It most certainly is cricket at Oxford 2000

The Cricketer this week announced its plans to stage an international celebration of nomadic cricket at Oxford in the Millennium. The Magazine that organises The Cricketer Cup and The National Village Championship has now turned its hand to a one-off festival of Wandering Cricket to be played on school and college grounds at the historic university city.

Ben Brocklehurst, Chairman of The Cricketer, says: ``We will bring together those clubs who introduced the standards of play and sportsmanship that gave us the game we know now. Many of them were established over 100 years ago, but their finest hour was seen this century. The festival will pay tribute to the amateur status of these clubs and to cricketers who play only for fun. More than 30 clubs are expected to take part, many of them from Overseas: Sharing post-match drinks with The Free Foresters and The Yorkshire Gentlemen might be The Kenyan Kangonis and The Gentlemen of Philadelphia. Entries are also expected from India, Australia and South Africa. Never in history have so many amateur cricket clubs been brought to the same place at the same time.''

Sometimes referred to as Jazhat cricket, due to the bright colours of caps and blazers, the origins of wandering cricket stem back to the mid 19th century. Many of the clubs' founder members were famous international stars of their day such as W.G. Grace and C.B Fry. Even today, there are current and recent first-class cricketers playing on the wandering circuit such as Matthew Fleming, Mark Nicholas and David Gower.

In keeping with the etiquette of Wandering cricket, Oxford 2000 will have no overall winner. All matches will be friendlies, and each club may play between one and five games between the 7th and 11th August. Players may also alternate between clubs during the week.

Clubs interested in joining the festival can apply to Sue White at The Cricketer: +44 (0)1892-740256 or Email Oxford2000@Cricketer.com.