Holly Colvin, England Women's Cricket Team: Why did you choose to come to Durham University?

My name is Holly Colvin and I’m currently in my second year at Durham University whilst playing cricket for the England Women’s Cricket Team. After just one year into you’re A-LEVEL course, it can be a daunting prospect choosing your university which is ultimately 3 years of life and a fair amount of your money. For me in this process I was looking for a university with that could provide a well respected degree whilst being able to support me with my cricket. Naturally I headed straight for all the MCC universities and a couple caught my eye, Cambridge, Cardiff and Durham all three to which I ended up applying to.   

So what set Durham apart from the other 3 universities, except for the distance from home? First thing was to consider was the course as ideally that would be what I would spend most of my time and effort doing. I had chosen to do Natural Sciences at Cambridge and Durham and Biomedical sciences at Cardiff all of which looked thoroughly interesting. So my second port of call was my first impression and feeling of the university. This was when I knew that Durham was the right place for me. I immediately felt welcome in my college, department and cricket centre. The university also assured me that I would be fully supported and able to continue playing an international standard of cricket whilst obtaining my degree. Profound cricketers having been to the university such as James Foster and my team-mate Caroline Atkins, I knew that I would get the same type of support.

This has most certainly been the case as I have now made a total of 3 trips away with the England Women’s Cricket Team. I have been twice to the West Indies and once to Australia resulting in me missing stretches of term time. However the academic department and sport department have been able to put things in place to allow me to catch up on work or even take exams abroad. Having the support of the university has meant that I able to make such trips and more importantly be focused in the job at hand rather than being distracted with work.

I am thoroughly enjoying my time at the university and although training 5 times a week and getting up at 6.30am for 2 of the sessions is hard, it’s definitely worth it. Being able to train with the guys has pushed me, helped me to develop and ultimately best prepared me for a season of cricket.

Holly Colvin, Women's Cricket Team 2011, England Women's Cricket

Caroline Jamieson: Why did you choose to come to Durham University?

I choose to study at Durham University due to its good reputation and the fact that I would be able to continue my cricket commitments with Durham County whilst participating in the university set up. I am studying Business Economics and there are very few universities in the UK who offer this course, so my initial choice was restricted any way. Having had Durham recommended to me by friends who have been here and the appeal of the collegiate system, I decided Durham was the place I wanted to go.

I opted to be part of the Centre of Excellence as I wanted to develop my cricket and saw this training as the ideal opportunity to do so. Furthermore one of my team mates for county was part of the centre when she was at Durham and said that it is a very beneficial thing to do. I haven't been able to make full use of the opportunity as last term a previous knee injury reoccurred and this curtailed my training and then this term a badly twisted ankle prevented any training for a month. However, now fully back to fitness I am attending all sessions and believe my cricket has benefited from this. I fully intend to do the Centre of Excellence next year and now over the injury problems hope to be able to fully participate in it.

Caroline Jamieson, Women's Cricket Team 2011

Cecily Scutt: Why did you choose to come to Durham University?

My name is Cecily Scutt and I am a first year at St. Chad’s College studying Ancient History. I chose St. Chad’s College because when I visited on the open day the atmosphere was so welcoming and friendly. It is one of the smallest colleges around Durham which makes it easy get to know most people around college. St. Chad’s is also in the perfect location for my lectures, the sport centre and trips into town. Plus, there is a great view of Durham Cathedral when I walk out of my door.

I studied History, Music, French and Classical Civilisation at A-level so I chose the Ancient History course at Durham University because it combined History and Classics. It is such a varied course here, encompassing all aspects of academic study which I enjoy including history, politics, art and philosophy. The course being so diverse here at Durham is one of the reasons why I chose this university.

Another reason I came and study at Durham University was the facility for me to continue cricket training throughout the winter to a high standard. I currently play in the Surrey Women’s 1st XI and being away at university meant that I would miss out on individual and team training sessions so it was important for me to attend a university where it would be possible for me to continue my training. I saw that there was a women’s team which were in the top league and realised that training with them and playing matches before the summer would allow me to prepare well for the County cricket season. I have also trained with the MCC Academy all winter and can already feel the benefits of the fitness sessions and hope that this training will reflect positively on my performance in the summer. It has been great bowling at the guys in the Academy and I have learnt a great deal about all aspects of my game from training with them. This opportunity to train with the MCC Centre of Excellence greatly influenced my decision to come to Durham University and it has been a productive and enjoyable winter being involved in the MCC Academy here.

Cecily Scutt, Women's Cricket Team 2011

BUCS Indoors - Cecily Scutt

Our first players post comes from Durham Women's Cricket player Cecily Scutt, a First Year Undergraduate studying Ancient History.

