Sunday 12th April 2026
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Rhodes Must Fall hits back at new Oxford global history course

Jack Hunter
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Rhodes Must Fall hits back at new Oxford global history course

Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford have hit out at reports of a new compulsory global history course which the University plans to introduce next term.

It had been widely reported that Oxford intends to introduce compulsory non-White and non-European history modules from the next academic term. Some reports emphasised how the move followed criticism of the University’s alleged ‘Eurocentric’ syllabus by Rhodes Must Fall (RMF) and similar campaigns across the country.

Yet the group have hit back, criticising the inadequacies of the course and attacking the University for its continued “narrow and Eurocentric worldview”.

In a Facebook post denouncing the “the deep inadequacies in the British press,” the group said: “There is no new course and the global history module which is now being made compulsory on non-European history includes topics such as Jefferson’s America (the history of European settler colonialism outside of Europe).”

It went on: “The step is in the right direction but the ways that it has been exaggerated have given good press to an institution [Oxford University] which still does not deserve any good press at all.”

RMF also criticised the papers, which will expect undergraduates to sit exams on Middle Eastern, Asian and Indian events, for their ignorance of sub-Saharan Africa. “There is still only one fifth of one paper, (a paper on imperialism and globalisation), in which study of sub Saharan Africa, 1/5 of the world’s land mass, is available. There are 7 different option on the history of the British Isles alone [sic],” the statement said.

“The real question is to why, up until 2017, European history was not compulsory on the syllabus of the world’s supposedly best institutions [sic]. There is still an overwhelmingly white academic body whose research interests gather around a very narrow and Eurocentric worldview.”

RMF rose to prominence in 2015, calling for the removal of a statue of the British imperialist Cecil Rhodes from Oriel College. Oriel announced their intention to keep the statue in January 2016.

Although it had been suggested that the move came in response to pressure from campaign groups such as Rhodes Must Fall and the UCL-founded ‘Why is my curriculum white?’, Oxford has insisted that there is “no link” to the RMF campaign.

“It is just formalising what is in effect student practice,” said Martin Conway, professor of contemporary European history and chair of the Oxford History Faculty. “It was all done and dusted before anybody noticed Cecil Rhodes standing on top of a building.”

In their statement, RMF made a series of recommendations for a “decolonised university”, including “a broad and diverse range of staff”, a curriculum which looks at “different traditions [and] places with different worldviews”, and the implementation of an “honest and rigorous dealing with the histories of colonialism, imperialism and racism”.

The statement concluded: “Oxford still falls short in every one of these metrics by a very long way.”

RMF is not the only group to highlight the University’s alleged ‘Eurocentrism’. In April, Billy Nuttall, a history student at Magdalen, launched a crowdfunding campaign to make up a difference of over £400 between Oxford’s History dissertation prizes for British and African research pursuits.

Oxford has also come under attack for the small number of black undergraduates it enrols. In January, the University faced criticism after data revealed that just 45 black applicants were made an offer in 2016.

Asked for a response to RMF’s criticism, a History Faculty spokesperson told Cherwell: “As the History Faculty has already stated, the current reforms to the curriculum are part of an ongoing process of updating and adapting our curriculum. We pay attention to students’ views but we are also guided in these changes by our own discussions. The most recent reforms were the result of an internal process of consultation which began in 2013 and was concluded in 2015.

“We share with many of those who have commented on these issues in the last few days an aspiration to create a diverse and lively curriculum that speaks to a wide range of approaches to History.

“As a faculty, we are fully committed to ensuring diversity among our students and postholders. We have a Race Working Group, and in 8th Week of this term we shall be holding a teach-in for all members of the faculty who wish to discuss these issues more fully.”

Oxford bucks national trend, increases number of female professors

Selma Stearns
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Oxford bucks national trend, increases number of female professors

Oxford University has bucked a nationwide trend to increase its percentage of female professors.

