When Alistair Cook walked to the crease at the start of England’s innings, the first test of England’s tour against Pakistan was in danger of listing. Actually, ‘danger of listing’ is making it sound more ex- citing than it was. The test wasn’t in danger of listing, it had completely and irrefutably sunk on a wicket which managed simultaneously to be both boring to bowl on as it was awkward to bat on.

528 balls, 836 minutes and 263 runs later, Cook walked off. In a single innings Cook had, on the face of it, not done a huge amount different. His score was only slightly larger than his Pakistani counterpart Shoaib Ma- lik’s 245, and he has been making large totals in Asia for his entire career now (he overtook South African Jacques Kallis as leading non- Asian run scorer in Asia). The innings was neither the longest in history, nor the high- est scoring. It was not particularly explosive, with only 14 fours and no sixes. In an age of T20 and the Indian Premier League, a game which lasts five days and can end in a draw seems increasingly outdated. Surrounded by glistening skyscrapers and half-finished apartment complexes, Cook’s lonely 13 and a bit hours in the blazing sun felt increasingly detached from the real world, an outdated specimen of a bygone age. The last true Test cricketer, in his natural habitat, quietly and carefully hooking and sweeping and leaving the battered red ball as the world moves on without him.

This feels a long way from the 2005 Ashes series against Australia, the most recent time the Test match could potentially claim to have a grip on the nation’s conscience. An estimated 22.65 million people watched at least 30 minutes of Test cricket that summer. So what has changed? At the close of the series, as Michael Vaughan and co. careered and drank their way through an open topped bus tour of London, the seeds of Test cricket’s decline were sown with the purchase of tele- vision rights by Sky from Channel 4. Cricket had, in one sweep, become the preserve of those who could afford to pay or had a prior interest in the sport. A sport which was already uncomfortable with the rise of football as the nation’s preeminent pastime had isolated itself even further.

This brings us, ten years later, to this sunbaked 22 yards of turf halfway around the world. The years had not been kind to the England team. Isolated victories and a fleeting world number one ranking did little to mask the decline. Harried and harassed by the group of new, brash associate na- tions, England has crashed out before the final in successive short-form World Cups. Cook became the poster boy, particularly in light of the ongoing Kevin Pietersen saga, of a reactionary way to approach cricket, the archetypal ‘yes’ man nodding and agreeing with an insular establishment.

That is why I watched his innings with increasing fascination. Nothing he did, par- ticularly, was new. The record he broke for the longest innings by an Englishman had been around since 1938. But in this innings lay the recurrent fascination of Test cricket. It should not have been watchable. We should not have cared. But through sheer determina- tion and skill he stuck it out. Hour after hour, ball after ball. Hook, sweep, leave. Unruffled, unstressed, man and bat working together again and again. A contest which had no right to become one emerged through sheer force of will. The last true Test cricketer, reminding us of the beauty of the sport 

In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “a woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” There is no doubt that the university women’s lacrosse squad are a feisty bunch, on and off the pitch. But the true test of whether they sink or swim will be on Saturday of 6th Week in Hilary, when the Blues and Swifts face the Tabs once more. The Blues had a fantastic season last year. Midway through the season we were placed strongly in the BUCS South division, but academic pressures prevented the second half of the season finishing as strongly as we’d hoped. Though it was not our highest placing, the final fourth place was representative of our fight and determination in a very competitive league, with strong performances both home and away against Durham and Cambridge.

The 2014-2015 season was also extremely successful for the Oxford Swifts, whose performances gathered momentum as the season progressed. Early losses to Cambridge and Loughborough shocked the girls into action, and hard work and intense training allowed them to reverse the scoreline with Loughborough, securing a ten-goal win. Success followed success, as the Swifts beat the York 1st team in the BUCS knock-out cup, weathering a strong fight back from York to clinch victory.

Buoyed by such success, a confident Swifts side met their Varsity counterparts eager to make up for the two league losses earlier in the season. Though down 7-2 with 11 minutes to go, fantastic attacking play allowed them to claw back a five-goal deficit and eventually steal a win in the last 15 seconds. The match was indicative of the ‘never-say die’ attitude that characterised the entire Swifts’ season.

Unfortunately, the Blues were not as lucky. Though energised by a comprehensive victory over powerhouse Birmingham at Uni Parks just before, the team were consigned to a disappointing 15-5 loss.

