By Gary Heatly
The Mary Erskine School has secured a spot among the UK’s top 20 all-girls cricket schools in The Cricketer Schools Guide 2025. The Mary Erskine School stood out from a large number of entrants earning recognition for its facilities, fixtures, coaching and commitment to cricket in the curriculum.
This is the fourth year running that the School has been included in the prestigious list, and the sport really is continuing to go from strength to strength at The Mary Erskine School.
“The growth of cricket at MES has mirrored the growth of the women’s game nationally,” Tom McBratney, Head of Classics at MES and one of the drivers of the cricket programme, said.
There are several major factors behind the growth of cricket at MES over the years, including the School’s close links with the Stewart’s Melville Royals, led by David Gibson and Hannah Short. The time and effort devoted to girls’ cricket in the ESMS Junior School led by Pippa Johnston, and the heavy involvement of both Caroline Heron and Gill Cameron from the Mary Erskine School PE department, also made a big impact on the sport, as has the increased focus on the women’s game from Cricket Scotland.
“As a result of all of that, we have moved in a decade from a handful of softball games and tournaments to a full summer fixture list. This list includes softball and hardball games for younger teams, as well as regular hardball fixtures at Under-15 and 1st XI levels. We also host an annual hardball tournament at Inverleith.”
Last year, for the first time, the School ran winter hardball nets before school for senior players alongside weekly softball sessions at lunchtimes during the first two terms, focused on participation for younger girls. This prepared everyone well for the summer when weekly outdoor softball sessions, as well as indoor hardball nets, were on offer.
As well as the coaches mentioned, players were able to work and learn with others, including former pupil and Scotland Under-19 player Lucy Forrester-Smith and Kari Carswell from the Scottish set-up.
There was also a real buzz recently when former pupils Katherine Fraser and Hannah Rainey represented Scotland at their first-ever T20 World Cup in the UAE, with matches broadcast live on Sky Sports.
“Having both Katherine and Hannah involved in that recent event is inspirational for current students and shows them that there’s a real pathway open to international recognition,” Mr McBratney said.
“We had so many girls involved in district and national squads during the summer and that will only continue to grow."
These are exciting times for cricket, and as we forge ahead with plans to merge the senior schools, our cricket programme for girls will continue to go from strength to strength.
