Lord's 2025 Match Reports

OUCC Men's and Women's Blues teams have recently played their annual T20 Varsity matches at Lord's Cricket Ground. This T20 day is always a highlight of the OUCC season and was watched on by hundreds of current and old OUCC members and families in the famous Lord's pavilion.

The women's match was up first, with captain Elodie Harbourne winning the toss and electing to bat. OUCC opened the batting with a Magdalen pairing of Hannah Sutton and Annys Thirkell-Jones. Assisted by some wayward Cambridge bowling, Oxford reached 37-0 off the powerplay. Soon after, the wicket of Thirkell-Jones brought Hannah Davis to the crease. Both Hannahs pushed the scoring along through the middle to get Oxford to a respectable score heading into the last few overs. Hannah Davis' destructive six-hitting in at the death helped her reach 55 and pushed the final Oxford score to 129-4 off their 20 overs.

In reply, Oxford thwarted the Cambridge innings before it started in earnest. Exceptional bowling from Evie Mayhew (4-13) dismissed three dangerous Cambridge batters, including Boaden who had been the match-winner in 2024. Hannah Sutton contributed another wicket to further restrict the Cambridge batters, before leg-spinner Davis came on and rattled through the middle- and lower-order to record figures of 4-9. Despite some spirited Cambridge resistance, dual Rugby and Cricket Blue Sophie Goodman took the last wicket to seal a memorable 71 run victory. This was a brilliant result against a strong Cambridge team that has performed well in BUCS to start the season. Full highlights of the game can be found below;

After a short break, it was the turn of the Men's Blues - who were put in to bat after losing the toss. Unfortunately, the Oxford innings was stunted by the loss of regular wickets throughout the innings. Disappointingly, there were some poor shots from the Oxford batters against tidy Cambridge spin-bowling. This was a particular shame, given the batting had performed so well in T20 warm-up matches against the Army and RAF. Oxford limped to 106 all out from 20 overs, with some late contributions from Max Kirkby and Chris Carnegie.

Needing early wickets to stand even a slight chance of victory, Oxford were rewarded immediately as Justin Clarke snagged opener Norman caught at square-leg. However, Cambridge's other opener Kottler batted well for his 52 to take the game out of reach for Oxford. Cambridge cruised to an 8-wicket victory, despite economical bowling from Kirkby and Carnegie. The Men's Blues have a chance to hit back at Cambridge in our upcoming BUCS match on 19th May at Fenner's, where OUCC will be looking to avenge their poor performance at Lord's. Highlights of the men's game can be viewed below; 

Overall, however, this was a great day for OUCC. It was lovely to see so many familiar faces in the crowd and in Lord's Tavern after the match. Everyone at OUCC would like to thank the Marylebone Cricket Club for the privilege of playing at Lord's and for their excellent hospitality on the day!