It is known that the boys of Oakham School were playing cricket during the nineteenth century, and the first known reference to a match, which was won by an innings and 53 runs, was against Uppingham School, played at Uppingham on 16th October 1815; the second known match was again against Uppingham School and played on 13th June at Burley House in Burley-on-the-Hill, the home of the Finch family; the third known match was against Grantham College, won by 94 runs, in 1821; the fifth known match was played at Burley-on-the-Hill at the invitation of Lord Winchelsea, was against the ‘Gentlemen of the County’, won by the School, and all the staff and schoolboys and opposition (totalling around 50) were treated to an evening meal at which ‘only port, madeira and sherry’ were served, whereas at Rockingham Castle ‘the other day’ (and so the fourth known match) champagne and burgundy were served at the post-match dinner. The then rules of the School Cricket Club were drawn up in 1836. In September 1842 the sixth known match was played between ‘11 gentlemen of the Oakham Grammar School and 11 players selected from Oakham, Langham, Burley and Empingham’, won by the School by 14 runs in a two innings match in which the School scored 69 and 47.
R.T. King gained Cambridge Blues 1946-49 and then played for Leicestershire CCC; in 1866 C. Warren gained a Cambridge Blue; in 1875 J. Furley played for the North against the South in a First Class match, then for England against Gloucestershire in 1877 and for Northamptonshire CCC against the touring Australians in 1882; A.W. Cursham played for Nottinghamshire CCC 1976-78 and for Derbyshire CCC 1879-80.
The full history of cricket at the School really commences in 1884 since when all match cards are held. An annual Statistical History is published and all match cards since 1884 are published on www.cricketarchive.com up to 2016 when Cricket Archives stopped compiling school matches. Since 1884 up to the beginning of the 2023 season, excluding t20 matches where records are incomplete and are kept separately from the traditional format, the XI has played 1935 matches (won 645, lost 629, drawn 646, tied 13).
Since 1884, the School’s Blues have been A.P.F. Chapman (Cambridge 1920-22), J.J. Bull (Oxford 1996-99), and N.J. Ferraby (Oxford 2014). Others who played First Class cricket when at university were M.J.K. Bailey (Cambridge 1997-98), B.R. Modha (Cambridge 2007), C.F. D. Morgan (Durham 2008-10), T.C. Fell (Oxford 2013), N.J. Ferraby (Oxford 2014), A.T.A. Martin (Oxford 2014) and J.S. Kendall (Loughborough 2019). County players have been H. Burgess (Leicestershire 1900-02, Northamptonshire 1905), J. Burgess (Leicestershire 1902-13), C.R. Morris (Nottinghamshire 1902-04), S.H.G. Humfrey (Northamptonshire 1913-26), L. Kirk (Nottinghamshire 1920-29), A.P.F. Chapman (Kent 1924-38)m P. Vaulkhard (Nottinghamshire 1934, Derbyshire 1946-52), J.W.M. Bradshaw (Leicestershire 1935-38), R.M. Dutton (Minor Counties 1936-37), J.A.S. Taylor (Leicestershire 1937), F.K. Thornton (Northamptonshire 1937), P.R. Forman (Nottinghamshire 1959-62), S.C.J. Broad (Leicestershire 2005-07, Nottinghamshire 2008- ), M.A,H. Boyce (Leicestershire 2006-15), J.J. Cobb (Leicestershire 2007-24, Northamptonshire 2015- ), I.D. Saxelby (Gloucestershire 2008-14)m A.C.F. Wyatt (Leicestershire 2009-15), T.C. Fell (Worcestershire 2013-22) and L.W. James (Nottinghamshire 2018- ). The School’s international players have been A.P.F. Chapman (England 1924-30), J.A.S. Taylor (Scotland 1952-54), S.K.W. Kelly (Burmuda 2006-11)and S.C.J. Broad (2006- ).
S.C.J. Broad (2005), I.D. Saxelby (2008), J.J. Cobb (2009) and N.J.H. Kimber (2018-19) have represented England U19. J.J. Bull (1992) and Y.A. Tariq (2004) played for England Schools U15, P.G. Cook (2003) and I.D. Saxelby (2006) for England U17, Y.A. Tariq for ECB Schools U19 (2007) and T.C. Fell for MCC Schools (2011).
Lucy (L.C.) Pearson, ECB Director responsible for women’s cricket, won an Oxford Blue and represented England (1996-2005), although in her time at the School no girls’ cricket was played; presently she is Director of Education for the Football Association.
In recent years, the Directors of Cricket have been Frank Hayes (Lancashire and England) (1999-2012), assisted by coaches David Steele (Northamptonshire, Derbyshire and England), Phil de Freitas (Leicestershire, Lancashire, Derbyshire and England) & Darren Bicknell (Nottinghamshire, Surrey & England A), John Crawley (Cambridge, Lancashire, Hampshire and England) (2013-15), Neil Johnson (Boland, Eastern Province, Natal, Western Province, Leicestershire, Hampshire and Zimbabwe) (2016-22) and now Patrick Latham (Somerset, Durham & Cambridgeshire). Cookie Patel joins a fantastic coaching team to assist with the coaching of both boys and girls cricket in 2023.
The BAF Smith cricket pavilion on Doncaster Close, came into operation in summer 2014, just in time to host the Bunbury U15 Festival.
Directions
Directions to the school:
http//www.oakham.rutland.sch.uk/map/oakham/oakham.htm
School Map (1st XI cricket is played on Doncaster Close):
http://www.oakham.rutland.sch.uk/map/school/index.htm
Further information can be found at www.oakham.rutland.sch.uk.