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[Cricket] Mike Atherton Praising BACA













Fignon's Ponytail

Fignon's Ponytail

Well-known member
Jun 29, 2012
4,474
On the Beach
My youngest moved to BACA last September as part of the first intake of the Junior Aldridge Cricket Academy. He was happy and doing ok at Seahaven but, being part of the County squad, it was an opportunity too good to pass up as Seahaven did very little cricket. It was a gamble, we had no idea how things would pan out...but its been the best thing weve done tbh. He is loving the school, loving the cricket, and cant wait to get back when they open again. The educational side of things has transformed him from an average student, to one who is flying in pretty much all his subjects. He has about 6hrs of cricket every week with the county coaches (Ash Wright, Alexia Walker, and Georgia Adams etc), has James Kirtley as his bowling coach, and is under the Sussex strength and conditioning coaches for his personalized fitness programme.
As a 13yr old coming from a family without an awful lot, having never being part of the private education system, and still dreaming of a career in cricket, this school has been the best thing to ever happen to him.
They deserve all the praise they get in the media imo. Cricketer magazine did a big feature on them a few months ago, and ranked them in the top 100 cricket schools in the country. Superb.
 
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G

Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,827
Uffern
Fignon's Ponytail said:
My youngest moved to BACA last September as part of the first intake of the Junior Aldridge Cricket Academy. He was happy and doing ok at Seahaven but, being part of the County squad, it was an opportunity too good to pass up as Seahaven did very little cricket. It was a gamble, we had no idea how things would pan out...but its been the best thing weve done tbh. He is loving the school, loving the cricket, and cant wait to get back when they open again. The educational side of things has transformed him from an average student, to one who is flying in pretty much all his subjects. He has about 6hrs of cricket every week with the county coaches (Ash Wright, Alexia Walker, and Georgia Adams etc), has James Kirtley as his bowling coach, and is under the Sussex strength and conditioning coaches for his personalized fitness programme.
As a 13yr old coming from a family without an awful lot, having never being part of the private education system, and still dreaming of a career in cricket, this school has been the best thing to ever happen to him.
They deserve all the praise they get in the media imo. Cricketer magazine did a big feature on them a few months ago, and ranked them in the top 100 cricket schools in the country. Superb.
Click to expand...

Good for him - it's a shame that we may not to see him playing for Lewes this season. Fingers crossed for it.

James Kirtley is a lovely bloke. He did his Level 2 certificate at the same time as I did and he really down to earth, no airs and graces. You'd think a former test cricketer would have been lording over us humble souls but there was none of that.
 


U

um bongo molongo

Well-known member
Jul 26, 2004
3,051
Battersea
Fignon's Ponytail said:
My youngest moved to BACA last September as part of the first intake of the Junior Aldridge Cricket Academy. He was happy and doing ok at Seahaven but, being part of the County squad, it was an opportunity too good to pass up as Seahaven did very little cricket. It was a gamble, we had no idea how things would pan out...but its been the best thing weve done tbh. He is loving the school, loving the cricket, and cant wait to get back when they open again. The educational side of things has transformed him from an average student, to one who is flying in pretty much all his subjects. He has about 6hrs of cricket every week with the county coaches (Ash Wright, Alexia Walker, and Georgia Adams etc), has James Kirtley as his bowling coach, and is under the Sussex strength and conditioning coaches for his personalized fitness programme.
As a 13yr old coming from a family without an awful lot, having never being part of the private education system, and still dreaming of a career in cricket, this school has been the best thing to ever happen to him.
They deserve all the praise they get in the media imo. Cricketer magazine did a big feature on them a few months ago, and ranked them in the top 100 cricket schools in the country. Superb.
Click to expand...

Good to hear. Was a good article in the Times (Atherton’s always are, he’s a superb writer and always very well researched). Was interesting to read about the philosophy of having a broader curriculum, similar to what you get in the private school system. It demonstrably works, you just hope there is the freedom to open up the state school system to have more examples - not just with cricket but arts, science etc. The current educational system is too narrowly focused.
 


S

sagaman

Well-known member
Dec 25, 2005
1,165
Brighton
Someone has sent me extractS from Atherton's Article

THE STATE SCHOOL THAT EVERY COUNTY NEEDS FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

Cricket is a game that has high barriers to entry. It can be complex and expensive, requiring infrastructure and facilities, and without family involvement and interest it can easily pass you by. More than likely, if it has passed you by once you reach secondary school age, and that secondary school is not fee-paying, you will be lost to the game as a player. The non-selective state sector has slowly retreated from the game to the point where of The Cricketer’s top 100 cricket-playing schools, only a handful are from it.

