Eton duels with Harrow at the Oscars

Old Etonian Eddie Redmayne will be going out to bat for his old college against Harrow-educated Benedict Cumberbatch on the night, marking a rivalry usually played out on the cricket pitch.

The schools first faced each other on the crease at Lord’s in 1805 and have continued to compete with Harrow winning by 63 runs last June.

Recent years have seen Eton dominate the acting world with Eddie the latest in a long line of talent produced at the college including Homeland’s Damian Lewis, Tom Hiddleston and the star of The Wire Dominic West.

But the rise of such well-heeled stars has not gone without criticism – last year Benedict complained he had been the victim of “posh bashing”.

The Sherlock star raised eyebrows when he said that he was considering moving to the US because he was fed up with being “castigated” for his public school background.

The comments came as The Walking Dead star David Morrissey voiced concern that the acting business was becoming the preserve of the wealthy.

“There’s an economic exclusion of working-class people happening now. I got lucky, but if I was starting out now, it would be a lot harder, because my parents could never have supported me through that ‘Is it going to happen?’ period”, he said.

“I was able to go to drama school with a grant. I was able to do stuff at the Everyman and work there at the same time.

“Too often now, people come into the profession subsidised by their parents and they’re not being paid.”

Veteran actress Julie Walters has previously complained about the dearth of young actors from poorer backgrounds.

“The way things are now, there aren’t going to be any working class actors,” Julie said. “I look at almost all the up-and-coming names and they’re from the posh schools.”