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.
Brian Boobbyer
All his first-class cricket was played for Oxford University, for whom he played 40 first-class matches between 1949 and 1952. He scored 1970 runs in all at an average of 26.98, including two centuries and with a highest score of 126. Both centuries were scored against Sussex. His best season was his last, when he scored 802 runs in 13 first-class matches at an average of 34.86. He made his first appearance in the annual University Match against Cambridge in his first season of 1949, and thus was awarded his Blue. He scored what proved to be a match-winning 80 in the 1951 match. The "Daily Telegraph", in its obituary, described him as "a doughty rather than a spectacular cricketer" (though adding that this could not be said of his rugby). Middlesex were interested in signing him as an opening batsman had he not given up the game.