"The women’s team at Durham have been training really hard this winter, showing great commitment attending 9am sessions on a Sunday morning, the majority of us still half asleep. Before Christmas, we had our Regional round of the BUCS indoor competition which was held in Newcastle. We played some excellent indoor cricket with contributions from every member of the team, dominating both our games with convincing 70 and 30 run victories over Manchester and Leeds Met, the best women’s university team in the country. We were all so pleased with this result and it meant we were through to the final rounds held in Cardiff on the 26^th February.

 We began our trek to Cardiff on Friday 25^th, the morning after the Durham University Cricket Dinner- a fantastic night which was organised by our own Holly Colvin, which raised a significant amount of money for the club.  So there were a few sore heads that morning and the 7-hour journey felt like it would never end. However, upon arriving in Cardiff, there was little disagreement that we needed to begin our search for somewhere to eat. We ended up in Nando’s then headed back to get an early night.

Our matches in the final rounds included Cardiff University, Sheffield Hallam and Brighton. We bowled and fielded really well in our first game, but as the indoor hall was split in two to accommodate two games at once, the area we were playing in was tiny compared to what we were used to back in Durham. Unfortunately we struggled to get to grips with the running in such a small space which resulted in a few hesitations and run outs and we were unlucky to lose our first game against Cardiff by two runs which was disappointing. However, we came back quickly, adapting to the space and beat Sheffield Hallam by 36 runs. This game saw an excellent opening partnership for us from our captain Helena Stolle and Holly Colvin which allowed the rest of the team to play freely, most notably some unrivalled straight sixes from Genny Porter. Again, we bowled and fielded with purpose against Brighton University and got them all out for 70 runs. We won this convincingly, with the loss of only one wicket. Overall, it was a great day. Although we were disappointed to not have got through to the final, we were encouraged by contributions from all the members of the team throughout the day and look forward to a successful season outdoors, starting with our first league fixture being Leeds Met on 27^th April."

Cecily Scutt, a First Year Ancient History Undergraduate.

What our current players are saying ......

Durham University is a traditional university set in a fantastic city and one which is highly regarded as a great place to study. However, one of the major reasons for coming to this university was it being a Centre of Excellence for cricket, with great facilities and high quality coaching available. The chance of playing first class cricket matches and testing myself against some of the best players in the country was appealing and an opportunity which I felt would only improve my game. Another factor which affected my decision to come to Durham was the amount of high profile players who have played for Durham University and have gone on to represent their county and country at a professional level.

Luke Blackaby, 2011 Men's Cricket Team

BA Sports Undergraduate

I not only chose to come to Durham because of its world class academic status, but also because I hoped that I would be given the opportunity of improving my cricket as much as I can. Because I live in France, I haven’t had such opportunities before. I am absolutely determined to make the most of my skill, and with the support of the MCC academy and its coaching staff I hope to start playing first class cricket as soon as possible. 

Rory Gribbel, 2011 Men's Cricket Team

Natural Sciences Undergraduate

Having the opportunity to improve my skills and get the chance to play first class cricket whilst getting a degree sounded fantastic. After having spoken to some students who had loved their time at Durham and had told me that there was lots of serious training, compelled me to apply! It was an easy choice for me. Durham has a great academic and sporting reputation which helped make my decision.

Rishabh Shah, 2011 Men's Cricket Team

Economics Undergraduate

I was aware of the UCCE system and that Durham was part of it. Of course, I was also aware that Durham had several well-known cricketers, such as Andrew Strauss and Nasser Hussain as alumni. It was also highly regarded for my choice of degree, Economics, and having visited the city a couple of times I had fallen in love with its winding streets and beautiful vistas. 

Chris Jones, 2011 Men's Cricket Team

More players comments will be uploaded to the Team Durham website shortly and can be found at

http://www.teamdurham.com/universitysport/universityclubs/cricket.mens/clubcontacts/cricket/player-experiences/

Welcome to the new Team Durham Cricket Blog!

Welcome to the new Team Durham Cricket blog.  This blog provides an opportunity for current Team Durham cricket players to share their experiences of combining studying at Durham University and playing the first MCC University to be established, one of six programmes throughout England and Wales and one of only four university teams to have First Class County Cricket status and compete against at least three County sides every season. 


Every fortnight current Team Durham cricket players will update this blog and share their stories and give an insight to what it is like training at a MCC Centre of Excellence.  


Durham has helped to develop over 40 Test and County Cricketers. Household names include England Captain's Nasser Hussain and Andrew Strauss and England Internationals, James Foster, Alex Loudon and Caroline Atkins.


To find out more about Durham University Cricket Club Centre of Excellence visit: http://www.teamdurham.com/universitysport/universityclubs/cricket.mens/clubcontacts/cricket/