The 93rd Varsity Match
St Paul’s School, Barnes
Saturday, 18th February 2023
After several seasons of comfortable victories for the Oxford Men and the Cambridge Women respectively this year’s contests produced much closer results.
In the Men’s Match Oxford posted a lead of just 19 points after the eight Singles matches, then went on to muster a further 15 points in the Doubles with just two games to play. Time had by then run out, so it was agreed by both sides after discussion with Match Referee Marcus Bate to conclude the match, with Teddy Monro-Davies’s Oxford victorious by an unassailable 34 points, 279 to 245. It was a sixth victory in a row for the Dark Blues.
The Beavers versus Sparrows match also went Oxford’s way, as it has done for a number of seasons, but again Cambridge were able to mount a substantial challenge in the top matches and accrue a higher total of points than for some years, losing by 84-151.
Though the Women’s Match did not have quite the same air of tension as the Men’s, it was good to see the Oxford Women achieve a much higher score than in all previous encounters, with left-handed Lena Barton bringing a new dimension to Oxford’s play in a match which the Cambridge Women won by 151-94, making it eight consecutive wins. It was not possible to stage a full Women’s Reserves Match.
See here for full details
Cambridge squad
Oxford Men’s VIII
Cambridge Men’s VIII
Cambridge Men’s squad
Oxford squad
Oxford Women’s squad
Cambridge Women’s IV
Cambridge Women’s squad
Oxbridge Women
Cambridge Sparrows
Oxford Beavers
Captain triumphant!
Oxford Men with champagne and trophy
Dark Blue squad with the spoils
Cambridge Ladies victorious
First Varsity Match, first meeting
Oxford serving
A top Doubles match comes to an end