Frank Carroll Cobden (14 October 1849 – 7 December 1932) 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 played for

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 ...

and the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC). In the University Match of 1870 he famously took a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

comprising the last three

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 ...

batsmen when Oxford required only three more runs to win, so that Cambridge University won by two runs a match which they had seemed certain to lose. This feat led to the 1870 match becoming known as "Cobden's Match".

Early life and education

Born on 14 October 1849 at

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

, London, Cobden was educated at Brighton College and Harrow before entering

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

in 1869. He transferred to

Downing College Downing College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, ...

in 1871. In later life he was a Justice of the Peace for

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

Cricket career

His first-class career lasted only from 1870 to 1872, for he played no more at first-class level after leaving Cambridge. As well as the university, he also appeared for

(MCC). He was a right-arm roundarm fast bowler and a right-handed batsman. In 22 matches he took 65 wickets at an average of 17.20, with best innings figures of 6/35. He took five or more wickets in an innings four times and ten or more wickets in a match once. He made 471 runs at an average of 14.27. He passed fifty only once, when he scored 73 not out. According to ''Wisden'' he was a "free and powerful hitter". His brother, Halsted Cobden, also played first-class cricket. Cobden also played county cricket for

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, and, between 1868 and 1890, for

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. For the latter he scored a total 926 runs (highest in one match being 73), in 37 two-day matches while playing at club level for Bedstone, Ludlow and Radnor.

The 1870 University Match

The match, scheduled for three days, was finished in two. Cambridge scored 147 in their first innings. Oxford made 175 in reply, with Cobden taking 4/41. Cambridge slumped to 40/5 in their second innings, only 12 runs ahead, with Charles Francis doing most of the damage. William Yardley then came in to join John Dale, and they added 116 for the sixth wicket. Yardley made exactly 100, the first hundred ever made in the fixture. Dale scored 67. Cambridge finished with 206, with Francis taking 7/102. Oxford needed 179 to win. Cobden took the wicket of Walter Hadow for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

and Oxford were 0/1. However they recovered and reached 153/3 at one point, needing only another 26, thanks to 69 from Cuthbert Ottaway and 44 from Arthur Fortescue. Though wickets then began to fall, they progressed to 175/6, and their victory seemed assured. At that point Edward Ward dismissed Francis. Ward had taken six of the seven wickets to fall. He finished with the fine figures of 6/29 from 32 four ball overs. When Cobden began what proved to be the final over, the score was still 175/7, with four runs needed to win. From the first ball, Frederick Hill played a shot which seemed sure to reach the boundary and thus to win the match. However it was brilliantly fielded and the batsmen could only run one. Hill then had to watch the tail-enders try to cope with Cobden in poor light. Samuel Butler was caught off the second ball of the over and William Stewart was bowled by the third. With four-ball overs at that time, Cobden had one ball left. If the batsman, Thomas Belcher, could survive it, then Hill would face the next over and would probably see Oxford home. But Cobden made no mistake and Belcher was bowled. Cobden finished with figures of 4/35, and 8/76 in the match.

Later life

In 1890, Cobden bought a hotel in Capel Curig, North Wales, which he renamed Cobden's Hotel, which he sold in 1907. He died 7 December 1932, in Capel Curig.

Notes

References

CricketArchive entry for Cobden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobden, Frank 1849 births 1932 deaths English cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Gentlemen of the North cricketers People educated at Brighton College Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Cricketers from the City of Westminster People from Marylebone People from Capel Curig