Unis with a good reputation and facilities for cricketers

[lbwagain]

DS is cricket-mad and is playing for his school's 1st XI, and has played representative cricket too.

What universities are good for cricketers in terms of ability to play and represent their university?

For context, probably looking for Accounting or Economics with A*AA predicted (might be higher, just waiting to hear).

Probably a preference for campus.

The BUCs points tables probably show you best which are competing - Loughborough is inevitably top (but he would have to look into how many teams there are since its going to be mega competitive) https://www.studentsportcompany.com/news/top-ten-bucs-ranked-universities-2021-22/

A county playing relative chose Durham over Cambridge for cricket last year.

He's not quite county level, has played at district and above (but not county) so probably not looking at Loughborough as he'd want a chance to get involved.

That BUCS link or maybe the website altogether is madly out of date! Still tho, Loughborough has never not been BUCS champion.

It has a great cricket pitch tho cricket is less focused on there than rugby and athletics.

I agree tho if he is not county standard then he is more likely to get a gig at another uni.

I don’t know about cricket specifically but some other sporty unis (I’m coming from an athletics viewpoint tbf) somewhat at random and ignoring Scotland for obvious reasons, are:
Birmingham
Edge Hill
Cardiff Met
Swansea
Leeds Beckett
Durham

Not all of those would be ideal for an A star student but Brum and Durham worth a look.

Leeds/Bradford Unis have a Universities Centre of Cricketing Excellence.
It's in Leeds, not far from Headingley or either Leeds University or Leeds Beckett.

OK just had a look on the BUCS cricket section of the website and the championship final this year is between Oxford Brookes and Leeds/Bradford (not sure if that is a combo team from Leeds and Bradford unis but @IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads's post suggests it is) while the trophy final (lower league) is between Oxford and Cardiff.

If you go on to BUCS Play (I'd post a link but you need an account - it's free) you can see lists of all the teams. Loughborough and Durham, for example, have five men's outdoor teams; Exeter has six. That might be worth looking at. I guess a uni with fewer teams will give more chance of getting into the first team?

Oxford Brookes tho for example, clearly successful this year, only has two teams. And I apologise to Scotland, unis there have teams as well.

There's loads of info on that page @lbwagain so worth a look I think.

One of the issues with uni cricket is term times, especially in the ones yesterday have gone to semesters.

My DS is at Birmingham. It's is sporty but he doesn't seem to think there's much serious cricket. There is, however, jobs at Edgbaston and the chance of matches!

DS may not be a 100% reliable source as he gave up playing cricket in about year 10 or 11.

Oxford Brookes has an astonishing proportion of privately educated students so I'm guessing that explains the cricket prowess.

My son was at a similar level and went to Southampton and played lots of cricket there. He was also able to help out at The Rose Ball.

yesterday = that have. Can't edit my post!

That's a good point @Piggywaspushed about semesters. DD's uni didn't really have anything going on at all after end March. At least DS2's (Lboro!) has an actual summer term. But no summer term makes it kind of hard to play a lot of cricket eh.

I didn't know there were lots of privately educated kids at Oxford Brookes but that adds up bc it's also a uni that sends a good number of students (compared to its relatively low profile in general I mean) to BUCS athletics (which is a also a bit of a posh sport tbf, much tho I love it).

I understand terms are short but there is definitely cricket played, I understand, at some unis. But not sure how it's organised around these constraints!

Might also be worth thinking about choosing the best University for the course / job prospects / distance from home / accommodation costs / all the other reasons, and playing for a local club rather than for the University as such.

Yes course / uni are his most important consideration but was interested in how cricket looked at various unis.
Think he might be interested in Warwick, Bath, Bristol, Exeter in particular but no idea what opportunities there are for uni cricket at these...

It’s not so much short terms as the fact that a lot of unis have two main semesters and then very little in the summer term.

So DD had no seminars or lectures after the end of the spring term - in April or even March - and her last pieces of work were usually due in at the very start of May, then that was it. Kind of early for cricket.

Like I say, Lboro is unusual in having an actual summer term - ds had seminars in May and exams in June.

Agree btw that other factors should be considered by your ds! But I’m sure he will.

Ah ok x post @lbwagain . Well have a look at BUCS play as I say and see how many team there are at those unis. Like I say, six at Exeter so plenty of chance to play.

Bath is mega mega sporty. Very competitive to get into the teams. My DS loves sport but the very intensely competitive 'vibe' of the sports put him off a bit at Open Day.

Durham definitely has good uni pitches (and an excellent not wildly competitive business degree). Nottingham might be worth looking into?

Warwick is really competitive entry for economics. Not really heard of it having much of a sporting reputation but could be wrong.

My son chose Durham because of the cricket too

When I was studying at Aberdeen a lot of students were playing for Scottish County teams - even though it's not really a Scottish sport

If he went to Birmingham he could sign up for a local club. Birmingham have a cricket Premier League that the first teams of some clubs play in. It depends how good he is. There are several good clubs he could join local to Birmingham. He could also use the Indoor Centre at Edgbaston which can be booked for training. I expect the same is true of other large city's like Manchester who also have a Premier League. He'd have to be very good to play in a Premier League though. Some under 18 country players have to play second or third team cricket if they are at a very good club.

Just to add, what we may think of as summer sports don't necessarily take place in the summer at university. The university tennis competitions, for example, both league and cups, take place between October and March.

Afraid I don't know about cricket in particular.

@lbwagain to answer your specific question, Exeter and Bristol are both top 10 for cricket, Warwick is top 20. Bath do not appear to have cricket teams, possibly because they have a specific focus on both athletics and tennis, where they are very strong.

Lancaster is a good option. It’s full campus and one of the last universities to finish (not until very end of June) and it’s very sporty with excellent facilities. They have the war of the Roses tournament with York university every year and then because it’s collegiate there is a lot of sport between colleges (and also at a lower friendly level within college). There is also Warriors which is a big sporting competition between two of the colleges Grizedale and Pendle each year. It’s also top ten in the main rankings but easier to get into than some. Plus for students with high grades (3 x A or above) it operates an academic scholarship scheme where they get £2k in the first year

My sons both played county cricket and went to Leeds Uni. You need to be looking at the MCC affiliated unis. They are Leeds, Durham, Loughborough, Oxford etc. Although most unis have a cricket team. Good luck

Cricket is excellent at Bristol.