Samuel Evan Butler (15 April 1850 – 30 April 1903) was an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who attended

St Alban Hall St Alban Hall, sometimes known as St Alban's Hall or Stubbins, was one of the academic halls of the University of Oxford, medieval halls of the University of Oxford, and one of the longest-surviving. It was established in the 13th century, acqu ...

and

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

. In the University Match of 1871 he took all ten

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

wickets in their first innings, the only time this has been achieved in the fixture, and (as of April 2024) the only time an

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

bowler has taken ten wickets in any first-class innings.

Life

He was born at

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, the eldest son of Samuel Butler, who bought Combe Hay Manor in 1864. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, where he was in the cricket XI. He matriculated in 1869 at St Alban Hall, Oxford, and graduated B.A. in 1875 at Brasenose College. He graduated M.A. in 1876 and the same year was

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at the

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. Butler resided at Caisson House near Combe Hay Manor, and from around 1881 had a

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mine nearby. He married in 1884 Florence Grosvenor, third daughter of the Rev. Frederick Grosvenor, rector of Dunkerton, Somerset. He died at Combe Hay, Somerset on 30 April 1903 aged 53.

Cricketer

Butler's 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. Having taken all ten Cambridge University wickets in their first innings of the University Match of 1871, Butler captured five more wickets in their second innings, for 15 in the match, and assisting

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

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."''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1904 edition, obituary
/ref> On the strength of his performance in the 1871 University Match, Butler was chosen for the Gentlemen against the Players that year both at

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and

the Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

, but he did nothing of note with the ball and made a

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in all three of his innings. In the 1873 University Match, Butler took 5/48 in Cambridge's first innings, helping Oxford to win a close match by three wickets.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Samuel 1850 births 1903 deaths English cricketers Oxford University cricketers English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 People educated at Eton College Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Gentlemen cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers Cricketers who have taken ten wickets in an innings Gentlemen of England cricketers Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers