Proposition:

Has the weather we’ve had so far ruined sport this Trinity? Yes, yes it has. Well, that’s certainly the case if you subscribe to the view that summer sport is synonymous with sunny afternoons spent at one with balls and a crease.

Aside from the impact of the weather on tennis and croquet, this term’s cricket has been decimated by the rain, hence why I am writing this instead of reporting on a game. At an academic institution of such high esteem as Oxford one might assume that the summer term is a time reserved for revision and exams. Not so for those that have spent the Easter vac toiling in the nets perfecting their slower ball or dreaming of a glorious half-century on a balmy Tuesday evening. Cuppers has been ruined by coin-tosses and bowl-outs. This farcical institution is a by-product of the British weather, dreamed up in a bid to be able to settle cricket matches that are tied, or have fallen victim to rain.

I haven’t played any cricket this term. Sure, the Blues have played a bit. But sport at Oxford is about so much more than the top-level representing the university. So much money is spent on the upkeep of college grounds, and yet college cricketers have as yet been unable to showcase their unquestioned ability to display their admittedly extremely average cricketing ability.

I’ve just heard the expected bad news from our groundsman that unfortunately due to the build-up of rain over the last few weeks, the mid-afternoon flashflood that turned into a short hailstorm has rendered the ground more suited to an aquaplaning contest than me trundling in and bowling some quite tame medium pace against the very best that the St Peters 2nd XI have to offer. But that’s what summer sport is all about. The rain is denying a whole host of distinctly average sportsmen their moment in the sun (literally).

It’s hardly a tragedy in the grand scheme of things. But for those of you that are holed up in the library and those that couldn’t care less, then at least enjoy the fact that it is the second year arts students with nothing much else to do that are ‘suffering’ the great injustice of seeing their sporting summer being a wash-out.

Jack McKenna

Opposition:

Let’s get the obvious arguments out of the way first. I enjoy cricket as much as the next man. As with many second-team stalwarts my game’s modelled on a slightly lessened Chris Harris, or possibly Glen Chapple without the flair. An early summer deprived of college cricket is indeed a potential nightmare, and certainly a term lessened. But a term ruined? I wouldn’t say so.

Before now I’d have thought that cricket was the alpha and omega of summer-term sporting hijinks. If nothing else, a few weeks as Cherwell Sports Editor during this rain-clogged Trinity has taught me that there’s a multitude of sport that endures while the clouds open. Rugby’s commonly perceived to stop after Cuppers final, but there’s been as much played so far as there was with last term’s freeze-offs. With three well-contested tournaments at Iffley in as many weekends, there’s been plenty for sportsmen (and women, mixed touch sevens was a comprehensive success) to be happy about.

That’s not all, either. Mixed hockey cuppers has been picking up steam, with a bit more attention and commitment than last year, and this weekend looks set to provide a festival of hockey, regardless of the weather. With the semi-finals on Saturday and the final on Sunday, anyone with a yen to watch some sport should head down to Iffley this weekend.

It’s impossible to entirely escape cricket though. Much as all the above is true, I can’t wait to get back out there. So the best I can say is to drag out that old saw about absence and the heart growing fonder and hope that in a week or so the sun’s going to come out alongside my batting form. Trinity term is far from ruined, but even putting sport aside for a moment I’d be the last to hope the weather continues. It’d mar those post-finals weeks for one thing, when all the third years want to do is sip Pimms, punt and play croquet (the Trinity triple-whammy of clichés, each one of them conformed to).

So Trinity hasn’t been ruined. There’s plenty else to do, and it might mean we’ll enjoy the cricket and the sun all the more when they arrive. But it had better be a matter of when, not if, and it had better be soon. Otherwise, it’s just not cricket.

James Nottage

At the end of every season, everyone tries to find meaning in their own team’s performance over the nine months. Did we fulfil expectations? How will we look back on this season in ten years’ time?

