Altrincham Grammar School for Boys have made cricketing history after being crowned the first-ever champions of a new national competition for state schools at Lord’s.

Altrincham Grammar School for Boys Under 15s cricket team are champions of the inaugural, national Barclay’s Knight-Stokes Cup after beating John Hampden Grammar school at Lord’s CC yesterday. The competition had 1100 school entries across the UK, with 780 entries in the Boys’ Cup.

The day was a whirlwind of emotion, with the players receiving the full hospitality of the MCC; changing in the players’ dressing room, sitting on the balcony to watch their innings and walking past the members and their families in the famous Long room. The team were very fortunate to receive a pre-match talk from former England cricketer and AGSB Old Boy, Paul Allott, as well as video messages from Heather Knight and Ben Stokes.

On a wonderful day at the home of cricket, John Hampden won the toss and elected to bat first. In an innings which ebbed and flowed, they hit a very challenging 146 for 6 after 20 overs. The pick of the AGSB bowlers were captain Aryan D with figures of 2 for 16 off 4 overs, Arik C with 2 for 31 off 4 and Murtaza K with 1 for 22 off 3.

In front of a raucous crowd, the opening partnership of Krishav R and Charlie R steadied the nerves with an imperious opening stand of 91. Charlie R fell just short of his half century on 47 off 41 balls with 7 fours, and Krishav R went on to complete his half century, ending on 51 not out off 48 balls, with 5 fours and 1 six. AGSB finally got over the line in the 19th over, with Joe O hitting the winning runs, with 8 balls to spare.

The day was a superb achievement for both sport and cricket at AGSB and was wrapped up beautifully by the unveiling of a permanent honours board at Lord’s, with Altrincham Grammar School for Boys being the first name on it.

Congratulations to every squad member who played their part in the 13 matches to get to the final; to Mr Birtwell and Mr Cammack for preparing them for every step of this journey; and most of all to the 12 players who stood up to all the challenges, fought for every wicket and run and who now have this magical memory: Charlie R, Krishav R, Sithun D, Yasmit P, Aahan M, Joe O, Arush B, Ishan M, Arik C, Aryan D, Murtaza K and Dheer B.

Mr Birtwell

There is also this article from the Guardian which shows more information about Knight-Stokes cup.  See https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/sep/11/cricket-knight-stokes-cup-state-schools-lords