Julian Hill Cricket Centre Official Opening
Sir Andrew Strauss OBE opens the Julian Hill Cricket Centre with the help of (left to right) Aaryan S (U6th), Dave Adams, Sophie Adams, Head Master, Simon Everson, Carolyn Adams, Amanda Hill, Tom Adams, Director of Cricket, Ian McGowan and Rishi M (U3rds).
The Julian Hill Cricket Centre was officially opened on Wednesday 17th April 2024 by Sir Andrew Strauss OBE in the presence of the Head Master, Simon Everson, Master of Merchant Taylors' Company, Michael Cole-Fontayn, the Chairman of the Governors, Duncan Eggar, and over 100 benefactors and supporters of the project.
Julian Hill's sisters, Amanda Hill and Carolyn Adams along with Carolyn's husband, Dave and children Sophie and Tom were able to see the impact of his legacy that helped to make reality the dream of a centre for cricket excellence at Merchant Taylors' School which has the potential to boost bursary provision by as much as one student in each year group.
Once the formal photographs were taken, guests were shown a live practice session for the under-14s team, which was then analysed in real-time in the Mahesh Mehta Room by Director of Cricket, Ian McGowan. Guests were then guided to the Alvan Seth-Smith Viewing Balcony, where a display of school cricket memorabilia was presented by Archivist, Jonny Taylor.
Drinks and canapés were served in the Geoffrey Cox Long Room, before the Head Master spoke to declare the centre officially open and to introduce Sir Andrew Strauss. In a speech peppered with anecdotes of "bleep tests" from his days as a junior Middlesex player, Sir Andrew spoke directly to the assembled boys and encouraged them to seek success with the right mindset and application but to remember that cricket is a game of failure.
Sir Andrew was clearly impressed with the building, speaking about the fact it was a world-class centre and would help develop young talent for years to come at Merchant Taylors'.
As well as providing Merchant Taylors’ cricketers with one of the best school cricket facilities in the country, the new cricket centre will transform indoor cricket provision in the region. Ian McGowan, in his speech, mentioned the number of clubs that had already secured regular bookings in the Centre, coming from as far away as Thame in Oxfordshire.
Ian also spoke of the impact that the Centre had already had on the cricket programme in its first few months of use. In January alone, we recorded over six hundred attendances, across a huge menu of sessions available. These attendances were made up of one hundred and thirty different students, some of whom had trained in the centre over ten times in a two-and-a-half-week window. In previous years, we have had to make really tough decisions about which of our keen cricketers could train during the winter months, so this has been incredible.
Over the course of what remained of the evening, guests enjoyed chatting with pupils and staff about the Centre, hearing and seeing the impact of their generosity. We were delighted to unveil the first iteration of our benefactors' board on the evening, so every guest could see their name on the wall. We have designed the board so it can be updated, and we are thrilled that we already have a number of names to add in the next iteration.
To find out more about how the building has come together and our associated campaign, including recent campaign and construction videos, please visit our campaign webpage here.