Research by Times Higher Education (THE) has revealed that the proportion of professorships held by women has recently declined in universities across the UK.

Although the total number of women with the title of professor grew by almost a quarter between 2012-13 and 2015-2016, 37 per cent of institutions with a statistically significant number of professors saw a drop in the proportion who were women.

The Equality Challenge Unit’s Athena SWAN charter scheme, established in 2005, seeks to encourage gender diversity in higher education in terms of both standard and students.

The nationwide trend in decrease in female professors has occurred despite the increase in charter members from 61 in 2011 to 143 in 2017.

However, despite the nationwide trend, the University of Oxford has increased its proportion of female professors to 24.2 per cent in 2015- 16, an increase of a fifth from 2012-13. This is slightly higher than the national average of 24 per cent.

The University’s website cites a gender equalities strategic plan 2013- 18, and also notes that all departments in Mathematical and Physical Life Sciences Division (MPLS) and Medical Sciences Division (MSD) have achieved Athena SWAN awards.

Data compiled for the EU by its She Figures 2015 report indicates that the number of female heads of higher education in Europe rose from 15.5 per cent in 2010 to 20 per cent in 2014.

While the latest news regarding the amount of female professors at the University may be cause for celebration, earlier this month, it was revealed that Oxford’s female academics earn 86 per cent of what their male counterparts are paid.

According to recent statistics also released by THE, the average total earned by female academics at the University from 2015-16 was £43,502, compared to £50,618 paid to their male counterparts.

The gender pay gap at Oxford has decreased by just one per cent since 2014-2015, despite the University’s “committed” position on female promotions, the figures showed.

At the beginning of this month, A University of Oxford spokesperson told Cherwell: “The University is committed to increasing the proportion of women in senior roles.

“At Oxford, both the overall proportion of female professors, as well as the proportion of professors in STEM departments is closely aligned with national and Russell Group averages, and has increased in recent years, as part of a proactive commitment to equality and diversity across all university activities.”

However, some academics believe that gender is no barrier to succeeding at Oxford.

Hannah Smithson, Associate Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University, said: “I’ve never been made to feel that my gender was a barrier to success in Oxford. I always wanted to be a scientist and an academic, and I’ve been fortunate to work in supportive departments, both here and elsewhere in the UK and USA.

“Oxford offers joint appointments in the sciences between departments and colleges, and at present both my Head of Department and Head of House are female—that’s actually quite inspiring.”

Although Oxford did see an improvement, the largest improvements in female professorship occurred at Liverpool (from 16.5 per cent to 27.4 per cent) and Kent (from 19 per cent to 27.2 per cent).

Cambridge saw an increase of only 1.3 percentage points in the three years before 2015-16—a growth to 16.9 per cent of professors being female.

Rebecca O’Brien, the Gender Equalities Representative at Pembroke College, said that although it is good that Oxford is above the national average in terms of female professors, there is still work to be done.

“There should be an aim to employ a diverse group of women; women of colour and state-school educated women for example, so that students have many different role models and so these professors can bring their varied experiences to their teaching” she said.

Agnes Headlam-Morley of St Hugh’s was the first female professor at the university, appointed Montague Burton Professor of International Relations in 1948.

Louise Richardson, the first female Vice-Chancellor, was appointed in 2016.

What can horror movies do to terrify us more?

Calum Bradshaw
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What can horror movies do to terrify us more?

I hate horror films. I was a child who hid from Doctor Who. I watched Alien through barely separated fingers. My best friend and I nearly switched off Hot Fuzz after the grim reaper’s first appearance. Embarrassing, yes, but I think understandable. Fear is, in essence, a form of discomfort, and I’m a guy who enjoys fluffy slippers and hugs from puppies—the prospect of being scared out of my mind just doesn’t appeal.

So, in the name of student journalism, I’ve tried something new. That is not to say I’ve watched a horror film. God no. Baby steps. Instead, I opened my curtains, turned on all of my lights, and suffered through the two and a half minutes of pasty makeup, puddles, and creepy kids that is the trailer for the upcoming remake of Stephen King’s It. Then I looked at cute dog pictures for an hour. A harrowing experience.

