Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence (Durham UCCE), known as Durham MCC University (Durham MCCU) from 2010 to 2020, is a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

coaching centre based at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, County Durham, England, and the name under which the Durham University Cricket Club (DUCC) first team plays.

History

The earliest record of cricket being played by Durham University was in 1842, at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

on 17 June 1842, with the university taking a 58 run victory. The earliest recorded home match was in 1843, against a Sunderland team at

The Racecourse The Racecourse is an open area on the River Wear in Durham, England of total that has been used as a sports ground since at least 1733. It forms part of Durham University's sports facilities as well as hosting local sports clubs. The Racecour ...

, which has remained the university's home ground ever since and is the oldest university ground in England. Durham University Cricket Club was formed in 1846. In 1981, Durham became the first university other than

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

to play against a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

side, with a three day match against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

at The Racecourse. The Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence was established as a training centre by

Graeme Fowler Graeme "Foxy" Fowler (born 20 April 1957) is an English former professional cricketer and cricket coach, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England, and later for Durham. He appeared in 21 Test matches and 26 One Day International ...

in 1996; he would continue as Durham's head coach until stepping down in protest at changes introduced by the MCC in 2015. He was succeeded by

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

coach Paul Grayson. The UCCE model was adopted nationally by the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board, aka ECB, is the Sports governing body, national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test ...

(ECB) in 2000, with the establishment of five other UCCEs at Cambridge, Cardiff, Oxford, Leeds/Bradford and Loughborough. With the exception of Loughborough, these were all multi-institution centres. The scheme transferred to the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) in 2004, with the UCCEs becoming MCC Universities from 2010. As Durham MCC University, the coaching centre was largely funded by the

(MCC). In 2020, the universities programme returned to the ECB. From 2001, Durham joined Oxford and Cambridge in having matches against first-class counties considered as first-class matches, playing their first first-class match against

Durham County Cricket Club Durham County Cricket Club (rebranded as Durham Cricket in February 2019) is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic c ...

at the

Riverside Ground The Riverside Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as the Banks Homes Riverside, is a cricket venue in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. It is home to Durham County Cricket Club, and has also hosted several international matches. ...

in Chester-le-Street on 16 April 2021. Their first home first-class match was played at The Racecourse against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

on 13 June 2001. This would eventually expand to include Loughborough UCCE from 2003 and all of the MCCUs from 2012. In 2012, Durham MCCU were dismissed for 18 against

, the lowest first-class innings total since 1983. First class status was removed from all university matches after 2020, with the final first-class matches in 2020 being cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. After obtaining first-class status in 2001, the university produced a large number of cricketers who obtained professional county contracts, while others such as James Foster went on to play international cricket. Prior to first-class status, players such as

Andrew Strauss Sir Andrew John Strauss (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricket administrator and former player, formerly the Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He played county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club, Middl ...

and

Nasser Hussain Nasser Hussain (born 28 March 1968) is an English cricket commentator and former player who captained the England cricket team between 1999 and 2003, with his overall international career extending from 1990 to 2004. A pugnacious right-hande ...

played for the university's cricket club. As Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence, the team played 27 first-class matches from 2001 to 2009. As Durham Marylebone Cricket Club University, the team played 21 first-class matches (not including one abandoned and two cancelled) from 2010 to 2020. An expansion of the university's

Maiden Castle sports centre Maiden Castle sports centre, also known as the Graham Sports Centre and the Durham University Sport and Wellbeing Park, is the main sports complex at Durham University and the home for many of the Team Durham, university's teams. It also stages ...

in 2019 included the construction of an indoor cricket hall. This allowed Durham to host indoor cricket matches, which had previously been played at the Riverside Ground's indoor facility.

Honours

* MCC Universities Two-Day Championship winners 2010 * MCC Universities Challenge Final winners 2010 and 2018 *

BUCS British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS; ) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2008, BUCS is responsible for organising 54 inter-university sports in the United Kingdom, as well as represe ...

Cricket Men's National Division winners 2018 * BUCS Cricket Men's Indoor Championship Finals winners 2022 * BUCS Cricket Women's National Championship winners 2022 * BUCS Cricket Men's Indoor Championship Super 8's winners 2023 * BUCS Cricket Men's Indoor Championship Finals winners 2024

Notes

References

External links

Team Durham: Cricket

MCC Universities information & history – lords.org
{{Cricket in England Education in County Durham Durham University 2001 establishments in England Cricket in County Durham Sport in Durham, England Sport at Durham University Marylebone Cricket Club Student cricket in the United Kingdom County Durham-related lists Former senior cricket clubs of England

History

Honours

See also

Notes

References

External links