Fenner's

Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orchard from Gonville and Caius College for the purpose of constructing a cricket ground.{{cite web|url=http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/england/content/ground/56861.html|title=Fenner's|publisher=CricInfo|access-date=22 September 2008}}{{cite book|title=Memoirs of a King's College Chorister|author=Thomas Henry Case|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eGU7AQAAMAAJ|page=45|year=1899|publisher=W.P.Spalding}} In 1848 he sub-let the ground to Cambridge University Cricket Club.{{cite book|last=Powell|first=William|year=1989|title=The Wisden Guides To Cricket Grounds|publisher=Stanley Paul & Co. Ltd|location=London|pages=393–6|isbn=009173830X}} Fenner's first hosted first-class cricket in 1848, with Cambridge University playing against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/374_f.html |title=First-Class Matches played on FP Fenner's Ground, Cambridge |publisher=CricketArchive |access-date=2021-08-07|url-access=subscription}}

A 40-foot wooden pavilion, painted blue, with a slated roof had been erected by the 1856 season.{{cite news|title= Cricketers' Chronicle|newspaper= Cambridge Chronicle and Journal |date= 31 May 1856|page= 8}}

Since 1894, Fenner's has been owned by the Cambridge University Cricket and Athletic Company; a private limited company whose Members comprise the full members of Cambridge University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Athletics Club.

As well as the cricket ground, there is a 3-lane indoor cricket school.

The groundsman pioneered the art of mowing grass in strips to create patterns, a technique now common in sports stadiums around the world.{{cite book |last= Allen |first= Peter |title= The Invincibles: The Legend of Bradman's 1948 Australians |year=1999 |publisher= Allen and Kemsley |location=Mosman, NSW, Australia |isbn= 1-875171-06-1}} p. 103

In August 2024 it was announced that the University had sold land on the edge of Fenner's to Hughes Hall.{{cite web |last1=Langford |first1=Sarah |title=Hughes Hall concludes vital land deal with University - Hughes Hall |url=https://www.hughes.cam.ac.uk/about/news/hughes-hall-concludes-vital-land-deal-with-university/ |website=www.hughes.cam.ac.uk |date=2 August 2024}} Subsequently a petition was launched against development of that land.{{cite news |last1=Burfield |first1=Hannah |title=Petition launched against proposed Hughes Hall development |url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/28137 |work=Varsity Online |date=10 September 2024 |language=en}}

• {{slink|The Parks|Cricket ground}}, where first-class cricket is played in Oxford
• University Ground, Barnwell, a former Cambridge University cricket ground

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150415054302/http://www.sport.cam.ac.uk/facilities/fenners-cricket-ground/index.html Fenner's home page]
• [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/374.html Matches played at Fenner's] from CricketArchive
• [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/england/content/ground/56861.html Ground profile] from Cricinfo
• [http://www.cucc.net Cambridge University Cricket Club]

{{Cambridge University Cricket Club}}

{{Sunrisers (women's cricket)}}

{{Cambridgeshire CCC}}

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Category:1848 establishments in England

Category:Cricket grounds in Cambridgeshire

Category:Sport at the University of Cambridge

Category:University of Cambridge sites

Category:Sports venues in Cambridge

Category:Parks and open spaces in Cambridge

Category:Sports venues completed in 1848

Category:University sports venues in the United Kingdom