St Mary’s College in Crosby is usually celebrating the sporting success of its pupils, but currently it’s a ‘grand’ cricketing achievement by one of the staff that’s making the headlines at the school.

PE Teacher and Head of Rugby John Armstrong, who opens the batting for Ormskirk Cricket Club, has scored 1,000 runs this season - the first player at the West Lancashire club to reach this milestone since 1899.

This remarkable tally, which saw John averaging more than 50 runs an innings, helped Ormskirk to win the Liverpool Competition Premier League, a division which features clubs from as far afield as Lytham and North Wales.

John has made a habit of getting his name in the record books at the club.For example, he became the youngest-ever Ormskirk player when he made his Brook Lane debut aged just 14.

He only lost this record relatively recently to St Mary’s College pupil Gavin Griffiths who made his first start for the club at the age of 13!

John commented: “It’s been a great cricketing summer for me, Ormskirk and St Mary’s College as well. “Obviously I’m delighted to be the first player to have reached the
1,000-run mark for more than a century. However, it’s equally satisfying to
be involved in the successes of our young cricketers here at the school who
are also doing very well at the moment.

“For example, our under 15s reached the semi finals of the Lancashire schools competition for the first time ever this season, so I think there’s a lot more cricketing success in the pipeline at St Mary’s.”

Pictured, a group of St Mary’s pupils salutes John’s 1,000-run achievement.

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