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How Super School Solved England's Opener Woes

How Super School Solved England's Opener Woes

60 2G M Tuesday December 17 2019 | the times the times | Tuesday December 17 2019 2G M 61 Sport Sport

Burns, who learnt the game at Whitgift, has cemented his place Anderson back for tour as an England opener. How super Fellow old boy Hudson-Odoi, the Chelsea and England winger, visited the game but Wood still out school recently, inset school solved John Westerby career,” Silverwood said. “It’s the first Proteas’ six uncapped players time he’s come across those conditions. James Anderson will return to He’ll learn and he’s got some good competitive action today for the first Dane Paterson people around him, and Joe [Root, the time since August in the opening Right-arm fast, Age 30 ] is continually learning what’s warm-up game of England’s tour of First-class record the best way of captaining him as well.” England’s . The previous time Matches 100 347 South Africa are emerging from a Anderson had taken the field was in a Bowl ave 24.03 turmoil after installing Graeme Smith game for Lancashire’s second team in as acting director of cricket and Mark Chester, when he aggravated the injury Pieter Malan Opening batsman, 30 Boucher as head coach within the last to his right calf that he had sustained Matches 148 Runs 10,161 Bat ave 45.16 week. After losing their most recent during the first Test at Edgbaston home Test series 2-0 to in against Australia and was ruled out of Batsman, 30 February and being crushed 3-0 in opener woes the rest of series. Matches 113 Runs 7,370 in October, six uncapped players The 37-year-old missed the tour to Bat ave 44.39 were named yesterday in a 17-man New Zealand too, but England’s squad for the first two Tests. “The wickets are really good, which leading Test -taker will be back in Left-arm fast, 29 Keshav Maharaj is the only specialist Whitgift had little track probably explains why we produce a action in a two-day game against a Matches 85 Wickets 291 spinner in the squad, while Aidan record in cricket before lot of batsmen. But the ethos has South Africa Invitation XI in Benoni Bowl ave 23.63 Markram, the opening batsman, has always been just about instilling a this morning, aiming to regain been included despite not having it suddenly developed lifelong love of the game. selection for the opening Test of a All-rounder, 30 played since fracturing his wrist punch- “We’ve got loads of old pupils four-match series, starting in Centuri- Matches 55 Runs 2,656 Bat ave ing a wall during the series in India. three Test batsmen, playing Premier League club cricket on a week on Thursday. Anderson has 39.05 Wickets 162 Bowl ave 23.87 Dominic Sibley and , the and I’m just as proud of that as of the not taken a Test wicket since the final opening batsmen in Root’s squad, were writes John Westerby England players we’ve produced.” match against West Indies in St Lucia in Rudi Second Wicketkeeper, 30 named yesterday in the squad for the It is a Wednesday evening and the February, but still has the desire to add Matches 110 Runs 7,205 Bat ave red-ball leg of England Lions squad to or far too many summers next generation are being put to his tally of 575 wickets from 149 Tests. 44.75 Catches 365 Stumpings 14 Australia after the Test now the England selectors through their paces in the school hall The head coach Chris Silverwood series in South Africa. Tom Kohler- have been scouring the by Kendrick, the former and believes that the swing bowler is ready Full squad F du Plessis (capt), T Bavuma, Cadmore was named in the white-ball country for opening batsmen Glamorgan spinner, in a Whitgift to stake his claim for a place in the seam Q de Kock (wk), D Elgar, B Hendricks, K Maharaj, squad, having been dropped from a P Malan, A Markram, Z Hamza, A Nortje, of Test quality. First in search Cricket Academy session, where attack after spending two weeks accli- D Paterson, A Phehlukwayo, V Philander, Lions tour last winter and not Fof a reliable opening partner for specialist coaching is given to the best matising in Potchefstroom. “Jimmy is considered for selection in the summer. D Pretorius, K Rabada, R Second, , more recently in the players from years eight to 13. absolutely flying,” Silverwood said yes- R van der Dussen. Kohler-Cadmore and , the hope of finding worthy successors, Spriegel, 32, a youth coach at Surrey, terday. “He’s in a great place.” Nottinghamshire batsman, were repri- from Nick Compton to , has come back to his old school to , having been crowned manded and fined for bringing the Michael Carberry to Keaton Jennings, lend a hand. A week earlier Laurie BBC Sports Personality of the Year on South Africa will be kinder to their game into disrepute as members of the the search has gone on across the Evans, the Sussex and former Surrey Sunday, will not take part in the open- seam attack. “There’s a bit more bounce WhatsApp group that came to light length and breadth of the land. batsman, had dropped in to dispense ing match but is likely to play in the here,” Silverwood said. “A bit more pace during the rape trial of Alex Hepburn, This makes it all the more unlikely a little wisdom. three-day first-class fixture against in the wickets will suit our bowlers. But their former Worcestershire team- that two have been uncovered from Evans is another former pupil who South Africa A at the same venue, the bowlers as a unit have worked so mate. precisely the same place. , made his way into the Surrey team starting on Friday. , still hard on finding ways to get 20 wickets. England Lions 50-over squad T Abell; D Bess (both 29, and Dominic Sibley, 24, who will around the same time as Spriegel and recovering from a side injury sustained It’s been a struggle at times but that’s Somerset); J Bracey (Gloucs); H Brookes (Warks); B Carse (Durham); M Crane (Hants); L Evans (Sussex); resume their