TRAINING AND MATCHES
Regular training session with our high level coach focusing on technique, fitness and match scenario’s as well as competitive cricket at the top divisions of university cricket allow Barts and the London CC to maintain its high standards.
The season begins in tandem with the arrival of new students joining the school of medicine and dentistry. ‘Fresher Trails’, held at the iconic Oval Cricket Ground allow the freshers to showcase their talents to the current captain, vice captain and coach. Training continues up to two times per week throughout the first two terms at Leighton Cricket Hub, a multi-million pound training facility which we proudly share with Essix county performance cricket. Newly built this year, the cricket hub gives us the best opportunity to prepare for the upcoming season.
Matches take place throughout the year with indoor cricket being played in the winter and outdoor cricket in the summer. We take part in three indoor leagues, BUCS, LUSL and UH. BUCS is the British Universities and Colleges Sports cricket league consisting of university teams in the South East of England. LUSL is the London Universities Sports Leagues which is exclusive to those universities in London. Finally, UH which stands for United Hospitals which is a league consisting of all 5 teaching hospitals in London which are Barts and the London, Guy’s Kings and St Thomas’s, Imperial, St George’s and University College London. We also take part in an indoor cricket tournament, NAMS, which brings together all the 32 medical schools across the country to compete in a weekend long knockout-type tournament to be crowned champions. It is the equivalent of our World Cup.
Outdoor cricket begins in April with a packed schedule of friendlies, BUCS league and UH tournament matches. As is tradition, our season begins with a Past vs Present Match. This sees the ‘old boys’ for St Bartholomew’s and The Royal London Hospital, The Griffins XI, take on the current first team. This is a well contested fixture and usually sees a large crowd of past and present players cheering on their side. The day is topped off with a formal dinner to which members have flown halfway around the world to attend. Other friendlies include playing The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC), who are considered the second-oldest military corps in the world at their pristine cricket ground in Islington surrounded by the skyscrapers of central London. BUCS league matches take place on Wednesdays afternoon throughout the South East of England and UH matches take place on the weekends. The UH T20 tournament, held over a weekend, normally marks the end of the cricket season.