Christie Cup Cricket: Leeds Women Shine in Historic Varsity Clash

Adrian Wykes fills us in on a little-known university cross-sports competition and the success of Leeds women’s cricket.

The Christie Cup between Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds Universities is the second oldest varsity competition in the world (after Oxford and Cambridge).

It involves 1,500 students in 32 sports. Leeds were the 2024 winners and successfully retained the overall trophy at home recently, their first retention since 2000.

As part of the cross-sport competition, indoor cricket was hosted at the wonderful Bradford Park Avenue facility and Leeds won both the mens and the women’s competitions.

Lydie Wykes Templeman (ex Crickademia now St. Chads, and a T20i player for France) scored the most runs and Sally Chapman (of the 2024 Essex side) led the bowling attack.

University of Leeds begins the 50-over BUCS Tier 1 national competition on April 23, while Leeds Bradford UCCE start their season with warm-up matches soon before the 50-over Premier League begins in earnest on April 16.