Emilio Gay "happy to help out" as Bedford School hit new level

The Durham opener has lent his expertise at his old school - along with a couple of Northamptonshire greats

The arrival of Ian McGowan at Bedford as director of sport has taken the school's cricket offering to a new level, believes assistant head Ayden Duffy.

The appointment of McGowan, the youngest Northern Irishman to become an ECB Level 4 coach, means that Bedford have two members of staff with the top level of cricket coaching qualification. Gary Steer, the longtime director of cricket, is also Level 4-qualified.

Tom Brett, who briefly played for Northamptonshire, is also on the staff as a Level 3 coach, while Charlie Thurston – a Bedford alumnus – is also working at the school, having retired from professional cricket. Thurston came through Middlesex's age-group system, going on to play for Northants across all formats.

"I think the key thing for me is the level of expertise that is on offer at the school," said Duffy. "All coached at a really high standard. We've got three full-time coaching staff for cricket all year round; the volume of cricket with boys across all standards and access is just vast. And we've really added to our programme over the last 18 months."

Northamptonshire greats David Sales and David Ripley have helped out across the school's pathway as well, while Durham opener Emilio Gay – another product of Bedford – "is still happy to help out where he can". Gay is part of England Lions' squad in Australia this winter and has his sights set on the upcoming T20 World Cup with Italy.

"When they're working with the top-end boys, they've been through it," added McGowan. "So, they can work on the mental side as well as the technical side. Because of the experience that they've got, they can add just a little bit more on top."

He has joined from Merchant Taylors', one of the country's leading cricket schools, and Bedford pride themselves on sharing this breadth of expertise between pupils of all abilities.

"And that's really important and a part of the ethos here at Bedford School, that if you don't come to the school with a love for something, you definitely leave with a love for a sport as well," said McGowan.

To that end, there is significant pride in the Old Bedfordians' triumph in this year's Cricketer Cup final, the school's first title in the old boys' competition, with Thurston in charge as captain.

"They beat Tonbridge in the final," said Duffy. "And what was great about it is that we had over 30 OBs that played in that team; most teams had a real core team that played every week. But it just sort of shows the culture and connection with the school. That once you come to Bedford, you're always Bedford."

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