Listening on Sunday evening to BBC 5Live’s football phone-in, the home of knee-jerk reactions and misinformed opinions, one of the many morons to phone in argued that Alex Ferguson’s time was up. The loss of the title supposedly pointed to the fact that he was no longer an adequate manager for Manchester United. Now aside from the fact that it’s a stupid opinion to hold, we can probably assume that if Sergio Aguero hadn’t have scored his winner for Manchester City on Sunday in stoppage time to clinch the title, the caller wouldn’t have come to that conclusion. United would have won the league out of nowhere and Ferguson would have been lauded as having masterminded yet another triumph.

This exposes the absurdity of trying to conclude anything from success or failure of a season when the margins are so thin. One goal separated Manchester United from a ‘disappointing season’ and a 20th league title. One goal separated Spurs from their highest finish ever and ‘an underwhelming campaign’. One Jonathan Walters goal separated Bolton from different divisions. These different conclusions about how well your team has performed are false – there is nothing you can conclude about the quality of your team’s season right now that you couldn’t conclude prior to this last weekend’s final set of fixtures. QPR were still a very poor side for most of the campaign. Manchester City still had very poor patches throughout. Arsenal still have deep-seated problems. The respective success of all three is due to the very fine margins in sport.

It’s easy to be revisionist when watching sport. We are constantly driven to hyperbole concerning the current game or season we are watching, as we are wrapped up in the drama and narratives of the present day. Indeed, the 2011/2012 season was voted the best of the 20 seasons of the Premier League we have had. It is true that Sunday was an exceptional end to a season by most standards – the title race of 1998/1999 is perhaps the only campaign that could rival this season’s in terms of length and quality of race.

98/99 was the season United won the treble – for which most people simply remember the late Sheringham-Solskjaer show in the Champions League final – but the battle United fought to be crowned domestic champions was exceptional. It was the famous United team of Cole, Yorke, Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs et al, against an Arsenal side which managed to combine their famous British defence of the 90s (Winterburn, Adams, Dixon), just at their final peak, and the devastating European frontline of Bergkamp, Anelka and Overmars. The season was the culmination of what was one of the best Wenger-Ferguson narratives of the last fifteen years, epitomised not actually in a league game but in that year’s FA Cup SemiFinal replay. That Giggs goal settled one of the greatest English matches of all time at Villa Park of all places, back when the FA Cup used to be romantic.

Few also remember that the 98/99 title race was indeed a three horse race – the Chelsea side of Leboeuf, Desailly, Di Matteo and Zola were top at Christmas and lost only three times all season, let down by too many draws, finishing four points off the top on the final day.

What did perhaps set this current year’s title race apart was quite how many times each side threw it away. United had won the title when Mikel Arteta scored against City six weeks ago. Then City had won the title when Yaya Toure scored his second against Newcastle. United had won the title when Jamie Mackie headed in for QPR on Sunday. Then City had won it when Aguero wheeled away. Margins are too fine to make conclusions if this had/hadn’t have happened, things would have been differently. But when there are so many turning points in fifteen minutes of one match, let alone 38 games of each team’s season, one is tempted just to sit back, forget meaning, and watch Gary Neville go crazy

Whether it’s a useful break from the stress of revision, an attempt to work on that beach body for the inevitable summer holiday photos, or simply a way of enjoying the occasional breaks in the early summer deluge that has hit Oxford recently, there is no better way to see the city and surrounding countryside than to run through it. Running is the most basic and inclusive of sports and the enjoyment of it derives from its simplicity. You can run with anyone, anytime, almost anywhere; all you need is a pair of trainers and the motivation to get out through the door. This article will hopefully give you the kick-start to take those first few strides and give you some ideas of where to go when you do.

At just over a mile long, the loop around Christ Church Meadows is perfect for those just starting running. Enjoy running past the tourists and watching people suffer their way along the Isis at the bottom end of the meadows. Keep an eye out for the frequent visitor to the area, a man I’ve named ‘Old Man Meadows’, who can often be found on a bench by the path along the Cherwell and will always offer cheerful words of encouragement as you run past. University Parks is also a great place to get out to for a short run close to most colleges. Catch a bit of sport on one of the many pitches as you run past, or, if you’re looking for somewhere a bit quieter, head over the bridge at the East of the parks and explore the many fields out towards Marston.

