Writes Phil Davies, Director of Cricket
The Summer of 2026 was the hottest on record, according to the Met Office. With 40 days over 30°C, and average day-time temperatures of 24.2°C through June (3.3°C above normal), 28.6°C in July (5.6°C above average), and 26.8°C in August (3.9°C above normal), looking after the grounds made for an extremely difficult job.
Despite that, the Grounds Team have prepared 385 pitches over the past six months. These pitches are for a wide variety of matches, managing to consistently juggle the demands of each fixture. There were 140 school matches played this summer, alongside 60 Middlesex pathway games, 178 OMT CC junior and senior fixtures, four Vitality Blast double headers, two County Championship games, and one Middlesex warm-up fixture in March.
There are two grass net areas that also need to be prepared and looked after daily, which are constantly in use by the School, Middlesex Men, Middlesex Women, and the Middlesex Pathway sides. This includes the marquee that goes up throughout March, to allow four weeks of outdoor training to happen on grass ahead of the season getting underway.
This year, only ten games were lost to the weather: one weekend of school fixtures and some midweek games. Usually, that number is at least doubled.
Cricket played at Merchant Taylors’ this summer saw our 1st XI break the School’s record T20 score, hitting 281/2 at the end of April, before a thriller against Epsom College in the following round. England’s all-time leading wicket taker James Anderson returned match figures of 6/96 when he played here in September, captaining Lancashire against Middlesex. Our U15 A side also won the South East Regional T20 finals on the last day of the Summer Term. Summarily, cricket at Taylors’ has enjoyed lots of reward for the long arduous hours spent getting the pitches ready.
Having worked with Rich, Scott and the team for eight years, it never ceases to amaze me how far they will go to get a game of cricket on!
They are the friendliest bunch of people with a never-ending can-do attitude, which goes a long way in the cricket season. The quality of what they produce is unbeatable, with even the junior squares being continuously of the highest standard.
The hard work continues throughout the year as the pitches get turned into rugby fields and football pitches for use throughout the winter. This week, end of season renovation also began on the eleven squares and two grass net areas, with loam and grass seed planted ahead of next summer.
Therefore, a huge thank you to the Grounds Team, who have done an amazing job, and a special thanks to Rich Ayling and his team, Scott Patterson, Janine Patterson, Cal Blair, and Dan Bellamy, for all their efforts over a relentless summer.