In It, the classic trope of the ordinary made horrifying is writ large by Pennywise the clown, a leering sewer-dweller who eats unfortunate stray kids. His original screen incarnation, brought to life by Tim Curry in a 1990 miniseries, left an entire generation scared of clowns—this feature-length remake looks likely to compound that fear. Other horror releases of this year, including Jordan Peele’s critically acclaimed Get Out and the hotly anticipated Joel Egerton flick It Comes at Night, seem to be doing the genre proud—horror movies certainly appear healthy. But if, for some twisted reason, we wish to scare ourselves more than me and my slippers did over It, what can film do to further innovate?

In the enjoyment of a horror film, there is a sense of safety—you personally are separate from the events on-screen so can spectate, and to an extent, gain confidence through distance. In an interview with The Atlantic, sociologist Dr. Margee Kerr comments that “To really enjoy a scary situation, we have to know we’re in a safe environment…people also enjoy scary situations because it leaves them with a sense of confidence after it’s over”. So what happens if this safety net is removed? What happens when the distance between horror and audience collapses?

Last summer, a ‘friend’ forced me to play PT, the playable teaser for Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro’s discontinued horror game Silent Hills. It remains the single most terrifying experience of my life, and I’ve been on Nemesis at Alton Towers. It had the expected jumpscares and creepy whispering voices, but by far the scariest moments of PT were those in which you were forced to walk your character around a corner in full knowledge that a leering undead woman was lurking behind it. You were an active agent in your own fear, unable to passively sit by as terror is inflicted on you, as a movie or a rollercoaster allows. There was no looking away—in order to progress I had to choose to scare myself.

This level of immersion is not the sort to be found in 3D or surround sound. I also don’t think that some madcap choose-your-own adventure interactive movie is the answer. To an extent, the line of direct audience involvement is one which a film cannot practically cross while remaining a film. Despite this, in my limited but considered opinion, Hollywood has things to learn from the video game industry. A distinction must exist somewhere—Del Toro’s own involvement in PT shows that he at least believes some stories are best told through other media. However, if a film were capable of marrying the production value of cinema with the active involvement of a video game it would be a horrifying spectacle indeed, and one I certainly would not buy a ticket to.

Old and new fused in ‘Alien: Covenant’

Jonnie Barrow
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Old and new fused in ‘Alien: Covenant’

With the passing of the legendary John Hurt earlier this year, I went back to the original Alien (1979), in which he experiences what is perhaps cinema’s most iconic onscreen death. What I was struck by, having not seen the film in years, is how brilliant Alien is as a character piece.

While Ripley’s presence in the larger series has afforded her an iconic status, the original film is more of an ensemble effort, focusing on the interplay between the whole crew. You grow to love them as a unit, so when people die off it sends emotional shockwaves through the fabric of the film. This was one of the many shortfalls of Prometheus (2012)—its conviction that Elizabeth Shaw was to be ‘The Next Ripley’ led to other characters feeling like mere cannon fodder to be killed off in increasingly gruesome ways.

With its pontifications on gods and monsters, and the frustrating lack of resolution to many of its core questions, many fans felt that Prometheus was a philosophically ponderous lump of celluloid that didn’t cohere with the lean original film. Alien: Covenant attempts to meld the styles of the two films into a cohesive whole, resulting in an intriguing exercise in style and fan service.

Ridley Scott, directing once again, is having fun reconfiguring familiar elements from Alien and Prometheus into new shapes. From small nods like the ship’s computer being called MUTHUR, to the conspicuously Alien-esque title sequence, many elements of Covenant are simply intertextual nods to keep fans happy. Even pivotal story elements, such as the creation of the Xenomorph, are a result of the social media backlash about the lack of the iconic aliens in Prometheus.