opening partnership for plenty more have followed them to in the World Cup final in July, is not something to work on.” R Gleeson (Lancs); L Gregory (Somerset); S Hain England in the first Test against in recent years, including expected to be fit until the third Test in is suffering from a cold (Warks); W Jacks (Surrey); T Kohler-Cadmore (Yorks); D Lawrence (Essex); M Milnes (Kent); T Moores South Africa a week on Thursday, Tom Lancefield, Freddie van den Port Elizabeth in mid-January. but Silverwood feels the fast bowler will (Notts); C Overton (Somerset). learnt much of their early cricket at Bergh and , as well as Silverwood acknowledged that have learnt from a chastening series on Four-day squad Bess, Bracey, Z Crawley (Kent), Whitgift School in Croydon before Burns, Roy and Sibley. From an England’s attack need to show more unresponsive pitches in New Zealand. Gleeson, Gregory, Hain, K Jennings (Lancs), D Lawrence (Essex), S Mahmood (Lancs), S Northeast taking separate paths towards Test independent boys’ school that had no penetration than they displayed in New “He’s still very young in his inter- (Hants), C Overton, O Robinson (Kent), O Robinson cricket. particular track record of producing Zealand, but feels that conditions in national career, especially his Test (Sussex), D Sibley (Warks), A Virdi (Surrey). Burns, the Surrey captain, has county cricketers, this has become a established himself in the side, after prolific production line. VISIONHAUS/GETTY IMAGES; IAN TUTTLE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK an excellent Ashes series and a So what changed? “About 20 years Sibley scored a have a really good range of not being given under-15, he was scoring centuries for in his most recent , ago, we were nowhere near the top of double century backgrounds here.” sufficient the school first team. “We play 50- Stokes: Team against New Zealand in Hamilton at the ladder but a new head came in, while at school, Daly and Cipriani were good opportunities with over cricket and 20-over cricket and Pre-watershed swearing was the start of this month. Sibley, who Dr Christopher Barnett, who had his left, and made his cricketers, the former playing for the bat. Dom was always someone moved on to Warwickshire two years own vision for the school and that Test debut last South of England before opting to “There was a who would look to occupy supported me ago, played his first two Tests in New included improving the sport,” month, below. concentrate on his rugby. “Cips could difference of opinion the crease,” Kendrick breach of Ofcom regulations Zealand and aims to cement his Kendrick says. “Colin Pates [the Daly, right, also of bat and bowl but he never practised about where I was says. position in South Africa at the top of former Chelsea and Arsenal defender] Whitgift, has 39 at all,” Kendrick says. “I remember ,” is how “He wasn’t afraid phones had to be turned off between during absence the order alongside his former school- started the football off, we’ve had a caps in rugby picking him up at the station one time Burns looks back on of getting behind continued from back balls but it is now up to the broadcaster mate. load of great rugby and hockey union for England after he’d been training with Wasps to it wryly. the rate early in obscenities — the player shouted “f*** and the amended rules were part of the Matt Lawton In fact, three out of the past four players, and Wardy came in to do the play at Epsom College and he hit one Burns moved the innings, off . . . f***ing prick . . . f*** you” — were ICC’s attempt to clamp down on bad be- England openers have come from the cricket.” of the biggest sixes I’ve ever seen a instead to City of he’d back picked up by one of their camera’s haviour. Ben Stokes has paid tribute to his Eng- same school as , who Wardy is David Ward, a talented schoolboy hit. He was talented London Freemen’s himself to catch microphones. On September 4, during Its reasoning was that if players real- land team-mates for the support he opened in the Ashes series last batsman who played in the powerful all right.” School, where the up.” a live Blast match, a player was heard ised what they were saying could be received during what he described as summer, is another old Whitgiftian. Surrey team of the 1990s alongside Roy, two school years coach was Neil Stewart, By the time he via the stump microphone shouting heard by the viewing public, they may the hardest time of his life. More than just a coincidence, surely. , Graham Thorpe and below Cipriani, had stood the brother of Alec. Their was in the upper “f***”. tone down on-field abuse. Leaving the Stokes, 28, was voted the BBC’s And what makes this recent record Mark Butcher, finishing with a first- out when Kendrick saw him relationship has endured to sixth, Sibley was not The third incident happened when volume turned up gives the viewer in- Sports Personality of the Year on Sun- even more remarkable is that these class average a shade under 40. Once batting at Surrey’s under-12 the extent that he playing much for the , commentating during sight into what is being discussed by the day, marking a remarkable turnaround three are the first England players to his county career came to an end, he nets and moved from his consulted Stewart during school. Instead he was the fifth Ashes Test at the Oval — his wicketkeeper and slip cordon and if for a cricketer who stood trial last year have come from Whitgift for more began coaching at Whitgift and state school in Redhill to the Ashes series last playing for Surrey, final Test for the company — believed anything is being directed at the for an incident that occurred outside a than half a century, ever since Raman Kendrick joined shortly after, in 2001, Whitgift in year nine. summer. becoming the youngest that his microphone was not live and batsman. Bristol nightclub in September 2017. He Subba Row played the last of his 13 