One of Oxford’s unsung resources is its rich number of cricket grounds. Most are owned by colleges that, given the dates of University terms, use them relatively little for their own teams.

Many are hired out regularly to local teams that benefit from well-kept cricket squares and college pavilions.

The system works well and is a considerable benefit to the local community.

The team run by The Oxford Times and the Oxford Mail is one that has thoroughly enjoyed playing many times down the years on college grounds.

It appears, however, that the days of so many well-run cricket pitches may be numbered.

One can understand that, for the colleges, these pitches are an expensive resource that bring in a small income that comes nowhere near to covering the cost.

A report commissioned by the University suggests that colleges should rationalise their pitch provision, sharing some grounds to reduce costs and releasing others for development.

That development word will send a warning signal out to many residents.

Most of these pitches are not only a facility for local cricket teams, they are also green oases in the heart of a busy city. Off Abingdon Road, off Cowley Road, and in North Oxford, these pitches have, for years, provided Oxford’s green lungs.

Many are, of course, in protected areas, so development of any significance cannot take place.

The scheme we report this week where Corpus Christi has agreed to lease its pitch off Abingdon Road, effectively at a peppercorn rent, to West Oxford Community Renewables for an ecological park is an example of what can be achieved for good.

There is a saving for Corpus and the land will become more of a green lung than it ever was as a cricket pitch. We hope that the Wayfarers team will be able to find an alternative home for its cricket matches.

If more college cricket pitches are to be made redundant, it is important that sufficient grounds remain to accommodate all the teams that use them now.

Equally important is that these areas need to remain what they are now — highly valued green oases in the heart of Oxford.

As Corpus Christi has effectively recognised in agreeing its lease with West Oxford Community Renewables, there is limited scope for development on any of these sites.