But delving into the backstory of the Xenomorph is the kind of fan service that may ultimately prove to be a disservice. The fear of the unknown is much of what made the Xenomorph so scary, so learning more about it, even if it deepens the mythos, will only make it less scary. And, while the callbacks to the previous films are mostly entertaining, they can often highlight how much of the film feels recycled from other Alien movies, pulling you out of the cinematic experience—especially when the final conflict feels like it was lifted straight out of the first two Alien films.

Instead, the film is at its best when carving its own path, especially in its attempts to meld serious philosophical contemplations about God, the act of creation, and the nature of man with schlocky, B-movie thrills, and gross body horror.

The film also repeats some of the mistakes of Prometheus, especially during its first act. The crew of the Alien: Covenant is meant to be made up of brilliant scientists, and yet the plot is predicated on them acting like absolute morons, such as stepping foot on an uncharted planet without spacesuits or scans of the environment, simply assuming there are no highly dangerous aliens or deadly pathogens awaiting them in the wilderness. The film also makes Prometheus’s mistake of clearly marking several characters out as cannon fodder, so their deaths are far more yucky than shocking—but these issues are mostly consigned to the first act, leaving the rest of the film more space to play around in.

More than anything, the film is incredibly handsome to look at, playing to Scott’s strengths as a worldbuilder and a visual stylist. He also draws great performances from Michael Fassbender, Billy Crudup, Katherine Waterstone, and Danny McBride. It proves more than ever that Ridley Scott can direct the hell out of anything, but he can’t make up for the shortfalls in a script. Alien: Covenant is ultimately fun, disposable entertainment and, for all its good qualities, Ridley’s latest experiment in his iconographic toybox might do lasting damage to the rest of the Alien continuity.

Dispatches: Gentrified graffiti on the streets of Stokes Croft

Altair Brandon-Salmon
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Dispatches: Gentrified graffiti on the streets of Stokes Croft

It was a damp, grey morning, the streets oily with recent rain, pregnant clouds overhead threatening more in the coming hours. Still, there were a number of groups toiling the winding road of Stokes Croft, camera phones aloft, guided by eager students. It was freshers’ week at Bristol University and the new arrivals, many from London and the south-east, had come to see art. Not the mediocre collection in the city museum, but instead, graffiti.

People sometimes call them murals, in an attempt to bestow a respectability which graffiti angrily shrugs off. Bristol’s graffiti, or more particularly, Stokes Croft’s graffiti, has become famous: sober students are willing to brave autumnal weather and take photos of Banksy’s ‘The Mild, Mild West’, stencilled across a wall adjoining Hamilton House, a local arts exhibition space. The irony of young, middle class students venturing into what has historically been one of city’s most deprived areas to photograph graffiti, telling their friends ‘I saw a Banksy today!’, and sharing the image on social media, is a testament to gentrification. Or it’s another way of saying that graffiti is not as ‘street’ as it once was. Banksy is in museums these days too.

Stokes Croft has stood apart from other cities like London by actively encouraging graffiti, especially by local business owners. Yet most pieces last only a few months, sometimes even less than that, a new image stencilled over a Banksy, appearing one morning bold and striking, fresh as dew.

Perhaps it’s not quite as egalitarian as the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft would like it to be. After all, Banksy is not quite like every other graffiti artist. His ‘Mobile Lovers’ was deliberately removed from the Broad Plains Boys’ Club to the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery. He has become institutionalised, made acceptable to middle class audiences who in the past would have shirked Stokes Croft or dismissed graffiti as urban detritus. The New Yorker’s Lauren Collins described his work as ‘anti-authoritarian whimsy’, which is perhaps another way of saying Banksy is not quite as threatening to the establishment as we may like to think. It’s not so much Banksy has sold out (his authorised website is defiantly sparse), but that his audience has. And in apparently trying to let his graffiti speak for itself, other voices have chimed in.

