The Mary Erskine School, part of ESMS family of schools, has been awarded a place in the UK’s top 20 all-girls schools for cricket, in The Cricketer Schools Guide 2023 for the second year running.
It follows an exhaustive process which saw a record number of schools submit entries to be included in the guide. All entries were judged against an extensive set of criteria, which included a compelling commitment to cricket in the curriculum, facilities, fixture programmes and coaching.
The Mary Erskine School and ESMS Junior School has one of the largest cricket programmes for girls in Scotland, with over 160 girls playing cricket throughout the season. Current pupil Katherine F and former pupil Catherine Holland both play cricket for their country. Over the last two years the MES cricket programme has been managed by two dedicated teachers, Tom McBratney and Caroline Heron, who also played for her country, prior to working at MES. The programme has been supported by Tasmanian cricketer and coach Hannah Short.
The MES cricket programme was set up in 2015 by PE teacher, Pippa Johnson, with the support of Cricket Scotland and coaches from Stewarts Melville Cricket Club, headed up by former pupil David Gibson, who offers weekly coaching sessions with the girls and upskills teachers to deliver high quality sessions for our pupils.
Kirsty Nicholson, Head of The Mary Erskine School, said:
“It’s fantastic to be named as one of the top 20 all-girls schools for Cricket, for the second year in a row. The secret of our success has been the creation of a great partnership between our PE staff and former pupils who give up their time to share their love of Cricket. I have no doubt that the passion and skill of these dedicated coaches will inspire the next generation of Cricket stars.”
