This signed cricket bat was received for the school by High Master Christopher Ray. It highlights the remarkable number of top-level cricketers the school has produced.
The Old Mancunians who signed the bat, all playing for Lancashire Cricket Club at the time, are:
Michael Atherton, at MGS 1979 – 86
Atherton played for England in 115 Test Matches and a record 54 of these were as captain. He scored 7,728 runs averaging just over 37. He made 16 centuries with a best of 185 batting over ten hours to draw a Test Match against South Africa. He stepped down as England captain following the 2001 Ashes series.
Gary Yates, at MGS 1979 – 86
His Lancashire career was from 1990-2002 during which time he played 82 first class matches. He remains on the coaching staff at Old Trafford recently being appointed Academy Director following spells as 2nd XI coach and assistant coach to the 1st XI.
John Crawley, at MGS 1982 – 89
He played 37 Test Matches for England making four test centuries with a highest of 156. He was captain of Lancashire County Club before finishing his career with Hampshire.
Mark Chilton, at MGS 1988 – 95
Mark joined Lancashire County Cricket Club whilst at University at Durham. He was made captain in 2004. He played 196 first class matches scoring nearly 10,000 runs.
These individuals all attended the school in the 1980s and 1990s, a golden age of MGS cricket.
In addition, the bat is also signed by international cricketers Sourav Ganguly and Andrew Flintoff.
The full list of names is as follows:
- Crawley
- Atherton
- Austin
- Chapple
- Chilton
- Fairbrother
- Flintoff
- Ganguly
- Green
- Harvey
- Haynes
- Hegg
- Keedy
- Lloyd
- Martin
- McKeown
- Ridgway
- Schofield
- Scuderi
- Smethurst
- Watkinson
- Wood
- Yates
Rachel Kneale, with thanks to David Moss
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