Myujth

Cambridge University

Personnel
Captain	Alistair Dewhurst
Coach	Chris Scott
Team information
Founded	1820; 198 years ago (1820)
Home ground	Fenner's
History
First-class debut	Cambridge Town Club in 1817; 201 years ago (1817) at Parker's Piece, Cambridge
Official website:	www.cucc.net

Cambridge University Cricket Club, first recorded in 1817, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. Depending on the circumstances of each individual match, the club has always been recognised as holding important or first-class status: i.e., it is classified as an important team by substantial sources from 1817 to 1894;^[1][2] and as an official first-class team from 1895.^[3] The university played List A cricket in 1972 and 1974 only.^[4] It has not played top-level Twenty20 cricket.

With some 1,200 members,^{[citation needed]} home matches are played at Fenner's. The club has three men's teams (Blues, Crusaders and the Colleges XI) and one women's team which altogether play nearly 100 days of cricket each season. The inaugural University Match between Cambridge and Oxford University Cricket Club was played in 1827 and the match is now the club's sole first-class fixture each season.

The club has also operated as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence which included Anglia Ruskin University. This was re-branded as the Cambridge Marylebone Cricket Club prior to the 2010 season when its governance was transferred from the England and Wales Cricket Board to MCC. Both of its male and female teams play in the British Universities & Colleges Sport competitions and the men also take part in the MCC Universities Championship and Twenty20 competitions. The club also oversees and manages the annual inter-college 'Cuppers' cricket competition.

The earliest reference to cricket at the University of Cambridge is in 1710. A Cambridge University team played against an Eton College team in 1754 and 1755, although those were minor matches. It is not known if the Eton teams were of present or past pupils. Cambridge University began an annual series against Cambridge Town Club, which evolved into the original Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club, on 30 May 1817.^[5] It is with this game that both teams first acquired important match status.

All Cambridge teams play annual University Matches against Oxford as well as other matches throughout the Lent and Summer terms. The first team four-day University Match retains its First Class status and alternates between being held at Fenner's and The Parks. The one-day match is played at Lord's on the same day as the women's one-day University Match. The Crusaders play a three-day game against the Authentics as well as one-day and Twenty20 games.

Cricket at Cambridge University

The cricket team of 1899

Players who represent Cambridge in the university match against Oxford are awarded a "blue", which recognises sporting achievement at the highest level whilst a student at the university. Currently (to 2018), Cambridge meets Oxford at Lord's in first-class and limited overs matches and the "blue" is awarded to anyone who plays for Cambridge in either fixture.

Those representing the Second XI (the Crusaders) are eligible for a 'Colour' if they represent the Crusaders against Oxford's 'Tics.^{[citation needed]} Despite having a large winter training squad, and many players representing the University over the summer months (up to 50 players from the training squad and College level) rarely are more than a total of 12 Blues and 12 Colours awarded.^{[citation needed]} Women cricketers are awarded a Half-Blue for playing in the one-day match at Lord's and a discretionary full Blue if any of them meet the relevant criteria laid down by the Blues Committee.^{[citation needed]}

Recent history

In recent Oxford versus Cambridge University matches, the honours have been fairly even between the two Universities. In 2010 Cambridge University played Oxford in 3 matches for the first time: Twenty20, 4-Day First-Class and the 1-Day Match at Lord's (note that colours are not awarded for the Twenty20 game).

The Cambridge Centre of Cricketing Excellence (UCCE) team has played 27 first-class matches between 2001 and 2009. Subsequently, as the Cambridge Marylebone Cricket Club University, three First Class fixture were played each season until 2014 when this was reduced to two.

Grounds

The three grounds that Cambridge University have used for home first-class and List A matches since 1821 are listed below, with statistics complete through to the end of the 2014 season. Only the first-class and List A matches played at the ground by Cambridge University are recorded in the table.

Name	Location	First	Last	Matches	First	Last	Matches	Refs
		First-class			List A
University Ground	Barnwell	24 May 1821 v Cambridge Town Club	30 May 1830 v Cambridge Town Club	7000800000000000000♠8	—	—	5000000000000000000♠0	[6][7]
Parker's Piece	Cambridge	27 May 1835 v Marylebone Cricket Club	13 May 1847 v Marylebone Cricket Club	7001130000000000000♠13	—	—	5000000000000000000♠0	[8][9]
Fenner's	Cambridge	18 May 1848 v Marylebone Cricket Club	7 April 2018 v Essex CCC	7002907000000000000♠907	6 May 1972 v Worcestershire	11 May 1974 v Essex	7000400000000000000♠4	[10][11][12]

See also

• List of Cambridge University Cricket Club players


• The University Match (cricket)

References

Bibliography

• 
  ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 – 1863. Nottingham: ACS. 
  


• 
  ACS (1982). A Guide to First-Class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS. 
  


• 
  Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 32nd edition, editor Sydney Pardon, John Wisden & Co., 1895

Further reading

• 
  Birley, Derek (1999). A Social History of English Cricket. Aurum. 
  


• 
  Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 27th edition, editor Charles F. Pardon, John Wisden & Co., 1890

External links

• Cambridge University Cricket Club website


• MCC Universities information & history