England stars launch new national state school competition at Lord's
Former England captains Heather Knight and Michael Vaughan were at Lord’s today to launch a new, national state school cricket competition aimed at driving state school participation and giving thousands of young people the opportunity to play at the ‘Home of Cricket’.
The Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup, named after two of England’s greatest state-educated cricketers aims to inspire state schools to develop under-15 girls’ and boys’ teams and to drive state school participation in cricket. The new T20 format competition will see both a girls’ and boys’ final hosted on the Main Ground at Lord’s from 2026.
The competition is the brainchild of Vaughan, who played cricket at Silverdale Comprehensive School in Sheffield, and MCC Chair Mark Nicholas, who co-founded Chance to Shine, the charity supported by the ECB which delivers cricket opportunities in state primary and secondary schools.
Knight, who attended Plymstock School in Plymouth, and England Men’s Test captain Ben Stokes, formerly of Cockermouth School in Cumbria, pledged their support and are keen advocates for improving opportunities for state-educated cricketers.
Knight, Vaughan and Nicholas were joined by over 150 local children from 10 schools across London at Lord’s to launch the new initiative and encourage state schools to register for next year’s inaugural competition.
Former England Captain Heather Knight, said: “As someone who played cricket from a young age at my local state school and then here at Lord’s including in a World Cup Final, I’m proud to have my name associated with this new competition which will inspire thousands of state school children across the country and continue the vital work that cricket is doing to create more opportunities for children from state schools to play and access the talent pathway.”
The Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup will support the ECB with the delivery of their State School Action Plan and team up with the independent school sector to open-up their facilities and venues where competing schools are unable to host matches.
It will receive financial backing from the Black Heart Foundation, of which Vaughan is a Trustee, and Barclays, Principal Partner of MCC. Barclays has a long history of supporting grassroots sport, including football, tennis and now cricket. The competition will follow a knock-out format first at county level before moving to a regional phase and eventually a national stage, culminating in a finals day at Lord’s.
Ben Stokes said: “Coming from a state school myself, when I was informed that they wanted to name this competition after me, it was a pretty easy ‘yes’. Playing at Lord’s is the pinnacle of any cricketer’s career and something I dreamed of when I played cricket at my school so to open up the opportunity for boys and girls to play here is fantastic.”
Mark Nicholas, Chair, MCC said: “The Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup will build on the great work that MCC and MCC Foundation (MCCF) have done over a number of years to support state school cricket, particularly through the MCC Foundation Hubs programme which to date has given 30,000 young people free access to cricket and opportunities to progress through the talent pathway.”
Michael Vaughan said: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for state school kids to come and play at the greatest cricket ground in the world – that’s what this tournament is all about. The Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup provides that big inspiration they need to think that cricket is something for them.”
Tom Corbett, Barclays Head of Sponsorship, said: “The Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup will inspire thousands of children to believe in themselves and that anything is possible. We are so proud to support grassroots at every level, investing £5m annually in programmes that aim to help boost confidence, wellbeing, and life skills.”
All state schools are invited to enter the competition online now at lords.org/knightstokescup.