One only has to walk down Stokes Croft to see a whole host of divergent images on walls, some political, others amusing or ambiguous. The idea of graffiti as street politics is powerful but restrictive—Banksy is a graffiti artist, not the graffiti artist. The graceful anonymity of some of the graffiti in Stokes Croft resists the co-option of an art world hungry for the next big thing.

Meanwhile, Banksy hurtles further towards the status of international artist provocateur, and young, eager students on damp September mornings come to Stokes Croft to take selfies with Banksy’s work. Perhaps they see—and not just glance at—the other graffiti on the walls around them, and think how versatile it can be as an art form. Banksy’s greatest legacy might not be his own work, but bringing a spotlight to his fellow graffitists. There is more to Stokes Croft than ‘The Mild, Mild West.’

A day in the life of… a stage manager

Lucy Coupe
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A day in the life of… a stage manager

There are times when one questions their decision to be on the crew of an Oxford show. Dragging a chaise longue through the midnight February drizzle after your final show, whilst the slightly inebriated cast steam past you riding a trolley and carrying two chairs and a candlestick between them, is one of them.

As a Stage Manager, dressed head to toe in black, you live in the wings, the shadow of the theatre (like the Phantom, but more tone-deaf and a little less angry). You grace the stage in darkness alone and, while the cast go out to meet their adoring fans after the curtain has fallen, you drag the half-broken chairs back into their place and slip out quietly into the night.

Likely to be spotted traipsing the streets with an armful of scythes and a couple of litres of lemonade, a stage manager must abandon all sense of decency and accept that they will spend the next few days whispering, sweating, or carrying unreasonably heavy beds.

You will start show week unknown to the cast, too late to the party to understand the in-jokes and left with only your headset for company until, just before opening night, you will be called upon to locate the most critical prop which has mysteriously vanished and, on finding it, become the backstage hero no one knew they needed.

Should you want speed up this infiltration of the inner circle, here are a few tried and tested techniques to charm the thesps:

1. Frequently arrive at the theatre brandishing copious amounts of food. Bonus points if it is homemade.

2. Offer your house as the location for the after party. (Then apologise to your naïve housemates after a group of half-naked actors climb into the bath at 4AM).

3. Run a tight ship, by all means, but on the last night, turn a blind eye to mischief. Has that cranberry juice turned into red wine? You don’t know, you had nothing to do with it, and you definitely didn’t hide the bottles in the girls’ dressing room.

Follow these steps and you will have gained twenty Facebook friends, a bottle of wine, the title of ‘superwoman’, and an overload of gratitude by the end of the week. You will sleep for a few days, obsessively scour eBay for antique binoculars before realising it’s all over, and confess that you wish you could do it all again.

Then remember you’ve signed up for another show in two weeks, open up Amazon, and get searching for all the fake blood you can possibly find.

“A marathon-style theatrical whirlwind”

Harry Hatwell
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“A marathon-style theatrical whirlwind”

Marianne Elliot brings back together the team behind The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time to create pure theatrical magic. For the first time since its world premiere in 1992, Angels in America is back in London’s National Theatre. For the 25th anniversary production of Tony Kushner’s contemporary masterpiece Marianne Elliot directs a stunning cast of stars from both the UK and US, including Nathan Lane, Denise Gough, and Russell Tovey.

Set against the backdrop of the 1980s AIDS crisis, Angels in America follows an intricate love story through the trials of finding one’s identity.

Exploring themes of homosexuality, religion, and societal change, Kushner’s (slightly updated) play features a hotchpotch of characters as they approach the new millennium, concerned with what the future may hold for them and what they represent in society.

There is, with the last lines of Part Two: Perestroika, a beautiful and highly powerful message of an eternal push for progress, whatever that may mean.

At four hours and ten minutes long, during previews, I hope that I may be forgiven for having only watched Part Two: Perestroika which sees the infamous lawyer Roy Cohn (Nathan Lane) meet his match in Ethel Rosenberg (Susan Brown)—the woman who he had executed for treason—and Harper Pitt (Gough) finally come to terms with the reality of her husband’s homosexuality.

