Historic Grounds to host Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals

New Delhi: From the 21st to the 26th of July 2014, some of the best campus cricketers in the world will be in the United Kingdom participating in the world finals of Red Bull Campus Cricket. Following on from the first World Final played at the R. Premadasa in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2013, this edition will be at the Wormsley Cricket Ground and the Kia Oval featuring eight teams from eight countries.

Both grounds lay claim to cricketing history in the UK. Wormsley Cricket Ground, which coincidentally has been modeled on the Kia Oval, is as picturesque a ground as one may see and in the mould of the traditional village greens. However, the cricket that has been played here has been nothing short of world class. Since its establishment in 1992, Brian Lara and Graham Gooch have scored centuries here. Andrew Flintoff, Imran Khan, Kumar Sangakkara, Michael Atherton, and several touring parties from Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa and the West Indies have all walked the greens at Wormsley. Acknowledged by many as the ‘most picturesque cricket ground’ in the world, there’s very little evidence to oppose that claim, even in photographs.

As the eight teams fight for a place in the last four from the 21st of July to the 23rd of July in the group stages, the players should have plenty of inspiration from their surroundings and its history. Representing India will be Rizvi College, Mumbai who will now compete with teams from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia, West Indies, South Africa and England in the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Series Championship.

The semi finalists then move to the Kia Oval on Saturday, 26th of July, where they will walk on an outfield, where international cricket was first played 134 years ago. The Kia Oval also played host to the first ever FA Cup final in 1872 and a decade later, came an infamous Test loss for England. An obituary of English cricket was printed following that defeat, which would eventually lead to the creation of The Ashes series between Australia and England. It also saw the last innings of The Don, Donald Bradman in 1948.

So, the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals might just be in its second year, but this July there will be enough and more history to remind the nearly 100 campus cricketers from across the world that they’re walking on hallowed ground, be it at the Kia Oval or the Wormsley Cricket Ground.