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The University Match
The University Match is an annual cricket fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club. First played in 1827, it is the oldest varsity match in the world.
Until 2001, when first-class cricket was reorganised, the University Match was a three-day first-class fixture, played at Lord's. Subsequently, it was replaced with a one-day University Match played at Lord's and a four-day first-class fixture played alternately at Fenner's and The Parks. The 2021 one-day match was the last to be played at Lord's and, from 2022, the one-day University Match has been played at Arundel Castle. One-off twenty-over matches for men and women were arranged at Lord's in 2022. In February 2022, the MCC announced that, from 2023, the twenty-over fixtures would no longer be held at Lord's. Following opposition from a section of its membership, the club decided that the twenty-over matches would continue to be held at Lord's in 2023 to allow time for further consultation. In March 2023, it was announced that the twenty-over fixture would continue to be played at Lord's until at least 2027, following which there would be a review and a possible vote in 2028 on whether the matches should remain at Lord's.
These twenty-over matches are not to be confused with the 'University Matches' for which colours are awarded. Cambridge award a blue for both the one-day and four-day games and Oxford award a blue for the four-day game only. Blues are not awarded for the twenty-over match. At the same time, Oxford players have also played in the Oxford University Centre of Cricketing Excellence (Oxford UCCE, also including Oxford Brookes University, now superseded by the Oxford MCCU), and Cambridge players in the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence (Cambridge UCCE, including Anglia Ruskin University and now the Cambridge MCCU). However, only those at Oxford and Cambridge Universities are eligible to play in the University Match(es).
The four-day match lost its first-class status after the 2020 fixture.
The match was first played in 1827, at Lord's, at the instigation of Charles Wordsworth, making it the oldest intercollegiate sporting event in the world. Wordsworth was also responsible for founding The Boat Race in 1829.
The next two University matches were in 1829 and 1836. From 1838 it has been played annually, except for the war years of 1915–1918 and 1940–45. (From 1941 to 1945, a one-day fixture was played at Lord's, but these matches are not counted in the official records.) Lord's was to become its permanent venue from 1851 to 2000, but five of the early matches were played in the vicinity of Oxford.
It was traditionally an annual three-day first-class fixture. From the 1830s until 1939, it was among the most important fixtures of the season, attracting large crowds and widespread press coverage. Over three hundred thousand people watched the University match between 1871 and 1887. It was still a major social, as well as sporting, event as recently as just after World War II . According to The Cricketer (1954), the 1954 match attracted over 13,000 paying spectators as well as MCC members.
In terms of the clubs concerned, the University Match was the oldest first-class fixture still being played in 2020, its final year with first-class status. Matches between county teams prior to formation of the current county clubs have a longer history, with the oldest known county fixture between Kent and Surrey, which dates back to 1709 at least.
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The University Match
The University Match is an annual cricket fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club. First played in 1827, it is the oldest varsity match in the world.
Until 2001, when first-class cricket was reorganised, the University Match was a three-day first-class fixture, played at Lord's. Subsequently, it was replaced with a one-day University Match played at Lord's and a four-day first-class fixture played alternately at Fenner's and The Parks. The 2021 one-day match was the last to be played at Lord's and, from 2022, the one-day University Match has been played at Arundel Castle. One-off twenty-over matches for men and women were arranged at Lord's in 2022. In February 2022, the MCC announced that, from 2023, the twenty-over fixtures would no longer be held at Lord's. Following opposition from a section of its membership, the club decided that the twenty-over matches would continue to be held at Lord's in 2023 to allow time for further consultation. In March 2023, it was announced that the twenty-over fixture would continue to be played at Lord's until at least 2027, following which there would be a review and a possible vote in 2028 on whether the matches should remain at Lord's.
These twenty-over matches are not to be confused with the 'University Matches' for which colours are awarded. Cambridge award a blue for both the one-day and four-day games and Oxford award a blue for the four-day game only. Blues are not awarded for the twenty-over match. At the same time, Oxford players have also played in the Oxford University Centre of Cricketing Excellence (Oxford UCCE, also including Oxford Brookes University, now superseded by the Oxford MCCU), and Cambridge players in the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence (Cambridge UCCE, including Anglia Ruskin University and now the Cambridge MCCU). However, only those at Oxford and Cambridge Universities are eligible to play in the University Match(es).
The four-day match lost its first-class status after the 2020 fixture.
The match was first played in 1827, at Lord's, at the instigation of Charles Wordsworth, making it the oldest intercollegiate sporting event in the world. Wordsworth was also responsible for founding The Boat Race in 1829.
The next two University matches were in 1829 and 1836. From 1838 it has been played annually, except for the war years of 1915–1918 and 1940–45. (From 1941 to 1945, a one-day fixture was played at Lord's, but these matches are not counted in the official records.) Lord's was to become its permanent venue from 1851 to 2000, but five of the early matches were played in the vicinity of Oxford.
It was traditionally an annual three-day first-class fixture. From the 1830s until 1939, it was among the most important fixtures of the season, attracting large crowds and widespread press coverage. Over three hundred thousand people watched the University match between 1871 and 1887. It was still a major social, as well as sporting, event as recently as just after World War II . According to The Cricketer (1954), the 1954 match attracted over 13,000 paying spectators as well as MCC members.
In terms of the clubs concerned, the University Match was the oldest first-class fixture still being played in 2020, its final year with first-class status. Matches between county teams prior to formation of the current county clubs have a longer history, with the oldest known county fixture between Kent and Surrey, which dates back to 1709 at least.