If you’re historically or Olympically-minded, where better to practice your own sprint finish than the site of the world’s first 4 minute mile, the Iffley Road Sports Complex? The track is steeped in history and free to use for all Oxford University students, so there’s no excuse not to try your hand at rivalling Roger Bannister’s famous achievement.

The best place to run without heading too far from the centre of Oxford, however, has to be South Parks. The soft grass and gentle slopes are perfect for easy running or can provide a good challenge if you want something a bit tougher. As Joseph Fellows put it in his short running video, which won the recent ‘Guardian London film competition’, ‘if I wake early, and stand upon this hill, for a brief moment, the entire city belongs to me’. The same could not be truer of an early morning jog around South Parks and the view from the top of the hill offers arguably the best view of the Oxford skyline.

Although within the confines of the ringroad, and only about 2km from the Rad Cam, the 300 acres of ancient grazing land at Port Meadow is the perfect place to up your mileage. Weave your way through the nature reserve to the East or revel in the miles of interrupted, flat grass to get your running fix. Cross the river by the marina and turn right along the footpath to explore the ruins by Godstow Lock for something a bit different too.

On the other side of the ring road, Wytham Woods are a must visit for anyone who wants something a bit more interesting than the flat grass of Port Meadow. The woods, from the Isis at Swinford down to Botley Lodge, are some of the most analysed in the world, and with over 30km of undulating rides to explore are an excellent place to test your stamina with a long run.

Similarly Shotover Country Park to the east offers the ideal off-road challenge for runners who want to test themselves, a tough, hilly area. When your legs get too tired for the hills, drop down to Brasenose Wood just across the road to appreciate the flat, leaf-covered trails.

To misappropriate the ever-insightful lyrics of Jay-Z, ‘only thing that’s on my mind is who’s gonna run this town tonight’. So dig your trainers out from the bottom of your wardrobe and go out and enjoy a run around the parts of Oxford you’ve neglected until now

A s per usual, Trinity term plays host to Cricket Cuppers, the pinnacle of college cricket at Oxford. This year 29 colleges are vying for the chance to play at Uni Parks in the final, when hopefully the weather will remember that this is Trinity, and is therefore not meant to rain every day. The road to cricketing glory this year (at least for St Catherine’s and St Hugh’s) began with a wet, muddy bowl-out, in which a traffic cone was very nearly used for the wicket. Perhaps not the ideal first step.

This was a scene roughly repeated across Oxford, as few teams were able to play games on the often waterlogged pitches. The idiosyncrasies of the OUCC Cuppers rules means cuppers games are scheduled for a Monday, with the reserve day, should the game need to be cancelled for bad weather, being Thursday. If this slot is missed, as has been fairly common this year for obvious reasons, then a bowl-out ensues. This involves the stumps being placed at one end of the nets (the pitches were too wet for even this curtailed version of the game) and a set number of bowlers trying to hit them, whilst the team’s batsmen watch on helpless.

The reigning champions, Worcester, failed to meet this somewhat unusual challenge as St Catz won their second bowl-out in two weeks to progress to the quarter finals without yet playing a match. Balliol, Brasenose, Trinity, Keble and last year’s runners up, New/St. Hilda’s have also all progressed into the quarter finals, while there is a degree of disarray in some sections of the draw, with first round ties yet to be decided.

Whilst the journey to Uni Parks so far has been bizarre and enjoyable as a result, all those involved in college cricket will be desperate for the weather to continue its erratic, but discernible, upward trend towards some sun. If it doesn’t then you have to wonder how many people will turn up for a bowl-out to decide the final in 6th week. The most that can be said is that at least it’s more spectator-friendly than a coin toss.