First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adjudged to be worthy of the status by virtue of the standard of the competing teams. Matches must allow for the teams to play two innings each, although in practice a team might play only one innings or none at all.
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club, formerly the governing body of cricket, retains considerable global influence.
The Oxford University Parks, commonly referred to locally as the University Parks, or just The Parks, is a large parkland area slightly northeast of the city centre in Oxford, England. The park is bounded to the east by the River Cherwell, though a small plot of land called Mesopotamia sits between the upper and lower levels of the river. To the north of the parks are Norham Gardens and Lady Margaret Hall, to the west the Parks Road, and the Science Area on South Parks Road to the south. The park is open to the public during the day, and has gardens, large sports fields, and exotic plants. It includes a cricket ground used by Oxford University Cricket Club.
Oxford University Cricket Club (OUCC), which represents the University of Oxford, had held first-class status since 1827 when it made its debut in the inaugural University Match between OUCC and Cambridge University Cricket Club (CUCC). Following the 2021 University Match, OUCC lost its first-class status. It was classified as a List A team in 1973 only. Home fixtures are played at the University Parks slightly northeast of Oxford city centre.
Leeds/Bradford MCC University, formerly Leeds/Bradford University Centre of Cricketing Excellence, commonly abbreviated to Leeds/Bradford MCCU, is one of six University Centres of Cricketing Excellence supported by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club is one of twenty minor county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Cambridgeshire including the Isle of Ely.
Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship competitions played at different levels: the County Championship, a first-class competition which involves eighteen first-class county clubs among which seventeen are English and one is from Wales; and the National Counties Championship, which involves nineteen English county clubs and one club that represents several Welsh counties.
Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground.
Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence, known as Durham MCC University from 2010 to 2020, is a cricket coaching centre based at Durham University in Durham, County Durham, England, and the name under which the Durham University Cricket Club (DUCC) first team plays.
The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club.
Sir Francis Eden Lacey was an English cricketer, cricket administrator and barrister. Lacey played first-class cricket for Hampshire from 1880 to 1896, either side of the club losing its first-class status between 1886 and 1894; it was during this period that he captained Hampshire in 1888 and 1889. A prolific batsman for Hampshire, he scored over 2,000 runs for the county in 33 first-class appearances, which included a double century against Kent in 1884. As a roundarm slow bowler, he also took 45 wickets for Hampshire, including three five wicket hauls. He made additional appearances in first-class cricket for Cambridge University and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), amongst others. In a minor fixture against Norfolk he made 323 runs, which remains the highest individual score in second-class county cricket.
The British Universities cricket team was a cricket team whose players were drawn from university students studying in Great Britain. The team played under the title of Combined Universities until 1995. The team played List A cricket from 1975 to 1998 and first-class cricket from 1993 to 2006.
Cricket is one of the most popular sports in England, and has been played since the 16th century. Marylebone Cricket Club, based at Lord's, developed the modern rules of play and conduct. The sport is administered by the England and Wales Cricket Board and represented at an international level by the England men's team and England women's team. At a domestic level, teams are organised by county, competing in tournaments such as the County Championship, Metro Bank One-Day Cup, T20 Blast and the Women's Twenty20 Cup. Recent developments include the introduction of a regional structure for women's cricket and the establishment of The Hundred for both men's and women's cricket. Recreational matches are organised on a regional basis, with the top level being the ECB Premier Leagues.
Combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricket teams were formed at intervals between 1839 and 1992, often playing against touring teams. Mostly the team consisted of students who were current members of either Cambridge University Cricket Club or Oxford University Cricket Club but there were four matches from 1874 to 1893 in which the Universities team was a Past and Present combination. The combined teams always held first-class status, unofficially at first and then officially from 1895.
Arthur William Ridley was an English first-class cricketer. An all-rounder, he was considered one of the finest and last proponents of underam 'lob' bowling. His first-class career began with Oxford University while he was a student at Christ Church, Oxford. He would play for a number of teams between 1872 and 1885, including Hampshire, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and Middlesex. In 96 first-class appaearances he scored 3,150 runs as a batsman, while with his lob bowling he took 224 wickets, claiming nineteen five wicket hauls. Outside of cricket, Ridley was a brewery director; this commitment had the effect of restricting his availability to play first-class cricket with greater regularity.
Cardiff South Wales MCC University, formerly Cardiff University Centre of Cricketing Excellence, commonly abbreviated to Cardiff MCCU, is one of six University Centres of Cricketing Excellence supported by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). It comprises Cardiff University, the University of South Wales and Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Robin Andrew Kemp is an English cricketer who played in four successive University Cricket Matches for Cambridge University against Oxford University between 2005 and 2008.
Craig Mitchell Park is a South African former first-class cricketer.
