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UNIVERSITY MATCHES
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others; and Oxford has not been quite so strong, but in C. D. Marsham's days in the fifties and Mitchell's days in the sixties, Oxford had the better of the argument; and Cambridge largely owes her numerical superiority to the five consecutive wins in 1839 to 1843.

It might be thought that, in a purely amateur match such as this, where bowling is generally weak, there would have been more individual innings of a hundred made than in Gentlemen and Players at Lord's. But up to date, twenty hundreds have been scored in the University matches and twenty-two in the other. Seven hundreds were made in Gentlemen and Players up to 1869, while not till 1870 did W. Yardley set all the cricket world talking of the first hundred of the University match. It is the old story of nerve; for so many men in this the great match cannot play up to their true form. Since 1870, however, in Gentlemen and Players there have been sixteen centuries played against twenty in the other, and W.