At the same time, Louis Ironson (James McArdle) is grappling with the descent into AIDS of his former lover, Prior Walter (played by an impressive Andrew Garfield).

At the climax of the play, Prior ascends to heaven on a bright pink ladder and joins the Angels who look down on earth in despair. Offering a comic yet touching performance as Belize (both Prior’s best friend and Cohn’s nurse), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett is remarkable.

The play’s focus on developing a sense of belonging in an ever-changing America seems well-placed given the current political situation in the US, and there is definitely relevance in the play’s undertones of anxiousness at the future of the America.

Kushner’s skill is visible in the way that his drama about a particular moment of the 1980s lends itself very well to performance in the modern day. Angels in America certainly has as much to say to an audience in London in 2017 as it did to an audience in New York back in 1992.

Possibly symptomatic of the decay that Perestroika tries to deal with more generally in society, this production of Angels in America does not feature a beautiful, graceful Angel flying from the gods to swoop down and warn the characters of their fate.

Instead, Amanda Lawrence appears in a grimy and torn American flag flanked by devilish figures (‘Angel Shadows’) who control her puppet-style wings.

While the set was sometimes clunky, the preparations for changes definitely audible, and the rather annoying appearance of the ‘Angel Shadows’ pre-empted the end of every scene, the overall aesthetic of this groundbreaking production remained unharmed.

Angels comes with a health warning: bring some tissues and get ready for a marathon style theatrical whirlwind. Perestroika brings the fragments of the characters’ rather dysfunctional lives together. This ending leaves the audience with a sense of closure but also one of a refreshing and optimistic beginning, with new opportunities and settled identities.

Part One: Millennium Approaches and Part Two: Perestroika run in repertoire at the Royal National Theatre’s Lyttleton Theatre until 19th August. Though tickets sold out just hours after their initial release, day tickets are available and a monthly ballot is running on the NT’s website (plus check back on the listing to see if there are any returns).

Boris Johnson heckled upon return to Balliol

Daniel Curtis and Tony Diver
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Boris Johnson heckled upon return to Balliol

Balliol alum and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson today visted Balliol College, and was accosted by leftist students who heckled him and unfurled a banner in his path.

Johnson was visiting his almer mater for a “private party”, according to a college source, and students said that he spent some time in the college library.

As can be seen in a video posted on Twitter, students unfurled a banner which read ‘Racist Boris, what dead animals have you fucked?’ and shouted abuse at him.

The heckles included “hands off our free school meals”, “get back to the Bullingdon club” and “do you want to burn £50 in front of a homeless person?”.

Photo: Daily Mail

Boris quickly climbed inside his ministerial Jaguar, parked on Broad Street, and sped away.

Balliol College revealed that although Boris was attending a private party as an alumnus, no other alumni were in attendence. They declined to comment on the full purpose of his visit.

Johnson infamously featured in a Bullingdon Club photo on the steps of Canterbury Quad in Christ Church, during his time at Oxford as an undergraduate, where he read Classics.

The full video is below:

 

Mixed fortunes for OUPSC in tightest-ever Varsity

Wesley Rawlings
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Mixed fortunes for OUPSC in tightest-ever Varsity

Unbeknownst to many, the Cambridge Snooker Centre recently played host to the closest pool and snooker Varsity matches in history, both of which were decided on the very last frame.

In this Crucible of Cambridge, hidden away on an unassuming industrial estate beside a railway line, questions were asked pre-match: could the Oxford University Pool and Snooker Club retain their Varsity title after last year’s resounding double victory?

Cambridge had returned in force, looking for revenge after a thorough shoeing in 2016. They made the fight as hard as they could for the Dark Blues.

On 13 May, the pool side made the long trip to ‘the other place’ on the X5, sensing that they held a narrow edge over their opposition.

