The Magdalen Ground (also known as the Old Magdalen Ground) was a cricket ground in Oxford, England. The ground was owned by the University of Oxford and used by Magdalen College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Originally forming the northern point of Cowley Marsh, the ground was initially associated with the Magdalen College School, whose students played cricket there. By 1829, the Oxford University Cricket Club had been given a part of the marsh where the College School played cricket. In 1851, it was purchased at auction by the University of Oxford and leased to the University Cricket Club. The ground operated as a first-class cricket venue from 1829 to 1880, hosting 69 first-class matches. The University Cricket Club left the ground following the 1880 season to play at the University Parks from 1881. History Background Cricket had been played by students at the University of Oxford since at least 1764, by members of the Bullingdon Club on their Bullingdon Green ground. However, the hosting of cricket matches became less favourable at Bullingdon Green, given its relative remoteness from Oxford and its reputation for unsupervised social gatherings, to which playing cricket was secondary. The distance and a serious need to focus on cricket necessitated the requirement for a cricket ground closer to Oxford. The land on which the Magdalen Ground is situated was formerly part of Cowley Marsh. Cricket was first played there when the Reverend H. Jenkins of the Magdalen College School took his students there to play cricket. By 1829, he had handed over part of the ground to the Oxford University Cricket Club, and the Magdalen Ground was established; the College School still continued to play at the ground alongside the University Club for a number of years after; hence, it is from this that the ground gets its name, and not Magdalen College. First-class venue First-class cricket was first played at the ground in the second playing of The University Match between Oxford University played Cambridge University in 1829, which Oxford won by 115 runs. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) first played at the ground in 1832, with a side that featured Jem Broadbridge, William Lillywhite, and Ned Wenman. This match marked the beginning of the MCC's long association with the Magdalen Ground, typically playing a "grand match" there against Oxford annually until 1880. Neither the College School nor the University Cricket Club