Men's Performance Cricket

At the high-performance level, Loughborough is definitely the University to attend for students who dream of becoming a professional Cricketer. We offer some of the best training and playing facilities of any University in the Country, and a range of teams for both male and female students.

Loughborough MCCU provides students with an environment where those with special cricketing talent and ambitions to play County Cricket can find the very best support, coaching and facilities to develop their sporting careers and ambitions, whilst also realising their full academic potential, in an almost unique sports-oriented education environment. 

The Loughborough Cricket Academy programme also boasts a full range of Sports Science support, Technical Analysis, Strength and Conditioning & Fitness advice, and Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy and Mental Skills services. 

Through our International Placement Programme, MCCU Academy students have the opportunity to spend six months of the year playing cricket abroad, whilst gaining work experience in a role which will enhance their chances of gaining excellent employment, should their dream of becoming a professional cricketer not be fulfilled.

Our fixture list includes three matches against First Class Counties (two of which are 1st Class Fixtures); five two day matches against the other five MCCU’s and seven matches in the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Competition.

Russell Cobb

Men's Head Coach

Russell Alan Cobb is an English former cricketer who played more than one-hundred and fifty matches for Leicestershire and Northern Transvaal across a career than ran from 1980 until 1989. Russell currently leads on the Men’s performance cricket programme at Loughborough University offering talented athletes the opportunity to gain a degree whilst training in a world class environment. 

Notable Alumni

Loughborough Men’s Cricket is proud to boast a wealth of notable alumni, many of whom have gone on to represent their country. Notable alumni include;

  • Sam Billings- England, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils, ICC World XI, Islamabad United, Kent, Sydney Sixers
  • Monty Panesar-England, Lions, Northamptonshire, Sussex, Essex
  • Rob Taylor- Scotland, Leicestershire
  • Ruel Brathwaite- West Indians, Durham, Hampshire

Scholarships

For our most exceptional performance cricket players, we offer sports scholarships to help with the costs of training and competition.

Find out more and apply

Prospective Students

MCCUs are designed to benefit cricketers with the potential to play First Class Cricket and beyond. In some cases, applicants may have already played at County first team level, County under 19 and County 2nd XI representation by the time they reach University. Although a representative background is more favourable, the MCCU is open to any cricketer who has followed the correct ‘How to apply’ steps.

Applicants should note that these are Centre’s of Excellence and only the very best young cricketers, who have the potential and commitment to develop and progress into County Cricket, are considered. However, those good young cricketers immediately below this standard may also benefit from attendance at institutions where there are MCCUs, since the facilities for cricket and the coaching will invariably be far better than other academic institutions. At Loughborough for example, we carefully watch the development of players in the University squad immediately below the MCCU team, which also benefits from experienced and highly qualified coaches (but a less intensive programme), in order to ensure that emerging or late developing talent is recognised and encouraged.

To apply for a place or find out more information please email: Head Coach Russell Cobb