Cricket is a key sport in the Summer term though indoor nets and conditioning take place throughout the winter months. We have a full fixture list balancing the now all too familiar pressures of academic exams throughout the term. All boys in the 3rd and 4th forms play cricket if they are required for School teams although at the start of their GCSE year a choice between Cricket and the other main sports (Athletics, Swimming and Tennis) are made. Stowe has a fine tradition of producing top cricketers. Many have gone on to play County Cricket including Sean Morris (Hampshire CCC), Jason Dela Pena (Gloucester CCC, Surrey CCC, Kent CCC) and most recently, current Northamptonshire Cricketer, Rob White who scored a double century on his first class debut. Recently three more Stoics have gone on to be rewarded contracts with Northamptonshire CCC. Ben Howgego, Graeme White and Mark Nelson. All are hoping to have careers in cricket, Mark and Graham also representing England during the U19 World Cup.
Stowe - a magnificent setting for cricket The School has developed a very strong link with its local first class county, Northamptonshire CCC. The 1st XI square is of the highest standard. Northamptonshire regularly play 2nd XI matches on the North Front as do the Old Stoics and during the 2005 season Stowe hosted a Sunday Totesport League game between Northants Steelbacks and Gloucester Gladiators.
Teams and Coaches Stowe runs 12 teams, seven junior and five senior, led by some talented coaches. Domonic Mochan (who ran the cricket at Wallington County Grammar School before coming to Stowe) runs the Under 14's. The Under 15s are led by Phil Arnold who played for Gloucester Young Cricketers and Captained the West of England U19 side. Richard Pickersgill who is the hockey professional takes the U15B's. Both are on the PE staff and highly talented all round sportsmen. The U16's have Peter Platts-Martin at the helm, who loves his cricket, ran the cricket at the King's School, Bruton before joining Stowe as Housemaster of Walpole. Peter Last takes the 3rd XI and Damien Orr the 2nd XI. Damien's Australian ancestry shows in his aggressive coaching style. The 1st XI has two coaches responsible for them: James Knott, who was a professional with Surrey County Cricket Club and now Captains Bedfordshire CCC in the minor county championship. The other, Chris Townsend, a graduate of Gloucestershire youth cricket who went on to get three Blues at Oxford and is now Housemaster of Grafton. Stowe has also been very lucky to have Allan Lamb do some coaching at Stowe. He has great enthusiasm for the task and passes on a lot of his vast cricketing experience to the boys.
The Grounds Stowe is blessed with excellent facilities for cricket. There are six squares, 18 net surfaces and an indoor sports centre with 4 lanes of nets (quite useful during a typical English summer!). Set in acres of countryside Stowe has ample space for its pitches and is a truly magnificent setting for cricket. With plenty of boarding facilities the School is also able to host teams from overseas as well as other English schools. Last season Carey Grammar School from Melbourne was here along with Maritzburg College from South Africa, who played in our Twenty/20 festival. At the end of the summer term the season finishes with two cricket festivals. One for the First XI, who play a series of traditional fixtures and then a two-day Twenty/20 festival. This mimics the new format of the game that has taken our domestic circuit by storm. An experiment last year with four teams, its success has led to it being expanded to six sides for next season. For our younger players we also have a four-day tournament for our U14s. The format is similar - three days of traditional cricket culminating with a day of Twenty/20 cricket. In the 2006 season, Stowe reached the National Twenty/20 semi-finals. Cricket Professional: Mr James Knott
