Cricket being played at The Parks, Oxford

London, June 6: Those who swear by Test cricket will consider it the end of civilisation as they have known it or possibly even the final act of betrayal but on Friday, on the hallowed turf of The Parks, the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge will play their first “Blues” Twenty20 game.

The decision to hold the fixture was probably set in motion before the recent Indian Premier League but its success, grudgingly acknowledged even by the powers that be at Lord’s, has allowed Oxford, for example, to justify its introduction.

This was clear from the statement from the Oxford University Cricket Club which said: “Twenty20 cricket is much in the headlines at present with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in India.”

Since Oxford and Cambridge first played each other in 1827, the two universities have groomed players who have gone on to play Test cricket. In the case of England, many of Marylebone Cricket Club’s (MCC) administrators began their serious careers either at The Parks in Oxford or Fenner’s in Cambridge.

It is not that all cricket administrators are implacably opposed to Twenty20, which most accept was introduced in England; it is just that they think the Indian form of the game, complete with Bollywood stars, American-style cheerleaders and big money, could undermine the English county game as well as traditional Test cricket and hasten the slippage of power from Lord’s to Calcutta and Mumbai.

The news that Oxford and Cambridge are now adopting Twenty20 will be greeted with mixed feelings, especially as the former is promising “a fun-packed encounter”.

The Oxford Times, the city’s local paper, headlined its story: “Cricket traditionalists are choking at their Chablis at the prospect of the Varsity Twenty20 contest.”

One bench, it said, carried the evocative inscription: “Colin Cowdrey Captain OUCC Kent & England Remembered by Oxford Friends.”

The paper sought to twist the knife in the wounds of the old boys by disclosing that “there will be loud music to mark the fall of every wicket — and perhaps cheerleaders”.

The latter suggestion is tongue in cheek. But Friday’s game will use “the MCC’s new pink ball and will be streamed online, courtesy of M3U.com,” the Oxford statement promised.

“The idyllic Parks have played host to all other forms that cricket has to offer — steeped in history and offering a much loved first class fixture programme, it occupies a unique place in this country’s sporting canon,” said the Oxford statement. “On 6th June, however, the traditionalists will be treated to a very different sort of spectacle as Oxford University’s men will ditch their pristine whites for the Dark Blue of their institution and welcome bitter rivals Cambridge for a Twenty20 battle.”

It added: “The traditional first class Varsity match began in 1827 and there have been 164 matches played, Cambridge winning 56, Oxford 53 and 54 being drawn. The one-day Varsity has been in the calendar since 1995.”

The Twenty20 is to be sponsored for the next four years by a legal firm, Charles Russell, whose managing partner, James Holder, commented: “Charles Russell is proud to sponsor the first ever Twenty20 Varsity cricket match. The exciting format of Twenty20 means that the sport is rapidly growing in popularity in the UK. This is the perfect time to introduce it to the Varsity sporting calendar and I am sure that it will be a very popular addition!”

What will the old make of the new?

Cambridge has emphasised that “it has a famous and proud history dating back to 1820, producing many of the great cricketers, captains and administrators. These include: Michael Atherton, Mike Brearley, John Crawley, John Dewes, Ted Dexter, Hubert Doggart, Gammi Goonesena, Doug Insole, Majid Khan, Peter May, Derek Pringle and K.S. Ranjitsinhji”.

Those who have played for Oxford include the Nawabs of Pataudi, father and son; Javed Burki; Imran Khan; and Salil Oberoi, whose 247 is the record for a Blues match, eclipsing Pataudi Senior’s 238 in 1931.

Nor is change and innovation restricted to cricket. Oxford’s new vice-chancellor is to come from America. Rather like football and cricket coaches, today’s head hunting in academia is global.

Professor Andrew Hamilton, currently the provost of Yale University, has been nominated to take over from the New Zealand-born Dr John Hood in October next year. Oxford is following the example of Cambridge where the current vice-chancellor, Alison Richard, the first woman to hold the post full time, was also the provost of Yale.

Both Hamilton and Richard are British by birth.