Hampshire's Chris Benham meets some young fans
From mortar boards to honours boards?
Date released: 12 September 2007
That's the scenario for over half of the current Hampshire team face as they battle it out against Kent in Division One of the LV County Championship this week.
Six of the title-chasing Hampshire team are graduates of the MCC University Centres of Cricketing Excellence scheme, an initiative which provides talented young cricketers with the opportunity to develop their cricketing skills alongside their academic studies.
The six in question are James Tomlinson (from Cardiff UCCE), David Balcombe, Michael Brown and James Bruce (all Durham), and Jimmy Adams and Chris Benham (Loughborough). Pace bowler Balcombe is the most recent of these graduates, having earned his degree this summer.
MCC Head of Cricket, John Stephenson, a former Hampshire and Durham University cricketer himself, said:
“It’s heartening to see the progress of so many MCC University cricketers and pleasing to know the scheme is going from strength to strength.
"With access to top quality coaching and facilities, together with unrivalled playing opportunities, the University cricketers have a superb base from which to improve their game and impress county selectors.
"Having passed through the University scheme, they can have no better tutor than their current county captain, Shane Warne, arguably the greatest bowler the game has ever seen.”
Leicestershire's MCC Universities graduate, Harry Gurney Other first-class counties have also been getting in on the act in recent weeks; Robbie Williams, a Durham UCCE fast bowler, featured in Middlesex's Pro40 win on Monday in the first-ever floodlight game at Lord’s, while Leicestershire have been fielding a trio of current MCC University cricketers – Harry Gurney (Leeds / Bradford UCCE) and Jigar Naik and Nick Ferraby (Loughborough).
In its two 'international' matches this season – against the touring West Indians and Sri Lanka ‘A’, MCC fielded a number of University cricketers, including Ruel Brathwaite (Loughborough), Simon Butler and Matthew Wood (both Cardiff) and Robbie Williams.