One of those on that list, proudly bucking the trend, is Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) where a curriculum enriched through cricket — serious and competitive cricket with a full fixture list against local private schools and overseas tours to South Africa, Sri Lanka and the like — stands as a beacon for the sport in the state sector. Through a mutually beneficial partnership with Sussex— they announced a three-year partnership in March — the aim is to revitalise the sport within the county’s state sector.

Sussex provide coaches, helped to lay the square at cost, assist with the maintenance of facilities, use BACA as its hub for women’s cricket, benefit from a centre to concentrate its All Stars (5-8 year old) and Dynamos (8-11 year old) programmes and has a ready-made supply of cricketers joining its county pathway. There is time cost, but no real financial cost to the county club, which, through Keith Greenfield, the director of cricket, Richard Halsall, the academy director and Rob Andrew, the chief executive, is committed to broadening Sussex’s intake to the professional staffs for men and women. Will Sheffield, in his second year as a professional at Sussex, is a BACA graduate.

As an accredited MCC foundation hub, the facility is also open to a programme for state-educated cricketers from outside BACA and is hugely oversubscribed. Through these partnerships with a cricket academy, a county club and MCC Foundation, one cricket-focused state school can induce a ripple effect for the sport across a county.

Clearly, cricket’s retreat from state schools has been so stark, it would be hard to imagine any immediate return to the situation I enjoyed in the state primary sector in Manchester in the late 1970s, where every state primary school played cricket competitively. Cost, lack of facilities and teacher’s time constraints are very real barriers to progress, but it would be a start if every county was able to replicate one hub such as the one at BACA in Sussex. Eighteen such hubs, one across each first-class county, is a reasonable ambition.

The hurdles are enormous, of course, maybe increasingly so post-coronavirus, given the cost to the game (upwards of £380 million if the season is lost in its entirety, according to Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive) outlined on Tuesday. But this pandemic has given everyone time to think and reset.

The ECB’s Inspiring Generations document is committed to broadening the game’s appeal. If productive partnerships such as the one enjoyed between BACA and Sussex can be imitated, and if enough private investment can be found post-COVID 19, the sport could begin to regain a foothold into a vital, underrepresented sector. That would benefit the sport, society and education as a whole.
 




Thunder Bolt

Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
Aug 18, 2009
67,847
Beside the seaside, beside the sea
um bongo molongo said:
Good to hear. Was a good article in the Times (Atherton’s always are, he’s a superb writer and always very well researched). Was interesting to read about the philosophy of having a broader curriculum, similar to what you get in the private school system. It demonstrably works, you just hope there is the freedom to open up the state school system to have more examples - not just with cricket but arts, science etc. The current educational system is too narrowly focused.
Click to expand...

It sounds random but I saw some Russian youngsters touring Europe, whilst in France. They were ballet dancers and touring with all their costumes, offering to put on shows in the campsites in return for pitches. The teachers explained the schools system where general education is taught all morning, and the specialist tuition in the afternoon. They go into this at ten years old, when by then it is reckoned any talent for engineering, sport, arts etc will show. I'm not quite sure how it would work with late developers, but I suppose transfers could be made at a later date.
 




Fignon's Ponytail

Fignon's Ponytail

Well-known member
Jun 29, 2012
4,474
On the Beach
Gwylan said:
Good for him - it's a shame that we may not to see him playing for Lewes this season. Fingers crossed for it.

James Kirtley is a lovely bloke. He did his Level 2 certificate at the same time as I did and he really down to earth, no airs and graces. You'd think a former test cricketer would have been lording over us humble souls but there was none of that.
Click to expand...

Fingers crossed Max - even if its only a few games!

James is great, and very much the same sort of character as Frankie. They get along really well, and he has brought Frankie's bowling on leaps and bounds in the 18 months hes worked with him.
The whole programme at the school is just phenomenal though - with an amazing group of people leading it.
 


G

Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,827
Uffern
Fignon's Ponytail said:
Fingers crossed Max - even if its only a few games!

James is great, and very much the same sort of character as Frankie. They get along really well, and he has brought Frankie's bowling on leaps and bounds in the 18 months hes worked with him.
The whole programme at the school is just phenomenal though - with an amazing group of people leading it.
Click to expand...

Good for Frankie - it will be good to see the effect that James has had on him

I really hope we can get some cricket back before the season ends - it feels so weird to be in May and not have seen or played any cricket yet.
 


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