List of University Matches - History

History

Further information: History of English amateur cricket#University cricket from 1827 to 1863

The match was first played in 1827 at the instigation of Charles Wordsworth who was also responsible for founding the Boat Race in 1829. It was traditionally an annual three day first-class fixture, normally held at Lord's. From the 1830s until 1939, it was among the most important fixtures of the season, attracting large crowds and widespread press coverage. 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 dating from 1827 is the oldest first-class fixture still being played. However, it should be noted that fixtures involving certain county teams prior to formation of the current county clubs do have a much longer history. The oldest known county fixture is Kent v Surrey, which dates back to 1709 at least. The oldest county club is Sussex CCC, founded in 1839.

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 1941-45, a one-day fixture was played at Lord's, but these matches are not counted in the official records.) The first match was played at Lord's, but it was only in 1851 that Lord's became the permanent venue, five of the early matches having been played in the vicinity of Oxford.

Some of the most dramatic matches in the long history of the fixture occurred in the 1870s. The first of these was 'Cobden's Match' in 1870. F. C. Cobden took the last three Oxford wickets in consecutive balls to give Cambridge victory by 2 runs. The following year S. E. Butler took 10-38 in the Cambridge first innings (the only instance of a bowler taking all ten), followed by five more wickets in the second innings. In 1873 Oxford won by only three wickets. The 1875 match was almost as close an affair as that in 1870. Needing 175 to win, Cambridge were 161-7 at one point, but were all out for 168 to lose by six runs.

Another notable match was in 1923, which became known as the "Thunderstorm match". Oxford had run up a good score, and a torrential storm for much of the night rendered the pitch almost unplayable, so that Cambridge were quickly dismissed in two innings.

William Yardley of Cambridge has the distinction of scoring the first two hundreds made in the series: 100 in 1870 in Cobden's Match and 130 in 1872.

Robin Marlar's bowling figures for Cambridge are worth noting:

• 1951: 5-41 and 1-64
• 1952: 7-104 and 2-25
• 1953: 5-94 and 7-49

Players who became (or in a few instances were already) famous to have appeared in the match include: Alfred Lyttelton (Cantab. 1876-9), Allan Steel (Cantab. 1878-81), Stanley Jackson (Cantab. 1890-3), C. B. Fry (Ox. 1892-5), K. S. Ranjitsinhji (Cantab. 1893), Pelham Warner (Ox. 1895-6), Gilbert Jessop (Cantab. 1896-9), R. E. Foster (Ox. 1897-1900), Bernard Bosanquet (Ox. 1898-1900), Percy Chapman (Cantab. 1920-2), Douglas Jardine (Ox. 1920-1, 1923), Gubby Allen (Cantab. 1922-3), K. S. Duleepsinhji (Cantab. 1925-8), Nawab of Pataudi snr (Ox. 1929-31), Ken Farnes (Cantab. 1931-3), Martin Donnelly (Ox. 1946-7), Abdul Kardar (Ox. 1947-9), Peter May (Cantab. 1950-2), David Sheppard (Cantab. 1950-2), Colin Cowdrey (Ox. 1952-4), M. J. K. Smith (Ox. 1954-6), Ted Dexter (Cantab. 1956-8), Nawab of Pataudi jnr (Ox. 1960-1, 1963), Tony Lewis Cantab 1960-62), Mike Brearley (Cantab. 1961-4), Majid Khan (Cantab. 1971-3), Imran Khan (Ox. 1973-5) and Mike Atherton (Cantab. 1987, 1989). It can be seen that the majority were batsmen rather than bowlers and that the 1890s and 1950s to early 1960s were particularly fertile periods. At the time of writing, the most recent Oxbridge international cricketers are Ed Smith (Cantab. 1996-7) in Tests, and James Dalrymple (Ox. 2001-3) in limited-overs internationals.

From 2001 the match has been replaced by two fixtures each year: a one-day match played at Lord's and a four-day first-class fixture played in alternate years at Fenner's in Cambridge and The Parks in Oxford. Blues are awarded to those appearing in either match for Cambridge players but only to Oxford players who appear in the first-class four-day game. Unless otherwise stated, statistics quoted in this article are for the first-class fixtures only.

In 2008, for the first time a Twenty20 fixture was also played.