View source for Fenner's

{{Short description|Cricket ground in Cambridge, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox cricket ground
|       ground_name = Fenner's
|          nickname = 
|             image = Fenners1.jpg
|           country = England
|          location = [[Cambridge]], [[England]]
|     establishment = 1848
|             owner = Cambridge University Cricket & Athletics Company Ltd
|              end1 = Pavilion End
|              end2 = Gresham Road End
|             year1 = 1848 &ndash; present
|             club1 = [[Cambridge University Cricket Club]]
|              date = 5 May
|              year = 2023
|            source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/374.html CricketArchive
}}[[Image:Fenners2.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The indoor cricket school]]
'''Fenner's''' is [[Cambridge University Cricket Club]]'s ground.

==History==
[[Cambridge University Cricket Club]] had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the [[University Ground, Barnwell|University Ground]] and [[Parker's Piece]]. In 1846, [[Francis Fenner]] leased a former cherry orchard from [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge|Gonville and Caius College]] for the purpose of constructing a cricket ground.<ref name="cricgnd">{{cite web|url=http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/england/content/ground/56861.html|title=Fenner's|publisher=CricInfo|access-date=22 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Memoirs of a King's College Chorister|author=Thomas Henry Case|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eGU7AQAAMAAJ|page=45|year=1899|publisher=W.P.Spalding}}</ref> In 1848 he sub-let the ground to Cambridge University Cricket Club.<ref name="WISG">{{cite book|last=Powell|first=William|year=1989|title=The Wisden Guides To Cricket Grounds|publisher=[[Stanley Paul|Stanley Paul & Co. Ltd]]|location=London|pages=393–6|isbn=009173830X}}</ref> Fenner's first hosted [[first-class cricket]] in 1848, with Cambridge University playing against the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC).<ref name="FCM">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/374_f.html |title=First-Class Matches played on FP Fenner's Ground, Cambridge |publisher=CricketArchive |access-date=2021-08-07|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

A 40-foot wooden pavilion, painted blue, with a slated roof had been erected by the 1856 season.<ref>{{cite news|title= Cricketers' Chronicle|newspaper= Cambridge Chronicle and Journal |date= 31 May 1856|page= 8}}</ref>

Since 1894, Fenner's has been owned by the Cambridge University Cricket and Athletic Company; a private limited company whose Members comprise the full members of [[Cambridge University Cricket Club]] and [[Cambridge University Athletics Club]].

==Facilities==
As well as the cricket ground, there is a 3-lane indoor cricket school.

The groundsman pioneered the art of mowing grass in strips to create patterns, a technique now common in sports stadiums around the world.<ref name="Allen p113">{{cite book |last= Allen |first= Peter |title= The Invincibles: The Legend of Bradman's 1948 Australians |year=1999 |publisher= Allen and Kemsley |location=Mosman, NSW, Australia |isbn= 1-875171-06-1}} p. 103</ref>

==Land deal==
In August 2024 it was announced that the University had sold land on the edge of Fenner's to [[Hughes Hall]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Langford |first1=Sarah |title=Hughes Hall concludes vital land deal with University - Hughes Hall |url=https://www.hughes.cam.ac.uk/about/news/hughes-hall-concludes-vital-land-deal-with-university/ |website=www.hughes.cam.ac.uk |date=2 August 2024}}</ref> Subsequently a petition was launched against development of that land.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Burfield |first1=Hannah |title=Petition launched against proposed Hughes Hall development |url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/28137 |work=Varsity Online |date=10 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* {{slink|The Parks, Oxford|Cricket ground}}, where first-class cricket is played in [[Oxford]]
* [[University Ground, Barnwell]], a former Cambridge University cricket ground

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150415054302/http://www.sport.cam.ac.uk/facilities/fenners-cricket-ground/index.html Fenner's home page]
* [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Grounds/11/374.html Matches played at Fenner's] from CricketArchive
* [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/england/content/ground/56861.html Ground profile] from [[Cricinfo]]
* [http://www.cucc.net Cambridge University Cricket Club]

{{Cambridge University Cricket Club}}
{{Sunrisers (women's cricket)}}
{{Cambridgeshire CCC}}
{{coord|52|12|00.43|N|0|07|54.62|E|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:1848 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Cricket grounds in Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:Sport at the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:University of Cambridge sites]]
[[Category:Sports venues in Cambridge]]
[[Category:Parks and open spaces in Cambridge]]
[[Category:Sports venues completed in 1848]]
[[Category:University sports venues in the United Kingdom]]