Samuel Butler (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
Samuel Evan Butler was an English
cricket
er. In the University Match of 1871 he took all ten Cambridge University
wickets in their first innings, the only time this has been achieved in the fixture, and (as of March 2009) the only time an Oxford bowler has taken ten wickets in any first-class innings.
He captured five more wickets in the second innings, for fifteen in the match, assisting Oxford University
to win by eight wickets. His figures were 10/38 and 5/57. His Wisden
obituary says of him: "On that one afternoon at Lord's he was unplayable, but he never afterwards approached the same form."
His first-class
career lasted only from 1870 to 1874; after leaving Oxford in 1873 he played in only two further first-class matches, both in 1874. 16 of his 21 matches were played for Oxford, the remainder being for various "Gentlemen" sides. He was a right-arm roundarm fast bowler and a right-handed batsman. Wisden says that he "possessed great pace". He took 106 wickets in his career at an average of 14.33, ten times taking five wickets or more in an innings and three times ten or more in a match. He was a negligible batsman, managing 256 runs at an average of 9.14, with a highest score of only 31.
On the strength of his performance in the 1871 University Match, he was chosen for the Gentlemen against the Players
that year both at Lord's and the Oval
, but he did nothing of note with the ball and made a duck
in all three of his innings.
In the 1873 University Match, he took 5/48 in Cambridge's first innings, helping Oxford to win a close match by three wickets.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er. In the University Match of 1871 he took all ten Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
wickets in their first innings, the only time this has been achieved in the fixture, and (as of March 2009) the only time an Oxford bowler has taken ten wickets in any first-class innings.
He captured five more wickets in the second innings, for fifteen in the match, assisting Oxford University
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
to win by eight wickets. His figures were 10/38 and 5/57. His Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
obituary says of him: "On that one afternoon at Lord's he was unplayable, but he never afterwards approached the same form."
His first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
career lasted only from 1870 to 1874; after leaving Oxford in 1873 he played in only two further first-class matches, both in 1874. 16 of his 21 matches were played for Oxford, the remainder being for various "Gentlemen" sides. He was a right-arm roundarm fast bowler and a right-handed batsman. Wisden says that he "possessed great pace". He took 106 wickets in his career at an average of 14.33, ten times taking five wickets or more in an innings and three times ten or more in a match. He was a negligible batsman, managing 256 runs at an average of 9.14, with a highest score of only 31.
On the strength of his performance in the 1871 University Match, he was chosen for the Gentlemen against the Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
that year both at Lord's and the Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
, but he did nothing of note with the ball and made a duck
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
in all three of his innings.
In the 1873 University Match, he took 5/48 in Cambridge's first innings, helping Oxford to win a close match by three wickets.