Former Gloucestershire player to focus on teaching economics at the school after 14 years
Mark Hardinges is stepping down as Malvern College’s master in charge of cricket after 14 years, to focus on teaching economics at the school, but he can point to a crop of Old Malvernians currently gracing county cricket.
That includes two Wisden Schools Cricketers of the Year in Tom Kohler-Cadmore (2013) and Oli Cox (2022) – Malvern are the only school who can say that.
Hardinges, 45, joined the staff at Malvern – where he went to school – when he bowed out of county cricket with Essex in 2009, after a decade at Gloucestershire.
“Over 10 to 12 years we’ve had a steady flow of boys going on to become professional cricketers,” said the former allrounder.
“With some, it’s obvious the first time you see them hit the ball that they have a great chance. With others, it takes time.
“Oli Cox and Josh Baker weren’t in the Worcestershire Academy until their last year at school, and so we were definitely part of their development, and that’s quite a good thing for the school.
“It was Tom who sparked it, to some degree. A bit like when I was at Malvern many moons ago, David Nash came in, and the confidence he gave to the players around him was infectious.
“I’m personally keen to not get too many sixth-form scholars, because I think you can have a bigger influence if you’ve been at the school since 13.
“But we’re still punching above our weight, when you consider our intake is lower than other prominent cricket schools.”
Hardinges admits that the college still has a way to travel with girls’ cricket.
“We’re still developing. The 1st XI girls get a chance on the Senior Turf and we try to make sure they play alongside boys for as long as it’s helpful for them. We always hope the best ones can challenge to be in boys’ teams, and you want those ones to be dominating girls’ cricket too.
“We’re definitely seeing an increase. But we have some way to go in juggling exam work and cricket, whereas that expectation is longer running in boys at the school.”
Hardinges has tried to be adaptable.
“Clearly we play a lot of T20 – with coloured clothing and white ball at both ends – but we sometimes do away with the powerplays because they don’t really work at some levels.
“Our pupils play lots of formats and it’s all about a healthy balance.”
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