2024 was undoubtedly Oxford University Cricket Club’s (OUCC) most successful year of this century for the Men’s Blues squad. On-field, the men won all three of their Varsity fixtures against Cambridge, including thrilling wins at Lord’s and Arundel Castle Cricket Ground, as well as emerging the clear victors at The Parks in the four-day fixture. They were champions of the BUCS Men’s Premier South League and were just beaten by 10 runs in the BUCS Men’s National Trophy Final, but won promotion to university cricket’s top flight. As a result of these successes, they are now competing – and holding their own – in the BUCS Super League, often against better-resourced opposition who are more experienced in this league. Meanwhile, the women’s team saw ever-increasing participation as well as a fantastic Varsity victory at Arundel Castle defending a low total against a strong Cambridge XI.
A crucial part of this success has been the on-field performances of all-rounder Saqlain Choudhary, who The Oxford Blue recently caught up with to talk about the team’s season so far. Choudhary is in his fourth season with OUCC, and the current Men’s Vice-Captain, regularly putting in match-winning performances with bat and ball. In 2023, he delivered one of the club’s most complete performances against a strong Free Foresters XI, compiling a hundred with the bat and taking six wickets with the ball, which led to a memorable win. However, his journey with the club has not always been smooth sailing. Choudhary admits that he was skeptical about playing cricket when he first arrived at Oxford, after having played “very unsuccessfully” during his undergrad at Imperial College London. Nevertheless, he signed up to trials at the Fresher’s Fair, telling himself that he would “give it one more go”. Since then Choudhary has become a star performer and “fell in love with playing at The Parks”, and told The Oxford Blue that playing with “OUCC is the most I’ve ever enjoyed cricket”. He went on to thank his “wonderful teammates and coaches who gave me a second chance at playing”.
The Men’s Blues team has had to step up to English university cricket’s top league after last year’s successful season and subsequent promotion. Choudhary described how this would be a “learning experience as we acclimatise to the jump”. For this reason, the preparation work for this season started back in October and Choudhary detailed the boost in training required to compete at this top level. The squad introduced “two strength and conditioning sessions” realising that they “needed to become a more athletic side to compete in the national league”. The team made sure to be “increasing volume in specific scenarios” to replicate gameplay, simulating the field settings and match conditions that they would face on the pitch come summertime.
Especially in the context of last year’s almost undefeated run, this year’s results have been mixed. The Lord’s Varsity fixture – the club’s marquee day – yielded varied outcomes. The morning women’s match delivered a crushing victory over the Tabs, with former captain Hannah Davis scoring a 50 and taking four wickets. Later that afternoon, the men succumbed to an eight-wicket defeat, a hard pill to swallow after last year’s clean sweep. Moreover, the men have had an expectedly difficult start in the BUCS league. Reflecting on this, Choudhary emphasised how important it is to “remember your process and not focus on outcomes”, making it easier to move on tohe next challenge in a packed season. He stressed that cricket “is an incredibly high variance sport”, so luck or timing can play a large role in determining the result of a fixture can be huge. This summer the men have already seen a crucial victory against top side Exeter University, comfortably defeating them by more than 100 runs – a testament to hard work paying off. Hopefully this positive result can be taken into the two remaining league matches.
As well as the BUCS run-in, the men are looking to claw back some Varsity ground in the 50-over and four-day fixtures at the end of June and the start of July respectively, the latter of which Choudhary promised: “will be a highlight for sure”. The women will be looking to take their second win against Cambridge after such a comprehensive display at Lord’s and continue their success in the league. Follow the OUCC Instagram account for updates on all the rest of this summer’s action!