Oxford University 1948

 Posted by Tony Hutton

Having recently gone back in time to look at an outstanding Cambridge University side it is perhaps only fair that I have now come across a picture of Oxford University's 1948 team, which includes many notable characters as well as a few surprises. Oxford were perhaps never quite able to match the superior talents of Cambridge, but still did pretty well with later teams under both Colin Cowdrey and Mike Smith. The 1948 team however were able to pull off a major surprise with an innings victory in the Varsity Match at Lord's against a Cambridge side which included Dewes, Doggart, Bailey and Insole, all future England players.

                                Oxford University 1948                

Back row:- Nigel Bloy (12th man), William Davidson, Basil Travers, Chris Winn, Basil Robinson.

Middle row:- A.H. Kardar, Philip Whitcombe, Tony Pawson (capt), Tony Mallett, Geoffrey Keighley.

Front:- Clive Van Ryneveld and Hubert Webb.

Starting with Nigel Bloy who was from Plymouth and later played Minor Counties cricket for both Devon and Dorset, as well as Gloucester second. A left hand batsman his top score in first class cricket was 77 against a strong Yorkshire side in 1946 when he was dismissed by the leg spin of Len Hutton.

William Davidson, born in Middlesex was a wicket keeper with few pretensions as a batsman. He played for Oxford in 1947 and 1948 and occasionally for Sussex between 1948 and 1951. His highest score in first class cricket (31) came in 1956 when playing for M.C.C. against Oxford.

Basil Travers was born in Sydney, Australia and was an all round cricketer as well as one of three players in this side who all played Rugby Union for England. He was a flanker and collected six England caps before returning to Australia. He began well as a cricketer scoring 167 not out and carrying his bat through the innings for Oxfordshire Minor Counties against Bedfordshire in 1946.

Never quite matched this for the University with a highest score of 65 not out and best bowling of 4-65.

Chris Winn, from Beckenham, was another Rugby Union international winning eight caps for England as a winger. He was a left hand bat good enough to play for Sussex between 1948 and 1952.

Basil Robinson was an off break bowler from Eastbourne who had two seasons with Oxford taking a very useful 53 wickets in that time with a best performance of 6-55 and making a top score of 51. He later played cricket for Canada and was an all round sportsman at soccer and rugby who lived to the ripe old age of 93, before he died in Ottawa, Canada.

Abdul Hafeez Kardar was an all rounder, left hand bat and slow left arm bowler. Born in Lahore he represented India before partition and then later played 23 Tests for Pakistan, many of them as captain from 1952-1958. He also played for Warwickshire from 1948-1950.

Philip Whitcombe was a Londoner and an opening bowler who bowled very quickly, enough to be considered a Test prospect at one time. Especially when he clean bowled Len Hutton twice in a match against Yorkshire, taking 5-32 in the first innings. Very tall, at six foot four, he bowled well in the Varsity match of 1948 taking 7-51 and also did well for the Gentlemen v Players that year. He then dismissed Don Bradman when playing for Middlesex. However these proved fleeting moments of fame and he disappeared from the first class scene to play Minor Counties for Wiltshire from 1947-1962.

Tony Pawson, the captain, was a right hand bat and yet another good all round sportsman. He had played for Kent seconds as a teenager before the war and continued to play for the county from 1946 to 1953. He also played in two amateur cup finals at Wembley for Pegasus and briefly first division football for Charlton Athletic. He scored seven first class centuries and in 1988 was made an O.B.E. for services to angling.

A.W.H. (Tony) Mallett was yet another Kent cricketer from 1946-53. Was a team mate of Trevor Bailey at Dulwich College and at one time considered his equal as a cricketer. He became a schoolmaster and spent many years teaching in South Africa.

W.G. (Geoffrey) Keighley was another man of many parts. Born in Nice, France he captained Eton College and was considered as a future captain of Yorkshire. Indeed he was awarded his county cap in 1951 after he had scored 110 against Surrey at Headingley. He also scored 99 for Oxford in the 1947 Varsity Match at Lord's and it was rumoured he had been offered the captaincy of Middlesex when amateur captains were all the vogue. However he turned his back on all this and emigrated to Australia where he became in turn barrister, farmer and member of the New South Wales legislature.

Clive Van Ryneveld was a South African, but that did not stop him playing Rugby Union for England winning four caps as a centre. He later captained his native country at cricket being a splendid right hand bat and occasional leg break bowler. He played 19 Test between 1951 and 1957 and was a practising lawyer in South Africa.

Finally last but certainly not least we have Hubert Webb, born in the strangely named Indian town of Tonk in Rajasthan. He was a racquets blue as well as a cricketer and his moment of fame came in the 1948 Varsity match. Batting at number six, with a season's average of only 18, he came in with the Oxford score on 96-4 and made an impressive 145 not out, with 17 fours, in only 170 minutes. He shared in an eighth wicket partnership of 112 with Mallett and took the Oxford score to 361-9 declared. After just one match for Hampshire in 1954 (against Oxford) he turned his back on cricket for a career as a specialist in neurovirology becoming a professor at St Thomas's Hospital in London.