ENGLAND'S cricketers were left with red faces after their defeat to Australia in the first test match of the Ashes.

With the second test starting tomorrow, it seems timely to share a photo of this smartly attired cricket team from Dorchester Grammar School in a bygone era.

The school, now Thomas Hardye School, was demolished in 1965.

It had been known as Hardy’s Grammar School in the 19th century to distinguish it from other schools in the town – after 1885 this became ‘Hardye’s’ with the newly-added final ‘e’, in local directories. Slowly the school grew, building more accommodation including science labs, on the premises between South Street and Charles Street in Dorchester.