Good cricket coaches are as scarce as hen’s teeth. Here’s one from the top drawer. The article is written by a man who should know — Robbie Frew, who played 35 matches for Canterbury between 1995 and 2003 and scored three first-class centuries.
You can hear this comment following the first Year 9 cricket trial, from an impressionable new student to the school, ‘The guy running cricket, everyone calls him Scrump!’
Immediately the ice is broken. Well who is Scrump? Mike ‘Scrump’ Johnston is synonymous with St Andrew’s College cricket. He has led the cricket programme there for the past 21 years.
The coaching philosophy of St Andrew’s Cricket is to ‘create an enjoyable environment in which athletes work hard, train smart, play fair and have fun.’ The cricket programme is certainly built around these principles, as is Scrump, the driver of the programme. His advice and reasoning holds significant weight to the boys, both in the classroom and on the sports field. This go-between is a significant asset to St Andrew’s College.
Scrump is passionate about cricket, but importantly he is able to create relationships around cricket and the wider school environment where the boys feel welcome, safe and they can relax. He enjoys seeing boys working hard to improve their skills and seeing the resulting successes, individually and as teams. From day to day Scrump’s own personality is consistent. The boys know what you get with Scrump. By the time they reach year 12 the boys have created a real bond but he is still able to maintain the ability to challenge and push the boys to achieve more. Testimony to the relationships Scrump builds, is the number of Old Collegians who pop into the College to visit from time to time, or when they are in Christchurch.
Scrump prides himself in providing for all boys at St Andrew’s College outstanding playing and training facilities alongside coaching and support. The fields and pitches are always well prepared and among the best in Christchurch. The time and effort required to achieve this over the summer months should not be underestimated. Early starts and late finishes are the norm for Scrump as he prepares, marks and covers the three pitch blocks and training facilities at St Andrew’s.
During Scrump’s time at St Andrew’s he has seen three players from the college progress to play international cricket and another 16 domestically for their province. There have also been many representative athletes from other sporting codes who have gone onto compete provincially and nationally who were members of cricket teams at St Andrew’s. That’s some record.
The team highlight for Scrump was the St Andrew’s College 1st XI of 2019 representing Canterbury at the National Secondary Schools cricket finals for the first time in the college’s history and winning the national title.