Cricket is the main Summer Sport at Eastbourne College. Over the years the College has forged a reputation for good cricket played in the right spirit.
College Field is the centre of Eastbourne College cricket and St. Cyprian’s/Memorial ground is a top quality second pitch. Four other grounds are used, ten school XIs play regular inter-school fixtures and the College often hosts visiting overseas tourists. The 1st XI play the MCC and The Sussex Martlets annually and also The Stragglers of Asia, a club originally set up by H A Vernon Maynard O.E. to offer cricket for those on home leave from the East.
The College has toured New Zealand (1988) and included pupil actors, musicians and debaters, also Australia (2001/2004) and Barbados (1991/1997/2000) with all the players involved in entertaining in old folks and children’s homes. More recently the XI has toured such places as Abu Dhabi, Sri Lanka and Gibraltar and in 2016 was the first school to take a tour to Nepal.
The Masters-in-Charge include Claud Burton (1921-1949), John Lush (1950-1976), Nigel Wheeler (1977-2006), Matthew Baines (2007-2015) and Rob Ferley (2016-).
The first Schools’ cricket festival based was set up by John Lush and involved the homeside plus Tonbridge, Winchester, Felsted and Clifton. More recently different schools have joined the College in pre and post term matches.
The XI play in the Sussex schools Langdale Cup which is named after former Eastbourne headmaster, Simon Langdale.
The Old Eastbournian CC (established in 1877) play in the Cricketer Cup competition. Staff and friends have their own club, The Eclectics, founded by Claud Burton in the early 1950s (Eastbourne College Lads Eastbourne Teachers and Indifferent Cricketers).
Maurice Tate (Sussex and England) was a coach at the College as were John Shepherd (Kent and West Indies) Ted James (Sussex), Jamie Hall (Sussex), Frank Quaife (Sussex), Andy Waller (Zimbabwe) and Deon Kotze (World Cup Captain of Namibia).
Ed Giddins (England) was in the XI in 1987-1989 and R D V Knight, former Surrey captain, Chief Executive and President of MCC, was on the staff for eight years.
Harry Finch is in the present Sussex XI and Matt Hobden, tragically killed in 2016, had an enormously promising future before him for county and country.
Part of the Project 150 Development Sports Hall with nets, video playbacks and modern day cricket coaching facilities will be named the Ted James School of Cricket. Ted was a great coach and epitomised those qualities of ‘good cricket played in the right spirit’.