Applicants for the sixth-form programme meet Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, at The Kia Oval
The growing disconnect between state schools and cricket is one of the most pressing issues the game faces in this country. The 2020 Cricketers’ Who’s Who revealed that 45 per cent of the men employed to play county cricket who were educated in this country came from a private school background, a significant proportion when you consider only seven per cent of students attend independent schools. It’s a statistic which has serious implications for diversity at a time when cricket is attempting to broaden its appeal.