International Millennium Cricket Festival for Wandering Clubs

Anyone who wishes to see an example of what is meant by the `Spirit of Cricket', perhaps the most difficult to grasp of the concepts enshrined in the Laws of the game, should come to Oxford from August 7-11 this year for the International Millennium Cricket Festival for Wandering Clubs. They will be treated to a festival of cricket played seriously, but for fun, between 28 of the world's leading and longest established amateur clubs.

The purpose of this festival is to celebrate the style of cricket championed by nomadic clubs since their conception in the mid-19th century. There will be no overall winner, and players may play for more than one club during the week. It will promote fair play and sportsmanship combined with the maximum commitment to win. The beneficiary is The Lord's Taverners, so the purpose is to give youngsters, particularly those with special needs, a sporting chance.

Many of these travelling clubs could be playing each other for the first time; I Zingari and The Free Foresters have not met since 1876. Fifteen school and college grounds have been carefully selected for the 56 games. Keble College will be the central headquarters and there will be around 200 players staying, eating and drinking there each night. A revue of cricket will be performed by The Stage CC on August 9 and the Oxford 2000 Dinner will also be held at Keble on August 10, to be attended by 300 people. Lord MacLaurin, Christopher Martin-Jenkins and Lord Cowdrey will be speaking.

For 30 years The Cricketer has been recognised for its work in creating and organising national cricket competitions: The National Village Championship, The Cricketer Cup and The Lord's Taverners Cricketer Colts Trophy for schools. Alongside each of these, the past two years have been spent organising The International Millennium Cricket Festival for Wandering Clubs. The festival will uphold the purest form of amateur cricket in which there are no prizes at stake, nor points to play for, just the joy of the game.

For more information, including a detailed fixture list, please visit https://Oxford2000.cricketer.com. To reserve your copy of the Oxford 2000 programme, featuring the histories of all 28 participating clubs, as well as local information and how to get to the games, please send a cheque payable to `Oxford 2000' for £4 to: Oxford 2000, Beech Hanger, Ashurst, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN3 9ST. For further information, please call Tim Brocklehurst at The Cricketer on 01892 740858.