Taylorian

TAYLORIAN 2024

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W ednesday 17th April 2024 saw the Grand Opening of the Julian Hill Cricket Centre. Our guest of honour was former England captain Sir Andrew Strauss OBE, who declared the new fiYe lane indoor facility officially open. At a celebration attended by supporters of the new centre, Sir Andrew Strauss said, “this new indoor training centre is an outstanding facility and will provide young cricketers with the opportunity to train year-round and hone their skills for success on the pitch. It truly is world-class and will, I am sure, help develop young talent for years to come.” As well as providing Merchant Taylors’ cricketers with one of the best school facilities in the country, the new centre will transform indoor cricket provision in the region. It is now the base for Middlesex County Cricket Club’s indoor training and will regularly host international touring sides. Middlesex County Cricket Club’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Cornish, said “the Centre is an elite-level facility, giving our professional players an outstanding base for their pre-season preparations. On our first day of training, one of our experienced international opening batsmen declared it the best artificial surface he had ever trained on.” The London and East region’s women’s team, The Sunrisers, also hold weekly training sessions at Merchant Taylors’, while seventeen local cricket clubs have used the cricket centre to date. The building is named in recognition of Julian Hill, Merchant Taylors’ alumnus and keen cricketer, whose generous

Andrew Strauss officially opens the centre

“The Julian Hill Cricket Centre is nothing short of

one million pound contribution made the project possible, together with other donations from members of the Merchant Taylors’ community. In fact, the centre is a philanthropic initiative: lettings income profits will help to fund bursary places at the school. Merchant Taylors’ has been playing cricket for over two hundred years and, if you ever get the chance to have a look inside the school cricket pavilion, you will see over a hundred years’ worth of 1st XI photos on the walls. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that the 1934 side was the first to play at Sandy Lodge, making this season our ninetieth at the current site. In January alone, we recorded over six hundred attendances (by one hundred and thirty different students) across the menu of sessions available. The centre was an instant hit; I can vividly remember arriving early one Friday morning in January to see a staggering twenty-eight fast bowlers warming up for a 7.30am start. Mr I. McGowan, Director of Cricket

brilliant. Boasting an impressiYe fiYe nets there is a variety of pitches for players to train on to get prepared for the cricket season. A highlight has been using the new and improved bowling machines.” Agastya Daphale (Divs)

“The new indoor cricket centre has reYolutionised the wicNet Neeping experience. The realistic bounce demands a lower stance, better preparing keepers for outdoor pitches, and the diverse range of nets enhances adaptability. $dditionally the astro fielding area proYides an excellent surface for refining outdoor ground fielding sNills.Ù Tom Ford (U6th)