How record-breaker Shai was schooled in Sussex

ONE Englishman was beaming with pride when Shai Hope’s devotion to crease occupation secured an historic Test match victory and a place in the first-class record books. For Hope’s historic Headingley centuries reminded Alan Wells of an early episode in their relationship at Bede’s, an independent school in East Sussex. ‘His approach to practice was exemplary,’ said Wells, whose one Test for England came against West Indies in 1995. ‘I remember stopping him before he went into a net once and asking what his objective was for that session. He told me it was the same as every other, “I never want to get out”.’ The high price Hope, 23, placed on his wicket at Leeds was integral to the win and made him the first player to score three figures twice in a match since first-class cricket was first played there in 1890. It was Hope’s coming-of-age moment, a journey accelerated by his time as a sixth-form boarder at Bede’s. Since 2010 Wells, the school’s director of cricket, has regularly gone to Bridgetown to pick a scholar for a programme jointly funded by the Barbados Cricket Association. Hope was his first draft. ‘What stood out about Shai? His passion for the game — it’s in his blood with his brother Kyle and father Ian — his determination to improve, and after watching him practise I knew he would Top of the class: Shai Hope picks out his name on the list of Bede’s captains be willing to work really hard, to sacrifice a lot to fulfil his potential.’ Wells’s eldest son Luke — the Sussex left-hander, who has struck 15 first-class hundreds — and Middlesex’s England Lions spinner Ollie Rayner are former first XI captains. Despite being an outsider, Wells appointed Hope captain for both his years at the school. ‘He was a very mature cricketer and a natural leader because of his obvious determination to succeed through hard work. A great role model,’ Wells said. ‘He was a wonderful young man but he also left a lasting legacy. In Sussex schools cricket people still talk about Shai and some of the innings he played against Eastbourne College and Ardingly College. The people that witnessed them have not forgotten.’ One knock against Ardingly stands out, when he struck 178 not out and took apart Abi Sakande, an England Under 19 at the time and still on Sussex’s books. ‘Shai didn’t think he was bowling fast enough at him, so he stood about two metres down the pitch so it would come on a bit quicker, and he just kept smacking him into the trees for six — it was extraordinary,’ Wells recalls. That player and mentor remain in close contact reflects Hope’s character, according to Wells. ‘He still sends me birthday wishes and Christmas greetings, stuff like that. I am so proud of him.’ Yesterday’s text reflected fatigue. Wells’s response was to remind his ex-pupil of the offer made at the start of the tour — a ticket with his name on for Lord’s and the series finale next week.