Stamford state schools cricket crusader Geoff Hastings joins forces with MCC Foundation for new Knight-Stokes Cup
A cricket-lover’s mission to halt the decline of the sport in schools has joined forces with a new national competition backed by England captain Ben Stokes.
Concerned by the falling numbers of children playing cricket in state schools, the MCC Foundation has come up with the Knight-Stokes Cup, a national competition for under 15s boys and girls teams.
The cup, which also bears the name of former England women’s captain Heather Knight, will launch next year.
Yet you might forgive former Stamford hotelier Geoff Hastings for asking, ‘what kept you?’
Geoff was moved to act two decades ago after a conversation with legendary England fast bowler Fred Trueman, and in 2006 they launched a regional cricket league for state schools. Bourne Grammar School would become its first winners.
The decline caused by the selling off of school sports fields and a lack of coaching resources was the driver.
“We were talking over dinner and cricket in England was going through a bad patch then,” he recalled.
“I said to Fred, ‘the problem is there's all these children going to state schools and none of them play cricket’.
“How the hell were we going to find out whether any of them can play cricket if they don't play it?
“A lot of the players that we have now have had a public school or private school teaching.”
Now also backed by current England batting great Joe Root, the Trueman and R66T Academy leagues have spread to seven counties, with Lincolnshire chief among them.
Nationally, 2,700 players were expected to take part in the league this summer, while the number of teams applying to join the league doubled in just three seasons - from 87 to 184.
Such success attracted the MCC Foundation, which wanted Geoff’s league to feed into their cup.
Eventually, the Trueman and R66T Academy league winners would go straight into the national quarter-finals, with the huge lure of a Lord’s final.
“We’re affiliating with the competition so any team that plays in our organisation could go into the national finals and play at Lord’s if they're the best,” said Geoff who travelled down to London for a launch event last Thursday.
“It's very exciting times for us because it's nice to be recognised by the right people.”
Lincolnshire’s state schools have the highest number of teams competing in this league - almost 70 - and the competition has also become well established in Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire and Bedfordshire.
Middlesex joined last year, with Derbyshire becoming the seventh county.
“It’s evolved rather than grown, but it’s growing like mad now,” Geoff added.
Despite this success story, the fall in numbers playing England’s most popular summer sport nationwide remained a topic hot enough to push the MCC into action.
A study by the Managing Sports and Leisure journal, published in 2021, revealed that pupils from private schools - where coaching is often delivered by former professionals - were 13 times more likely to become a professional cricketer than those from state schools.
Ironically, the Trueman-R66T Academy finals day - held annually in July between the county winners - takes place at the independent Kimbolton School, Geoff’s alma mater which lends their ground for free.
Despite not having lived the state school experience first hand himself, Geoff wanted to help more people share in the fulfilment that cricket can bring.
Prior to organising the league, he ran and played in annual fundraising feature matches at Burghley Park Cricket Club.
They would regularly feature a generous sprinkling of county, Test and even international stars, such as legendary West Indies all-rounder Garfield Sobers. All played for free.
“I felt I owed cricket back,” he said.
“I'd had so much enjoyment out of cricket, that I owed something back.
“We had a dinner and raised £4,000. We signed up 13 teams and that's where we started.
“And once it’s started, you can't stop it, can you?”
Supported by the Cricket Society Trust, Geoff estimates he has helped raise £300,000 over the years to maintain and enhance the competition which costs about £40,000 annually.
County cricket boards are paid to run the competitions in their counties, while each school team receives £500-plus of kit and transport to fixtures if needed.
“Not one child has had to find a penny to play cricket - we’ve sponsored every single bit of it,” said Geoff.
“And no school has to find any money for transport.”
Geoff has plenty of experience to help the MCC develop their fledgling tournament.
He also knows the hurdles to clear and commitment needed to create sustained long-term change - such as specialist training for teachers to coach cricket.
With his 81st birthday approaching, Geoff plans to step back in two or three years’ time and let the next generation pay back their own personal debt of love to the sport.
“When you do things in life, validation only needs yourself - as long as you think you're doing the right thing.”
