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Pressure from the England Cricket Board has forced Cambridge University to choose between changing their attitude towards cricket or losing their first-class status.

That is the thrust from the ECB's policy of creating six university centres of excellence. Their selection process has been completed, and an announcement is due by the end of this month.

Cambridge are likely to be among the chosen names, but they have been told: Invest time and money in cricket, or else.

In the next year it is quite probable a new three-lane indoor school will appear at the conifers corner of their Fenner's ground where the heavy roller was parked during yesterday's first day of the match against Lancashire.

Mark Bailey, one of the Cambridge University delegates, said that various assurances had been given to the ECB about fulfilling the criteria laid down. But, privately, Cambridge would admit that the ECB process came as a nasty shock.

Bailey, bursar at Corpus Christie College and a former England rugby international and Suffolk seam bowler, admitted that the ECB had forced Cambridge to assess their priorities. He said: ``Initiatives like this by external national bodies help everybody to focus their minds.''

The ECB were surprised at the number of high quality applications for their excellence scheme. John Carr, an official, said: ``We had 18 very good bids, and I'm sure any one would make a success of the programme.''

Four of the six selections are likely to go to Cardiff - the most comprehensive of all the bids, according to one source - Oxford, Durham and probably Cambridge.

Yesterday Quentin Hughes, the Cambridge captain, had a tilt at the earliest 100 in an English first-class season when he was caught and bowled for 84 driving at Chris Schofield's leg-spin. The left-hander looked in excellent form, punching the ball sweetly off his pads.

Ken Walker, an economics post graduate freshman from Natal University, pushed solidly for his 55 in almost four hours. His innings was not a gem, but it did set up a respectable total.