Christopher John Saunders (born 7 May 1940) is a former headmaster of

Eastbourne College Eastbourne College is a co-educational independent school in the British public school tradition, for day and boarding pupils aged 13–18, in the town of Eastbourne on the south coast of England. The College's headmaster is Tom Lawson. Overv ...

and

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of Engl ...

, and a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

er who played for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Cricket career

Saunders attended Lancing College, where he played for the First XI and was selected to keep wicket for the Southern Schools against The Rest in their annual match at Lord's in 1958 and 1959. He went up to

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college traces its origins back to 1869 and the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of al ...

, where he kept wicket for the university's cricket team in seven matches in 1962 and one match in 1963 without earning a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

. He also played a match against Cambridge University in 1963, captaining

Col. L. C. Stevens' XI Col. L. C. Stevens' XI, sometimes shortened to L. C. Stevens' XI, was an English cricket team that played 30 matches (two of them first-class) at The Saffrons ground in Eastbourne from 1949 to 1968. The teams were raised by Lieutenant-Colonel Le ...

in a match that was scheduled and played as a first-class match but later had its status rescinded by the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influenc ...

(MCC). After finishing at Cambridge he went to

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Doroth ...

, to study for a PGCE. Late in the 1964 season he took over the wicket-keeping duties for the university team, and played in four matches, including the annual

University Match The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club. From 2001, as part of the reorganisation of first-class cricket, ...

against Cambridge, thus gaining his cricket blue at Oxford. He was a neat keeper who conceded few

byes In cricket, a bye is a type of extra. It is a run scored by the batting team when the ball has not been hit by the batter and the ball has not hit the batter's body. Scoring byes Usually, if the ball passes the batter without being deflected, the ...

(none at all in the University Match), but his batting was unproductive and he usually went in at number 10 or 11. He appeared in three

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

matches for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

in 1971.

Teaching career

Saunders taught at

Bradfield College Bradfield College, formally St Andrew's College, Bradfield, is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils aged 11–18, located in the small village of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire. It is not ...

in Berkshire, where he became a

housemaster {{refimprove, date=September 2018 In British education, a housemaster is a schoolmaster in charge of a boarding house, normally at a boarding school and especially at a public school. The housemaster is responsible for the supervision and car ...

, before taking up the position of headmaster at

in Sussex in 1981. He later moved to

in Sussex, serving as headmaster from 1993 to 1998. He was the chairman of the

Independent Schools Football Association Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA) oversees football in independent schools in the United Kingdom. The ISFA is affiliated to the Football Association. The chairman is current Headmaster of Hampton School Kevin Knibbs. History Dick ...

from 1982 to 2003, greatly expanding the scope of its activities. Since his retirement from the position, the award for the play of the match in the ISFA final has been awarded in his honour: the Chris Saunders Golden Moment. He is a Life Vice-President of

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world ...

Personal life

Saunders remains active in retirement. In an after-dinner speech to the

Worshipful Company of Feltmakers The Worshipful Company of Feltmakers is one of the livery companies of the City of London. The Feltmakers, or makers of felt hats, were incorporated by letters patent granted by James I in 1604. They received an extended royal charter in 1667. ...

in 2013 he urged his audience to "avoid being like a

thrombosis Thrombosis (from Ancient Greek "clotting") is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel (a vein or an artery) is injured, the body uses platelets (thr ...

– a bloody clot that circulates around the system". His son

Jonny Jonny is a masculine given name, and pet name, in the English language. A pet form of Jon, the natural diminutive of given name Jonathan, in some cases it can also mean a condom. A variant form of ''Jonny'' is ''Jonnie''. People with the name ...

is a former radio presenter who is now, as his father was, a housemaster at Bradfield College.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Chris 1940 births Living people People from Worthing People educated at Lancing College Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Head Masters of Lancing College Oxford University cricketers Berkshire cricketers Heads of schools in England Cricketers from West Sussex