Oxenford Cricket Club face a season of upheaval, after they were told by their landlords that they will have to vacate their home ground.

Oxenford, who play in the OCA League, have been at the New College ground in St Cross Road, Oxford, for nearly 60 years.

But club treasurer and co-founder Ken Hamp, has received a four-line letter from the college telling them that they will have to move.

Use of the ground is set to change, with much of the pavilion being converted into a common room for graduates.

It will mean that the club would not have access to the facility.

Hamp said: “I was quite distraught when I read the letter.

“I didn’t think New College had thought it through properly.

“After receiving the initial letter, I wrote back to the New College bursar, and got a better explanation as to what was going on.

“It said we could have use of the ground on occasions this coming season, but would have to make do without a room to have teas in as they are converting the pavilion into a Common Room.

“The sports ground will remain, but the pavilion will, in effect, be unusable.

“I am now awaiting confirmation as to what the facilities will actually be like when we do play there, because the last thing we want is building work going on while were are playing.”

In the meantime, Hamp is working on moving most of their games elsewhere.

“We have six provisional dates when we can still play at New College, but this will be the last season.

“We’ve looked around and have arranged all our Sunday games for Keble College.

“They have been most helpful, and have offered us a number of Saturday dates as well.

“We have also booked four dates at Magdalen College, but I do not want our club to become a nomadic one.

“I was one of the founder members of Oxenford in 1948.

“We’ve been playing on New College ever since then, and it will be the end of an era for us.

“It’s been a wonderful place to play, and I feel that the college have not accepted the merit of the place.

“The pavilion was opened in honour of broadcasting legend Brian Johnston, who attended New College, by his widow, and I feel that that lack of cricket would be a slap in the face for him and for the history of the place.”

The Bursar of New College, David Palfreyman, was sympathetic to Oxenford, but said that they gave the club as much notice as possible.

“It’s not a question that they are being told to leave, but the difficulty is that while the ground will still be there, we will not have a club room,” he said.

“It would not be practical for them to stay at New College – although I think we had forgotten just how long they had been with us.

“As a college, we need to pay more attention to our graduate community, and we are truly sorry that Oxenford are a victim of our plans.

“The games that they will play this year may suffer some disruption.”

Palfreyman added that the decision, once made, was passed on to Oxenford very quickly.

“It would, from their point of view, been better to have given them two seasons’ notice, but that wouldn’t have been possible,” he said.

“Once the decision had been made, I contacted Ken Hamp the very next day.

“We are sad to lose them, because I believe it is good that the college plays a part in the local community.

“I understand the disappointment this will have caused the members.

“If they do have difficulty in finding a new ground, I’m sure we might find a way of muddling through and helping them.”

Oxenford captain Phil Glenn said: “To have a 60-year relationship brought to an end with a short statement pushes us aside with disregard.

“I felt that the letter showed total disrespect to Ken Hamp, who has spent most of his life building a successful club.”