1869 SEASON
There will be another new competition in baseball this year, as the success of the Oxford University Championship has encouraged players at Cambridge to start a similar league.
There are no changes to the format of the Metropolitan League or Oxford University Championship this year, although the Metropolitan League has changed the schedule format slightly so that each team starts and ends the season with the two additional games against its 'paired' rival. The County Championship has again decided to switch the match-ups of the semi-finals. Last year Essex and Middlesex reached the final, so both are guaranteed a home game in the semi-finals. Indeed, for Essex it will be the first home game they have played, as they were beaten in the semi-final away from home two years ago and then won two away games to take the title last year.
As Essex played Kent last year, while Middlesex played Surrey, this time Essex will face Surrey and Middlesex will play Kent. That means that the tournament will see the same match-ups as the inaugural edition two years ago, albeit with home advantage being reversed.
NEW LEAGUE: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIP
The format of the Cambridge University Championship is to be the same as at Oxford with eight colleges taking part initially, namely
Clare,
Emmanuel,
Gonville and Caius (pronouced KEYS),
Jesus,
Queens’,
St Catharine’s,
St John’s and
Trinity. As in Oxford, the teams will face each other four times for a twenty-eight game schedule and the plan is for the two league seasons to cover the same dates.
It is believed that may be to enable the best players from each University to join together to play games against each other to mark the end of the academic year in late June, although such a contest is yet to be confirmed.
LOGOS AND UNIFORMS:
Top Row (L-R): Clare College, Emmanuel College, Gonville and Caius College, Jesus College
Bottom Row (L-R): Queens' College, St Catharine's College, St John's College, Trinity College
MAP OF TEAM LOCATIONS:
