Colin Cowdrey
Cowdrey won a Heath Harrison Exhibition award and a place at Brasenose College at Oxford University to study geography in the autumn of 1951. He played for the Oxford University Cricket Club in 1952 and 1953 at the start of the season and the rest of the summer for Kent. He made 50 and 57 for the Gentlemen vs the 1953 Australians at Lords. In 1954 he captained Oxford University and was a surprise choice for the MCC tour of Australia, replacing Willie Watson. Len Hutton later told him that his selection was a gamble, but it was thought that his technique would be good on the hard Australian wickets. At 21, Cowdrey was the youngest man in the side and the schoolboy photographs used in the brochures made him appear younger. He had yet to make a century in the County Championship, go on tour or play a Test, though he was made twelfth man for the Fourth Test against Pakistan and fielded for 20 minutes, but was so nervous he could barely watch.
Robin O'Brien
His most prolific season was in 1956, when he scored 796 runs, second only to Ted Dexter. He also scored both of his first-class centuries in this season, with 107 against Lancashire and 146 against Oxford University. In addition to his 35 first-class matches for Cambridge University, O'Brien also played four for Ireland to 1958, scoring 164 runs and registering one half century. He also made one first-class appearance for the Marylebone Cricket Club "against" Cambridge University in 1958. He gained his cricket blue in 1955, also winning blues in field hockey and golf. O'Brien undertook his National Service with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps while at Cambridge, serving with the rank of Second Lieutenant.