Cambridge has an established tradition of producing cricketers who compete at the highest levels. The joining with Anglia Ruskin University to create the MCCU provided an exciting opportunity to continue that tradition. Cricket is played extensively throughout the university, and the 20-odd Colleges have their own teams and picturesque grounds.
The facilities for the modern, ambitious, cricketer are enviable. An outstanding ground with a recently re-laid square; indoor nets in the new purpose-built indoor school; an established sports-injury clinic at Addenbrooke's hospital, itself providing some of the finest medical support in the country; the sports scientists of Anglia Ruskin and a wide range of internationally renowned research units, working on nutrition, physiology and psychology.
Quite simply, Cambridge has and will continue to have a track record of producing cricketing and academic excellence.
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Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University have formed a cricket partnership whereby a joint team will be selected from a total student population of about 30,000.
Oxford MCCU plays its home games in the Parks, which has been a venue for first-class cricket since 1881 and has regularly hosted tourist matches.
There are nine outdoor nets and an additional 'mini square' for practice on the main field. In addition, Oxford Brookes has two grounds and there is access to high-quality College grounds for other matches.
There is a dedicated indoor net building (two-lane) with modern video equipment, bowling machines etc. There is access to modern fitness suites and experienced sports scientists.
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In the last 25 years, the University of Durham has produced over 40 Test and County Cricketers - including ex England Captains Nasser Hussain and Andrew Strauss.
Graeme Fowler, the former Lancashire, Durham and England opening batsman, and himself a former Durham student, acted as Head Coach since the inception of the scheme until retirement in 2015.
In October 2015 former Essex coach Paul Grayson was appointed as his replacement.
Durham's collegiate system easily lends itself to competitive cricket and sixteen College sides now play regularly throughout the summer term.
With this kind of base in cricket, it is not surprising that Durham is able to put out three extremely competitive university men’s sides and a consistently strong women’s team.
The Racecourse Ground is internationally famous, having acted as the first class base for Durham CCC in advance of the Riverside Ground being completed, and the quality of the pitches has been praised by Test cricketers and First Class umpires alike.
Durham University has been at the forefront of academic excellence since its establishment in 1832. Set in a beautiful Cathedral City, the University produces high-calibre graduates with national surveys showing Durham doing consistently well in employment league tables
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Loughborough University has a long tradition and is world renowned for its role in the development of sporting excellence. It is a key site for the new English Institute of Sport - and the ECB's National Academy.
The MCCU allows additional support to be invested in a squad of elite young cricketers, who benefit from Loughborough's expertise and provision for the development of sports performance.
The Cricket-specific facilities and services are reinforced by access to Loughborough's wider provision of high-performance sport support services, including fitness testing and development, technical analysis of skill acquisition, physiological and biomechanical analysis, sports nutrition, sports psychology, and sports medicine services.
Widely regarded as the UK's premier academic institution for teaching, research and development within Sport, Loughborough University also has an envied reputation for education and research in a wide range of other arts and humanities, social science and science disciplines, and particularly for Engineering and Technology.
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The Leeds/Bradford University MCCU has the endorsement of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club, with its County and Test Ground at Headingley in Leeds.
With the combination of major Universities and University Colleges, this MCCU is able to provide young cricketers with opportunities in the widest possible range of subjects, both academic and vocational, together with first class training facilities for cricket, both indoor and outdoor, and the complete range of sports science and medical support.
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Based in and around the capital city of Wales, the Cardiff South Wales MCCU comprises Cardiff University, University of Glamorgan and the Cardiff Metropolitan University.
The latter is the focal point for the MCCU's day-to-day operations, but there are excellent road and rail links between the three partner institutions. Glamorgan County Cricket Club is fully supportive of the MCCU's work, with many of their Academy members progressing onto the MCCU.
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