The earliest record of cricket being played by Durham University was in 1842, at
Sunderland on 17 June 1842, with the university taking a 58 run victory. The earliest recorded home match was in 1843, against a Sunderland team at
The Racecourse, which has remained the university's home ground ever since and is the oldest university ground in England. Durham University Cricket Club was formed in 1846. In 1981, Durham became the first university other than
Oxford or
Cambridge to play against a
county side, with a three day match against
Nottinghamshire at The Racecourse. The Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence was established as a training centre by
Graeme Fowler in 1996; he would continue as Durham's head coach until stepping down in protest at changes introduced by the MCC in 2015. He was succeeded by
Essex coach
Paul Grayson. As Durham MCC University, the coaching centre was largely funded by the
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). In 2020, the universities programme returned to the ECB. From 2001, Durham joined Oxford and Cambridge in having matches against first-class counties considered as first-class matches, playing their first first-class match against
Durham County Cricket Club at the
Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street on 16 April 2021. Their first home first-class match was played at The Racecourse against
Lancashire on 13 June 2001. This would eventually expand to include Loughborough UCCE from 2003 and all of the MCCUs from 2012. In 2012, Durham MCCU were dismissed for 18 against
Durham County Cricket Club, the lowest first-class innings total since 1983. First class status was removed from all university matches after 2020, with the final first-class matches in 2020 being cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. After obtaining first-class status in 2001, the university produced a large number of cricketers who obtained professional county contracts, while others such as
James Foster went on to play international cricket. Prior to first-class status, players such as
Andrew Strauss and
Nasser Hussain played for the university's cricket club. As Durham University Centre of Cricketing Excellence, the team played 27 first-class matches from 2001 to 2009. This allowed Durham to host indoor cricket matches, which had previously been played at the Riverside Ground's indoor facility. ==Honours==