on the curriculum for the first time."

It helps that QE has invested in facilities that would be the envy of other schools. In addition to two indoor nets, two squares, four outdoor astroturf wickets, Frogbox video analysis and state-of-the-art strength and conditioning gym, there is also a swimming pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and ice baths.

And Gibbons points to the floodlights as one of the biggest game-changers, as they give even more opportunity for competitive cricket in evenings and outside of summer.

"We play right to the last day of September and start earlier in March. It really becomes an all-year round programme," he says.

But perhaps the thing that most sets QE apart is how students are allowed to realise their aspirations and follow their own pathways. Its Performance Sports Programmes (PSPs) integrate sports into the school timetable, allowing further coaching to take place in addition to co-curricular activity.

"Say if you're a pupil in year 12 and you have got ambitions to try to push to be the best you can be in your sport, you can opt to have a PSP on your timetable… we create a learning plan in terms of what they want to work on," Gibbons says.

"I don’t think there are many schools out there that offer something like that."

The impact had been made manifest by the sight of Old Ethelburgians like Finlay Bean and Dominic Leech now making a name of themselves on the county circuit.

"For the students who are on the PSP, it’s something that does inspire the pupils to try and be the best," says Gibbons. "So there is a culture of success for those who are on that programme who are wanting to push their sporting credentials."