at which point Spriegel and Evans “I had a chat to the head “He was a decent batsman to score a double said “haven’t got a f***ing clue”. Sky was However, broadcasters cannot have was acquitted and responded this year Test matches in 1961. were 14, and Burns was just starting at and admissions people and batsman when he left us, century in County cleared of this complaint because the any control over the language used by with match-winning innings in a This is not, traditionally, one of the the school. said it would be good to get but more of a manoeuvrer Championship history comment was made in error and an on- the players and have to be mindful of dramatic World Cup final at Lord’s and game’s powerhouses. Despite their Around the same time, Surrey this lad on board,” Kendrick of the ball,” Kendrick says. against Yorkshire in only air apology was made immediately. Ofcom regulations. the third Ashes Test at Headingley. attractive playing fields just off started playing occasional one-day says. “I think Neil [Stewart] was his third first-class match. The first two incidents were deemed Having been found in breach of these However, he received a backdated Brighton Road heading south out of and matches “He was a bit of a hot-head but very good at working with When Whitgift decided to by Ofcom to have breached their rulings, Sky is likely to be cautious, us- ban and a fine from the ECB, having Croydon, they did not produce a at the school. “Having those games we kept him quite stable while he was the quirks in Rory’s game build on its cricket success by rules that state: “The most offensive ing the audio only in replays so that any been dropped for the Ashes in Australia county cricketer from Subba Row’s definitely raised the profile,” Kendrick here. He fitted in well, he was a good and next time we saw him launching the academy language must not be broadcast before bad language can be cut out. two winters ago. “It’s when you’re out of time in the 1950s and 1960s until says. “For a school who weren’t in the than 400 years ago by a former Daly, Harry Williams and Marland rugby player, solid under the high the power had come as programme for its best young the watershed” and “in applying Audio from stump microphones led the team that you feel it,” Stokes said. Matthew Spriegel, an - top tier of cricketing schools at the Archbishop of Canterbury, owns Yarde. The football team has been ball. When he went on to the well. He looked a very players three years ago, it invited a generally accepted standards, broad- to a four-match suspension for Sarfaraz “When that gets taken away from you, all-rounder, made his way into the time, it helped to put us on the map.” property including the Whitgift graced by Nigeria defender Victor academy at Surrey, he had a few good player.” couple of former pupils back to casters must ensure material which Ahmed, the Pakistan captain at the and you’re not around the people that Surrey team in 2008. But for the Over the previous few years, the Centre shopping complex in central Moses and England’s Callum problems with his behaviour, but he Sibley was a few years oversee the launch. They had been a may cause offence is justified by the time, for a racist comment he made you’re generally spending time with, young cricketers coming through the school’s fresh focus on sport led to a Croydon. Rent from these properties Hudson-Odoi, evidence of the rich just needed time to mature.” younger but quickly few years apart at school but Burns context . . . such material may include . . . towards the South Africa all-rounder but they have taken time out of their school now and dreaming of playing number of talented games players goes towards funding education at array of talent that the school has Burns was a more straightforward became recognised for and Sibley came to share their offensive language”. in January. days to keep in contact, ask ‘How are for England, there is no shortage of arriving, with scholarships and Whitgift and Trinity schools, as well attracted in recent years. character, captaining the under-13 the sheer number of memories of school cricket. They Last year the International Cricket The West Indies fast bowler Shannon you?’, that’s when you really know that role models to follow. bursaries provided by the local as local care for the elderly. “Close to 50 per cent of the kids get team to success in the National runs that he scored, started in the same place and, in Council (ICC) changed its regulations, Gabriel was suspended for four one- you’re part of something quite special. “We’ve been really blessed to have Whitgift Foundation helping with In the past ten years, the money off their fees now,” Kendrick Schools Cup finals at Headingley, capable of playing South Africa over the next few weeks, which mean that broadcasters have dis- day internationals for a homophobic “That wasn’t just for the first eight to some very talented sporty kids fees that now start from £20,000 a foundation has provided £51 million of says. “People like Danny Cipriani’s mainly as an off spinner. He kept long innings from a Burns and Sibley will be back cretion over whether viewers are able remark during an exchange with Joe nine weeks — it was until I got back into coming here,” Neil Kendrick, the head year. assistance. The school’s rugby team family, for example, could never have wicket too, but ended up leaving the young age. When together again as an England opening to hear what players say. Before that the Root in the third Test against England the team. Even though I wasn’t there, of cricket performance, says. The foundation, established more has included Danny Cipriani, Elliot afforded it without a big bursary. We school at 16 because he felt he was he was still an pairing with much in common. ICC had decreed that stump micro- in St Lucia in February. I was made to feel like I was.”

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