Cricket is a hugely popular sport at Shiplake College, with over 150 pupils participating in the sport at some level. The College fields 9 teams in fixtures throughout the Summer Term.
Shiplake’s outstanding grounds are cared for by the award winning Richard Evans and his team, who have twice received the Independent Schools’ Groundstaff of the Year honour. Richard looks after three excellent squares, eight grass nets and four artificial nets. Players enjoy use of the state-of-the-art cricket pavilion, which is an iconic feature of the College site. The College also makes use of excellent indoor facilities which include four nets and a bowling machine which are used throughout the winter cricket programme.
The Shiplake College Cricket Club boasts a team of 15 passionate coaches who oversee the development of the squads in all year groups in the Spring Term as a minor activity and as a major games option in the Summer Term. The staff team are joined by cricket professional Chris Ellison. Chris is one of only a handful of ECB Level 4 coaches in the country. Shiplake pupils have the opportunity to receive expert tuition throughout the off-season with Chris, via his coaching company Performance Cricket (more information below).
The College has strong links with Henley Cricket Club, who frequently make use of Shiplake’s excellent facilities. Additionally, Berkshire youth cricket teams often host home matches at Shiplake College, due to our accessible location and first-class playing surfaces.
Fixtures and Tours
Shiplake play a strong fixture list against local schools throughout Oxfordshire and Berkshire with matches for the U14s, U15s and Seniors on Wednesdays and Saturdays and the U13 and U12s on Tuesdays and Fridays. In addition to the regular inter-school fixtures the U15s and U14s take part in the Taverner’s Cup Regional Competition, enjoying good success in recent years.
Performance Cricket Coaching
The College has an excellent working partnership with coaching specialists Performance Cricket. They are headed up by Chris Ellison, and deliver a fantastic year round programme of cricket coaching at Shiplake and in the Henley area during the school holidays. There really is something for everyone. Details of upcoming courses can be found below, with further information at www.performance-cricket.com.