The first round of singles was a dead heat, with both sides winning 18 frames. Adam Smith and Sam Hale exhibited stand-out performances for the Oxford side, both dispatching their Cambridge opponents 3-0.

A tense doubles round followed, in which the Dark Blues stole a narrow two-frame lead over Cambridge, with further strong performances from Adam and Peter Hill who took their frames 3-0.

Moving into the second and final round of singles it seemed there was all to play for, and the Light Blues fought back to ultimately take four frames back and scrape the overall win: the final score was 46-44.

Sunday saw the Snooker team move in to avenge this defeat.

The format was far simpler that Saturday’s complex affair: eight players were to play one frame against each of their opposite eight. Cambridge took an early lead over the first set of frames but Oxford fought back, determined to clinch a win after the previous day’s defeat.

After a hard-fought battle lasting long into the evening, the final frames were played out with Oxford taking some last-minute wins to clinch the Varsity Snooker title 33-31. Again, honourable mentions go to Adam Smith and Will Meng, both of whom came away with six hard-fought victories from eight frames, as well as Scott England and Michael Platt who followed closely with five from eight.

After a truly stellar effort from all of those involved, it is only left to say well done to Cambridge on stealing away half of Oxford’s double Varsity title. However, the Light Blues will know that next year OUPSC will be back and hot on their heels ready to take it away again.

2016/17 has been an excellent season for the club and a competitive Varsity match—ignoring the loss—was the perfect way to round off the season, following wins in the local Snooker leagues and strong showings in all other tournaments.

Indeed, it is easy to write pool and snooker off as mere bar sports, but at a university level, this could hardly be further from the truth.

At the end of Hilary Term, for example, two Oxford teams made the trip up to Leeds for the BUCS Snooker event. Despite a mixed set of results, it was an exceptional effort to send two full teams up to Yorkshire, and with plenty of Fresher representation, the club is in safe hands ahead of next season.

PakSoc beaten by rivals OIS

Shiv Bhardwaj
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PakSoc beaten by rivals OIS

The rivalry between India and Pakistan is without doubt the fiercest in world cricket.

988 million viewers watched the pair’s World Cup semi-final contest in 2011, which made it the most-watched clash in history, and the ICC has admitted to fixing draws so that the two play in a lucrative fixture against each other.

Last Sunday, Oxford saw the clash played out in a microcosm of the usual fixture, with Oxford India Society (OIS) playing Oxford Pakistan Society (PakSoc) in their annual 40-over match.

The preceding week had threatened to ruin the day, with several college games called off due to torrential downpours, but under clear skies and in twenty-degree heat, the University Club ground on Mansfield Road could hardly have looked more picturesque.

Bharat Ramanathan’s men in blue lost the toss and PakSoc, victorious in the previous two encounters, chose to bat first, a decision that would come under scrutiny later in the day. Prashant Pandey’s spell of 8-2-14-4 proved to be the outstanding performance of the day as OIS produced a tight bowling display to rip through the PakSoc top order.

However, the experience and class of PakSoc’s number three Rafiullah Kakar showed in a very impressive knock of 85 on a slow pitch. He displayed great match awareness, knowing when to attack without much support from the other end.

Lucky Bandhu and Jacob Mathew then picked up several wickets each, leaving PakSoc bowled out for a modest 144.

OIS began their reply strongly, only suffering the loss of opener Ishan Kapur, with Sameer Pathak and Vijay Kumar building a composed partnership. The latter took advantage of being dropped twice to progress to a fifty that included several massive sixes down the ground.

PakSoc’s bowling was assured and some tight off-spin delayed India’s march to victory—they were rewarded with the dismissal of both set batsmen.

In the end it was fitting to see OIS’ captain Ramanathan at the crease as the winning runs were hit within 29 overs. Pandey was deservedly awarded man of the match for his game changing opening spell as both sides came together at the post-match presentation.

Overall, this was a fantastic and lively event that involved live commentary, music and a barbecue—long may the tradition continue.

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