Sir Timothy Carew O'Brien, 3rd Baronet (5 November 1861 – 9 December 1948) was an Irish

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

who played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in five

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

Life and career

Tim O'Brien was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and educated at the Catholic school Downside in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

.''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' 1949, pp. 867–68. He went to New Inn Hall,

Oxford 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 Un ...

, principally in order to further his cricket career. A forceful right-handed batsman, O'Brien won 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 ...

in 1884 and 1885. He went on to play 266

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 ...

matches as an amateur for

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 ...

and in fairly regular appearances for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

through to 1898. His 92 for Oxford against the 1884

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the con ...

was instrumental in the university's only victory over an Australian team. He played for England against Australia at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after We ...

that year and again four years later at Lord's, but in neither game did his distinguish himself. He toured with

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) teams twice: in 1887–88 he went with George Vernon to Australia and in 1895–96 he went with

Lord Hawke Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke (16 August 1860 – 10 October 1938), generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer active from 1881 to 1911 who played for Yorkshire and England. He was born in Willingham by Stow, near ...

's side to South Africa, where he acted as captain once against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, S ...

in February 1896, winning the game largely as a result of

George Lohmann George Alfred Lohmann (2 June 1865 – 1 December 1901) was an English cricketer, regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Statistically, he holds the lowest lifetime Test bowling average among bowlers with more than fifteen wickets ...

's match return of 15/45 (7/38 and 8/7). In county cricket, he was known for hard hitting innings, with a highest score of 202, scored as part of a partnership with

Robert Slade Lucas Robert Slade Lucas (17 July 1867, in Teddington, Middlesex – 5 January 1942, in Franklands Village, Haywards Heath, Sussex) was an English cricketer who played for Middlesex. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm medium pace ...

that put on 338 in 200 minutes against Sussex in 1895. Uniquely, O'Brien captained Ireland as well as England, recording a top score of 167 against his alma mater for the country of his birth during a brief Irish tour of England. This remained an Irish record until 1973. O'Brien married Gundrede Annette Teresa de Trafford, daughter of Sir Humphrey de Trafford 2nd baronet on 26 September 1885 at All Saints Church, Barton-upon-Irwell and they had 10 children, one of whom, Timothy Jnr., died in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. Another child, daughter Sicele O'Brien was a well known pioneer pilot. Sir Timothy was, at the time of his death in 1948, the oldest cricketer to have played in England-Australia Tests. His brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

also played international cricket for Ireland.

References

External links

* *
CricketArchive page on Tim O'Brien
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Tim, 3rd Baronet 1861 births 1948 deaths People educated at Downside School Alumni of New Inn Hall, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Irish cricketers England Test cricket captains Free Foresters cricketers Middlesex cricketers Oxford University cricketers Cricketers from Dublin (city) I Zingari cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers North v South cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Lord Hawke's XI cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers Lyric Club cricketers A. J. Webbe's XI cricketers L. G. Robinson's XI cricketers Earl De La Warr's XI cricketers W. G. Grace's XI cricketers England Test cricketers

Life and career

See also

References

External links