Why private schools make great batsmen but not bowlers
Superior pitches and coaches help turn budding batters into professionals however it is far harder to nurture top seamers
From the dawn of cricket, batting has always held more cachet than bowling.
In the 18th century, the rural aristocracy of England specifically brought in their farm labourers to bowl (and field) so that they could concentrate on the skill they considered more elegant and refined. This is how professionalism in cricket emerged: the labourers had to be paid.
Naturally, the elite schools of England, preparing the leaders of the British Empire, tended to focus on the elitist skill of batting rather than the working-class toil of bowling.
The sun finally set on the empire around the same time as the Gentlemen v Players game ended, and the English schools changed their business model accordingly. The days when the wealthy could simply put their son’s name down for Eton are long gone. Instead, Eton and other fee-paying schools (now known as independent schools), practise a more refined elitism, seeking to attract and admit the smartest pupils, focusing increasingly on academic achievement and potential in their highly-selective admissions process.
Despite the upheaval in the education system, some traditions remain. Private schools still produce more batsmen than bowlers.
“It’s a great place to play,” Zak Crawley, the England Test batsman, says of Tonbridge, the independent school he attended. “The facilities there are brilliant for people who want to be pro sportsmen. I could come down whenever I wanted to the nets and practise with some other boys there.
“And it was great to play on such a beautiful ground. It gave me a lot of motivation that I wanted to do this for a living, because I was just enjoying my cricket so much.”
Nathan Leamon, England’s data analyst, who previously worked as a teacher at a number of private schools, believes that attending an elite school particularly helps budding batsmen.
“With batting, access to good facilities, professional coaching, and good pitches is a huge advantage,” he says.
For teenage cricketers, “I think you do need more practice on the batting front than the bowling,” observes Stuart Welch, the director of cricket at Cranleigh School.
“The volume and intensity of practice for batters pre-16 years old appears to be a strong indicator of adult success,” says David Court, the player identification lead for the England and Wales Cricket Board.
“This isn’t only deliberate practice as defined in the literature but should include a high volume of
play. In my experience there is more opportunity for this practice and play in schools with good facilities and programmes, combined with a group of peers who are interested in the sport.”
As in the 19th century, most pitches at independent schools favour batting.
The reverse is often true for the pitches at state schools: a curse for batting but a boon for bowling. This is as much a psychological explanation as anything else.
Young players tend to develop those skills that bring the greatest rewards. At independent schools “most coaches are ex-batters” and “pitches are batter-friendly,” says Chris Morgan, the director of sport at Tonbridge. Batsmen from independent schools may also get more chances to impress those who matter in county academies. School coaches’ links to county sides mean that batsmen from private schools are more likely to be seen by the right people frequently enough – a potentially crucial edge.
“Batters in general need more chances because they fail more often,” says Leamon. “Whenever there is a bias towards players from more privileged backgrounds, it is likely to affect batters more than bowlers.”
Bowling is a different proposition: the genetic lottery plays a much bigger role. “You can’t put in what God left out,” says Morgan from Tonbridge.
Batsmen of all sorts of physiques can become elite, and the abundant practice and coaching that private schools make possible for children between the ages of 11 and 16 are more likely to benefit a batsman than a bowler.
“It’s easier to make a batter. I would say fast bowling is an athletic pursuit, batting a coached skill,” says Morgan.
“The key traits that make you a good batter tend to be learnt rather than inherent,” Leamon observes. It is harder to identify fast-bowling talent at an early age than batting talent, because height and physique are crucial for bowlers and children physically mature at different rates.
“It’s certainly easier to identify a batter at a younger age than it is a seamer,” Welch explains. “You don’t know how quick they’re likely to be – the mechanics might be very good, but they might have reached their peak in terms of their development.
“So you might have a tall seamer aged 13 or 14 that might not grow that much, which then hinders his development.”
The study of 11 leading Australia international fast bowlers found that eight of them did not specialise as fast bowlers until late in development – around the age of 17, too late for school to have much of an impact.
The intensity of competition among independent schools also plays a role. Elite schools will prioritise batting simply because identifying school-age talent is a surer bet.
“Cricket scholarships are most often given to batters,” says Jonathan Arscott, formerly the cricket master at Tonbridge.
Among private schools, especially since the 1990s, “it’s now a competitive market for cricket talent, and mostly for batting talent”.
If wealthy private schools have the resources to lavish on batsmen, other schools may simply not need much money to nurture bowlers. The cost of developing bowling talent may simply be lower in general terms.
“Bowling is essentially a closed skill, and one which can be practised very effectively with a minimum of equipment, facilities and coaching,” says Leamon.
The old leisure versus labour distinction that characterised the distinction between Gentlemen and Players may still play some role too.
“Bowling seam is hard work, batting is fun,” says Arscott. “Public school pupils generally have options. Batting for a living v the City is a close call.
“Bowling seam for a living v the City – well you have got to love bowling seam and love being knackered after every game, and you have got to have more significant application and determination with respect to fitness.”
‘It is easier to make a batter than a bowler. You can’t put in what God left out’
Extracted from “Crickonomics: The Anatomy of Modern Cricket” by Stefan Szymanski and Tim Wigmore (Bloomsbury, £18.99). Available to buy now.