Highfield & Brookham School in Liphook have been named among the top 50 prep and junior schools in the UK by The Cricketer magazine for the sixth successive year.

The school run 34 boys and girls’ teams from Year 2 to Year 8 and fulfil around 230 competitive fixtures against rival prep schools each year under the guidance of head of cricket Richard Dunn.

To be considered for a place among the top 50 prep schools, all entries were judged against an extensive set of criteria, including a commitment to cricket in the curriculum, facilities, fixture programmes and coaching.

Highfield & Brookham have 12 pitches, three artificial outdoor nets, three indoor nets, four grass nets and two mobile cages, as well as three bowling machines and two Flicx pitches on the astro to help cricket development.

As well as representing Highfield & Brookham in external fixtures, many young school cricketers also play for local club sides, while 25 children are on county pathway schemes run by Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex.

Highfield & Brookham won the under-11 Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) title at Merchant Taylors’ School in Middlesex last summer, while the under-13s were named joint national IAPS champions after their final tie with Millfield was curtailed by heavy rain in York.

Suzannah Cryer, head of Highfield & Brookham, said: “The cricket season seems a long way off when it’s so cold, wet and dreary outside, but one thing that will sustain us through the winter months is the continued progress we have made on and off the cricket pitch.

“We are fully committed to offering our children a healthy range of sports to get involved in, not least cricket.

“To see our children win two national titles last year was incredible, to be named among the top 50 prep schools in the UK for our cricket provision is the cherry on the cake.”