Eight local cricketing students will put net practice aside and engage brains for one gruelling evening next month when BBC television’s popular University Challenge quiz programme comes to town for a live screening at a packed Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
Urged on by a sell-out audience, student cricketers from Bournemouth and Southampton Solent Universities go head-to-head in front of the cameras in a qualifying round tie.
The respective teams have been selected not only on their cricketing prowess, but also their high IQs – something they’ll need with Jeremy Paxman (left) firing the questions in his forthright and abrasive style.
Scotland hopeful and Bashley (Rydal) left-arm pace bowler Bradley Currie will captain Bournemouth, where he is in the final year of a Sports Development degree course, while South African Gareth Schreuder will wear the captain’s armband for Solent.
“Fingers on the buzzers, your starter for 10” will be the key phrase for the respective captains, who will be backed by a wealth of knowledge from their team-mates.
Currie will be flanked by Basingstoke & North Hants off-spin all-rounder Ash Neal, Isle of Wight raised but disillusioned Pompey fan Ben Attrill (Classical Music) and fielding specialist Sam Kennett, who is planning a Masters’ year by the seaside.
Solent will have few problems if Paxman fires any questions on Love Island as Schreuder is an expert in that field, while Salisbury linguists Tom Lewis (Grid Iron) and Jack Stearman (Botany) will be in support alongside Sparsholt’s Josh May, studying Arithmetic.
Robust
Local cricket has been represented on BBC 2’s University Challenge before – Southern Premier League statistician Stephen Jones appearing for Brasenose College, Oxford back in 1994; Jeremy Paxman’s first series.
Jones advises: “Both teams should prepare for being roasted, both by Paxman’s robust responses to wrong answers, and by the many television lights needed to illuminate proceedings at the Mayflower, especially in their COVID secure booths – the lights are so strong and powerful you could fry an egg underneath them!
“Contestants can expect a strident “Oh, come on!” in the event of any hesitation over answering a question, and under no circumstances should they mention the Garrick Club – a painful experience for their question master back in the day.
“However, it’s not all highly stressful – get Paxman on to his favourite subject, the Wacky Races TV series, and he’ll relent just for a moment.”
Avid quizzers will know that this prime-time BBC programme is usually scheduled on a Monday evening immediately after Mastermind & Only Connect - hard acts to follow. The pressure will be on and bragging rights at stake.
The Bournemouth and Southampton Solent teams can get a taste of what to expect when BBC 2 screens in 2022 University Challenge final between Imperial and Reading on Monday evening. See if they can answer a question correctly .. between them !
This April Fool story attracted almost 1,000 website hits, with one Solent student household in Milton Road, Southampton a magnet to the text ... ...
Urged on by a sell-out audience, student cricketers from Bournemouth and Southampton Solent Universities go head-to-head in front of the cameras in a qualifying round tie.
The respective teams have been selected not only on their cricketing prowess, but also their high IQs – something they’ll need with Jeremy Paxman (left) firing the questions in his forthright and abrasive style.
Scotland hopeful and Bashley (Rydal) left-arm pace bowler Bradley Currie will captain Bournemouth, where he is in the final year of a Sports Development degree course, while South African Gareth Schreuder will wear the captain’s armband for Solent.
“Fingers on the buzzers, your starter for 10” will be the key phrase for the respective captains, who will be backed by a wealth of knowledge from their team-mates.
Currie will be flanked by Basingstoke & North Hants off-spin all-rounder Ash Neal, Isle of Wight raised but disillusioned Pompey fan Ben Attrill (Classical Music) and fielding specialist Sam Kennett, who is planning a Masters’ year by the seaside.
Solent will have few problems if Paxman fires any questions on Love Island as Schreuder is an expert in that field, while Salisbury linguists Tom Lewis (Grid Iron) and Jack Stearman (Botany) will be in support alongside Sparsholt’s Josh May, studying Arithmetic.
Robust
Local cricket has been represented on BBC 2’s University Challenge before – Southern Premier League statistician Stephen Jones appearing for Brasenose College, Oxford back in 1994; Jeremy Paxman’s first series.
Jones advises: “Both teams should prepare for being roasted, both by Paxman’s robust responses to wrong answers, and by the many television lights needed to illuminate proceedings at the Mayflower, especially in their COVID secure booths – the lights are so strong and powerful you could fry an egg underneath them!
“Contestants can expect a strident “Oh, come on!” in the event of any hesitation over answering a question, and under no circumstances should they mention the Garrick Club – a painful experience for their question master back in the day.
“However, it’s not all highly stressful – get Paxman on to his favourite subject, the Wacky Races TV series, and he’ll relent just for a moment.”
Avid quizzers will know that this prime-time BBC programme is usually scheduled on a Monday evening immediately after Mastermind & Only Connect - hard acts to follow. The pressure will be on and bragging rights at stake.
The Bournemouth and Southampton Solent teams can get a taste of what to expect when BBC 2 screens in 2022 University Challenge final between Imperial and Reading on Monday evening. See if they can answer a question correctly .. between them !
This April Fool story attracted almost 1,000 website hits, with one Solent student household in Milton Road, Southampton a magnet to the text ... ...