Eastbourne College Director of Cricket wins three coveted county cricket awards
Director of Cricket at Eastbourne College, Matilda Callaghan, received three prestigious awards at the Essex County Cricket Gala Dinner held at Braxted Park last week. The event was hosted by former England captain, Graham Gooch.
Matilda was awarded:
Batter of the Year: Matilda demonstrated her class throughout the season, scoring a total of 367 runs and impressing with a standout 97 against Sussex.
Players’ Player of the Year: Nominated by her teammates, this marks the second time Matilda has won this accolade.
Women’s Player of the Year: For the second time, Matilda received this award after playing in all of Essex’s matches this summer in both T20 and 50-over formats, making valuable contributions with both bat and ball.
Over the summer, Matilda scored 50 not out at Lord’s during the annual MCC Women’s Day match, a celebration of women’s club cricket across the UK.
Under Matilda’s leadership, and with the support of a team of professional coaches, cricket at Eastbourne College continues to move forward and evolve. The cricket programme is active year-round, offering players one-to-one coaching, squad training sessions and specialised gym programmes to ensure they are well-prepared for a busy summer of fixtures. During the summer term, the school fields ten boys’ teams and six girls’ teams each week.
This year, in addition to victories over many of the top cricket schools in the south-east, the College achieved its best-ever placing in the national T20 schools competition and played against a Lashings XI packed with former internationals, including Martin Bicknell, Chris Schofield, Yasir Arafat, and Sir Gordon Greenidge, with Henry Blofeld providing commentary.
In 2023, Matilda guided Eastbourne College’s 1st and 2nd XI to be crowned county champions, and the 1st XI team was recognised as one of the top 15 Outstanding School Teams in Wisden.
Matilda commented,
'The incredible coaching team at Eastbourne College aims to develop a passion for cricket, so I’m constantly looking for creative ways to make all coaching sessions fun. Our programme allows everyone who participates to enjoy the game while also providing those who want to reach the next level in their cricketing careers with the right tools to do so.'
'For some, College Field will be the setting for their introduction to this addictive game; for others, it will provide lifelong memories of proudly representing the College. For a few, it will be a platform for an exciting future in the professional game. All are equally important.'
The school is eagerly awaiting news of whether it will be named in the Cricketer’s Schools Guide for the ninth consecutive year.
Eastbourne College has helped launch several professional cricketing careers, including Sussex County Cricket Club players Jamie Atkins, Oliver Carter, Tom Hinley, and, in his formative years, Daniel Ibrahim.
Kent County Cricket Club players who attended the College include Harry Finch and Tawanda Muyeye, who arrived at the College as an asylum seeker from Zimbabwe in 2018 and has since achieved great success, including the prestigious Young Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year award in 2020. Old Eastbournian Brad Evans, also from Zimbabwe, recently competed in the ICC T20 World Cup for Zimbabwe and played one-day internationals against Australia.
Read more about the cricket provision at Eastbourne College .
October 2024