The Cricketer Magazine – June 2018

Cup final, in which they beat local rivals
Eastbourne College – from which the
Bede’s senior school split in 1978 –
the following Tuesday.
Cricket at Bede’s is a mix of T20
(midweek) and 50-over matches
(Saturdays), when exams and term-times

allow. One of Wells’ first moves in his role
was to get rid of declaration games.
“I didn’t agree that it was the best
format for young players,” he says.
“Weaker teams had a tendency to put
the opposition in, wait for the declaration
and then just try to bat out for a draw.
You might say that it forces our lads to
bowl teams out. But I like kids to express
themselves and develop the full range of
their games.”
The pavilion at Upper Dicker is named
after a former pupil, Christopher Martin-
Jenkins, who attended Bede’s in the days
when it was just a prep school, before
going on to Marlborough College, and
later great acclaim as a journalist and
broadcaster, including a stint editing
The Cricketer.
This corner of East Sussex has become
a proving ground for promising Caribbean
players. Wells spotted a young Shai Hope
in Barbados, and he was included in the

first intake of scholars sent over to Bede’s

by the Barbados Cricket Association,

and went on to captain the 1st XI in 2011

and 2012. Hope has spoken of how the

enviable facilities honed his game, but

Wells says he is doing himself a slight

disservice.

“Shai would come and knock on my

door, and we’d net for hours,” he says.

“One day I turned round to him and asked

him what he wanted out of a net. He said,

‘Not to get out’. For a young player of 16

to put that kind of price on his wicket

is extremely rare. He had an insatiable

work ethic. I always knew he was a special

player, but I’m not sure I’ve heard that

before as a coach.”

Easier to understand, then, how Hope

managed to score two centuries in last

summer’s Headingley Test, something

that no batsman had ever achieved

before in a first-class game on the

ground – not Sutcliffe, Bradman, Hutton,

Boycott, Lehmann or Root.

Wells says a few other players round the

world should take a leaf from Hope, as he

thinks it is easier to develop a T20 game

from a solid red-ball foundation than the

other way round.

Hope stuck with West Indies. The

decision was a little harder for Delray

Rawlins, spotted at a Crawley state

school. When Rawlins joined Bede’s on a

scholarship he was a left-arm spinner – a

role he filled for Bermuda in Associate

events – but Wells helped him develop

his batting, and he was picked up by

Sussex. Rawlins switched his allegiance

to England, claiming to have been lured

by the carrot of Test cricket, and was

selected last year by England Under-19s,

for whom he hit two centuries in India. So

we might soon see some more Bede’s Old

Boys in the Test game.

At Bede’s School, Eastbourne, May 19

England womEn R B 4/6

AE Jones† b Crocombe 77 55 10/2

TT Beaumont c Scowen b Gordon 35 27 6/0

SJ Taylor lbw b Heater 11 10 0/1

NR Sciver b Gordon 46 20 9/0

KH Brunt b Crocombe 0 1 0

HC Knight* not out 3 7 0

A Shrubsole - - -

S Ecclestone - - -

LA Marsh - - -

GA Elwiss - - -

FC Wilson - - -

Extras 5wd 2lb 7

Total 20 overs 179/5

Fall of wickets 87 110 140 140 179

Bowling Crocombe 4-0-31-2,

Lenham 4-0-24-0, Batson 2-0-20-0,

Sheppard 2-0-23-0, Sampson 2-0-24-0,

Gordon 4-0-38-2, Heater 2-0-17-1

BEdE’s school R B4/6

A Orr c Jones b Brunt 4 3 1

T Gordon c Taylor b Marsh 11 12 2

R Hoadley b Ecclestone 1 4 0

H Scowen*† st Jones b Knight 11 17 1

S Lenham b Ecclestone 4736 6/1

B Matthew c Knight b Shrubsole 2 6 0

H Ring run out 6 8 1

F Sheppard lbw b Elwiss 0 9 0

A Batson c Wilson b Shrubsole 1 4 0

J Sarro not out 7 9 1

H Crocombe b Ecclestone 20 11 2/1

J Sampson - - -

D Heater - - -

Extras w5 lb3 17

Total 19.5 overs 127

Fall of wickets4 17 23 43 62 73 81 82 101

Bowling Brunt 3-0-25-1, Shrubsole 4-0-32-2,

Ecclestone 3.5-0-21-3, Marsh 3-1-11-1,

Sciver 2-0-11-0, Knight 2-0-16-1,

Elwiss 2-0-3-1

England WomEn Won by 52 runs

‘Shai Hope would come and

knock on my door, and we’d

net for hours. He told me his

aim was “not to get out”. For a

16-year-old to put that price on

his wicket is extremely rare’

abovE

The teams line up

on a hot day

bEloW

Ajani Batson

steams in while

Tammy Beaumont

backs up

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