Cricket fans say Fenner’s is experiencing a “dismal decline”.

Protect Fenner’s Action Group (PFAG) says that Fenner’s cricket ground, which has been the home of Cambridge University Cricket Club (CUCC) since 1848, is a “prized city asset” which currently “stands empty for most of the cricket season”.

Cambridge University Cricket and Athletic Club Limited (CUCAC Ltd) leases Fenner’s to the University. Cambridge University Sports Service oversees Fenner’s, and is responsible for making decisions on fixtures and pitch maintenance, Varsity understands.

CUCC data shows a decline in the number of home games being played at Fenner’s over recent years. In 2022, 68% of these games were played at Fenner’s. This figure dropped slightly to 66% in 2023, to 53% in 2024, and to 47% in 2025.

CUCC life member Ian Bent has described the “steep decline in home games played on Fenner’s since 2022” as being “of great concern to members,” suggesting that this is a result of Cambridge University Sport “struggling to maintain and manage the ground”.

Concerns have also been raised about the state of the pitch. PFAG says that Cambridge University Sport hasn’t employed a head groundsman for Fenner’s since 2022. Currently, Fenner’s is primarily looked after by a part-time pitch advisor.

One CUCC player described the state of the pitch as “an embarrassment,” adding that it is tended mostly by a groundsman whose experience is in football rather than cricket.

Lionel Sheffield, the chair of PFAG, says that the grounds have suffered a “dismal decline,” claiming that there is a “fewer games the better” attitude towards the grounds.

He stated: “As we know to our cost, sports fields and green open spaces are an increasingly endangered species in Cambridge,” adding: “Fenner’s is, like other green and beautiful spaces, worth fighting for.”

PFAG has launched a petition to “save Cambridge’s protected green spaces” and to “protect the historic Fenner’s cricket ground,” which has received over 4500 signatures.

In July 2024, Hughes Hall College acquired two pieces of land at the edge of Fenner’s. The land acquired does not include the cricket ground itself.

At the time, the College said: “The land is not part of the cricket field and there will be absolutely no impact on the playing of sport at Fenner’s, which will remain the home of University cricket and tennis.”

However, fans have raised concerns about the College’s recent decision to close the Mortimer Road gates to Fenner’s on matchdays, directing members of the public to gain access by approaching the porters’ lodge, rather than allowing them to freely enter via the gate, as had previously been possible.

At the start of May, the University Sports Service circulated a message on behalf of Hughes Hall, which read: “It is the wish of Hughes Hall that the main Mortimer Road gates during match days remain closed to limit the number of undesirable individuals walking through college grounds and into Fenner’s.”

The message said that an “A-Frame board” would be “put out by the gates, informing those that are coming to play or watch that this is the process”.

CUCC member Steve Platt said of the decision: “Hughes Hall wants more land to turn the grounds into a private campus,” while local resident Jennifer Warren said: “It benefits Hughes Hall to make it appear that Fenner’s has never been a public open space.”

However, one CUCC member told Varsity that they understood that the change in gate policy was “the result of damage to cars and other incidents that have occurred on match days when the gate has been left open”.

Freddie Kottler, who has played for CUCC for the past three years, told The Telegraph it was a “blatant lie” that Hughes Hall’s purchase of the land did not affect cricket being played at Fenner’s.

He explained: “The space that was bought by Hughes Hall in 2024 was until then used as grass nets by the University cricket club.”

Kottler added: “It is particularly concerning when you consider the decline of the Fenner’s match wickets; could we see the entire ground sold off if the decline continues? Is the University deliberately allowing the condition of the ground to worsen, and refusing to pay for a full time head groundsman, in order to justify selling?”

Kottler also criticised the difficulties CUCC players have faced when trying to access Fenner’s for training sessions.

He stated: “At every single training session that the Blues have held this Summer, we have run into some obstacle, whether that be with Hughes Hall porters gatekeeping (both literally and metaphorically) our cricket ground and refusing access through the first Mortimer Road gate, or with the gate within that leads directly into the ground.”

The consequence of this, Kottler explained, is that CUCC players attending training sessions “must inevitably turn to jumping the gates, or sneaking round the tennis club entrance”. He said: “All entrance options pose some risk of injury or confrontation with the porters.”

He concluded: “A higher level of transparency must be demanded from Hughes Hall and the University Sports Service.”

A spokesperson for the University of Cambridge Sports Service said: “Fenner’s is, and will remain, the home of cricket and tennis at the University of Cambridge. The University Sports Service is fully committed to maintaining and promoting cricket at Fenner’s, and we are excited to be entering a new era following the sale of two small parcels of land next to the ground.”

They added: “The sale, whilst having no impact on the cricket pitch or the number of games played, will help to secure the long-term future of Fenner’s by contributing towards the significant costs of running the ground.”

A spokesperson for Hughes Hall previously stated that “proceeds of the land sale are specifically intended to safeguard cricket at Fenner’s for future generations and both parties ensured the terms of the sale included ‘no-build zones’ so that land toward the boundary can never be built on. Arrangements for all spectators to watch cricket remain in place, and they are always welcome to do so.”

They added that any suggestion that Hughes Hall’s plans will affect the playing of cricket on Fenner’s, spectators’ ability to watch cricket, or the number of matches played, is “entirely unfounded”.

“Cricket fixtures, training arrangements, and the use and maintenance of the cricket ground itself is entirely a matter for the University and the cricket club,” they continued.

CUCC was contacted for comment.