Westcott astro opens at Prep School

Olympians turned up by the truck-load as Cranleigh Prep School opened their new artificial Westcott Pitch on April 17. There were 10 in all - including Dave Faulkner, Richard Mantell and Richard Leman - plus six national players to form an invitational side to take on the school's finest (past and present) in a special match.

Mike Wilson, head of Cranleigh Prep, said: "It's an important day for the school and it only seems, bearing in mind the long-standing association we have with the sport – having produced several national and Olympic players over the years - that the new pitch should be opened by such an illustrious line-up of figures in the world of international hockey."

The facility has been named after David Westcott, a former pupil at the prep and senior schools and who is currently a governor. He captained Great Britain at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, guiding them to a bronze medal. Five years earlier he had led Oxford University in a record Varsity win against Cambridge, scoring a hat-trick at Lord's in the days when the match was played on grass at cricket's headquarters.

The match also gave an opportunity for Steve Batchelor - gold medallist in Seoul in 1988 as well as the bronze four years earlier - to take on son Tom, a pupil at the senior school and who has just been selected for the England U16 squad.

Excellent facilities are synonymous with the school and the Westcott Pitch represents an inaugural project for the Cranleigh Foundation in enhancing them.

An OC side featuring, among others, David Knapp, Rob Merry, Helen Merry