The build up to next year’s Varsity is already in full swing. Just under a month ago, the squad reconvened for six days of pre-season. Captain Katharine Bailey and her Vice, Jane Lee – the pair that go by the name ‘BaiLee’ – started the season off with a bang, introducing new training and fitness regimes. The third day of pre-season saw the alumnae match and the return of past captains Hellie Kellett-Clarke and Beth Denham. After an heroic hour of battle, the old girls had it, winning 9-7.

Two weeks later, the Blues came face to face with three of their toughest opponents: Durham, Loughborough and Nottingham. After beating Loughborough 5-4 and Nottingham 11-2, the Blues came up against the BUCS reining champions, Durham. Unfortunately the intensity of the first two matches got the better of them, and with tired legs the final score was 1-5. The team showed so much potential, especially given this was the first time they had played together.

This potential was really put to the test last week during the first BUCS games. The Blues met Bristol away in what turned out to be a tough battle of the teams’ defences. The final score 2-7 did not reflect the hard work of the Oxford team, who just could not seem to get the ball into the back of the net. Most Valued Player India Kary fought hard in attack, scoring two goals for the Blues.

The Swifts journeyed up to Warwick for their opening game of the season, and came away victorious with a 19-8 win. MVP Jen Ehr, last year’s women’s Blues rowing cox, played out of position in attack and scored two goals.

With so many Freshers in the side, most of the warm up was spent on communication and getting to know each other’s games. This paid off, the defence performing particularly well against Warwick. The phenomenal scoring rate was due to the Swift’s fantastic ability to retain possession, as well as the clinical finishing of the forwards.

Up next the Blues are playing Exeter, whilst the Swifts are playing Loughborough’s seconds. Both are tough competition for Oxford and will prove a great challenge.

This year, the squad is aiming high and hopes for a double win at Varsity. The Blues have sever- al key international players in their starting line-up, who will be invaluable in rais- ing the standard of the team as a whole through their immense experience.

Likewise, the Swifts have taken on some talented new players, who will be instrumental in the team’s development. Both teams are striving for top two in their BUCS leagues, followed by a double shoeing of the Tabs at th end of February 

As the Freshers’ dust settles and Oxford edges its way into Third Week, it is an apt time to cast our eye to the University Hockey Club and their exploits so far this term. Sadly, there is as yet little positivity to report.

For the Women’s Blues, promoted into the Saturday South Premiership last season, club President Siobhan Stewart harbours ambitions to make the top three in BUCS and the South League. However, despite a 1-0 home victory over Woking Ladies’, this pre-season excitement has been checked somewhat by 2-0 defeats at the hands of Barnes and Tulse Hill; the former coming in the all-important season opener on the Blues’ home turf at Iffley.

The women have, however, fared better than their male counterparts. The Men’s Blues first and only point came in a lacklustre 2-2 stalemate against an experienced London Wayfarers side.

The 4-3 defeat that followed, this time away at Old Cranleighans, meant that early October became a period to forget for the University’s premier hockey teams; the Men’s Blues sit at the bottom of their BUCS division. Of course the transitional nature of the side, with only five remaining members of last year’s Varsity squad, means consolidation would be considered a job well done.

That is not to say there has been no early season success on the Dark Blue hockey fields; squads lower down the club have shown signs to justify the early season optimism, with the Women’s Mavericks out-performing Reading Ladies’ Thirds, and the Men’s Occasionals emphatically overcoming the newly-promoted University of East Anglia 6-1, racking up their first Division Two points in the process.

Going forward, the promotion ambitions of the Women’s Second and Third XI squads are matched by the equally lofty aspirations of the Men’s Third XI, whilst the newly promoted Men’s Seconds have realistic hopes of reinforcing their Saturday league position and securing BUCS success.

Of course, as is the case with Blues sport across the University, one eye will be kept firmly on Varsity by both the Men and Women’s top squads, especially after both sides fell short last time round.

The game will be of particular importance for Joe Foster, this year’s newly-appointed Men’s Blues captain, having experienced penalty flicks heartbreak first-hand in last year’s nail-biting encounter against the Light Blues. Speaking to Cherwell about his hopes, Foster talked of his excitement for the “intriguing match up” against the equally transitional Cambridge side, whilst he also emphasised his hopes for the “very talented” crop of players that will be aiming to drive the hockey club up through the ranks to a season of success over the coming year.

It would be fair to say, though, that if the OUHC are to better last year’s 3rd
place Pitchero ranking, wins will be required, soon.