Captain Francis Bernard Roberts (20 May 1882 – 8 February 1916)[1] was an English cricketer and member of the British Armed Forces who was killed in World War I. A right-handed batsman and right-arm fast bowler whose brother Arthur also played first-class cricket, Roberts was born in Nasik in India and played for Cambridge University and Gloucestershire,[2] minor county cricket for Oxfordshire and for his alma mater Magdalen College School, Oxford[1] (1894-1898) and Rossall School (1898-1901).[3] Roberts' first-class career spanned 1903 to 1914 on the outbreak of World War I, across eighty matches where he scored 2,566 runs at a batting average of 20.36 with five centuries and a best of 157. With the ball he took 88 wickets.[4]
A graduate of Jesus College, Cambridge,[5] he served during the First World War as a captain in the 9th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade. He was killed in February 1916 in Belgium aged thirty-three.[6][7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bebbington, David. (2014). Mister Brownrigg's Boys Archived 26 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine: Magdalen College School and The Great War. London: Pen and Sword Books.
- ↑ "Player Profile: Francis Roberts". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ↑ "Teams Played For". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ↑ "Player Profile: Francis Roberts". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ↑ "About Jesus College > Old Library & Archives > Exhibitions > First World War". Cambridge University. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ↑ "Francis Bernard Roberts". Commonwealth Graves Commission. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ↑ "Cricketers who died in World War 1 — Part 5 of 5". Cricket Country. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
External links
- Francis Roberts at ESPNcricinfo
- Francis Roberts at CricketArchive (subscription required)
- Pages using the JsonConfig extension
- 1882 births
- 1916 deaths
- People from Nashik
- People educated at Rossall School
- Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge
- Cambridge University cricketers
- Gloucestershire cricketers
- Oxfordshire cricketers
- British Army personnel of World War I
- British military personnel killed in World War I
- English cricketers
- Rifle Brigade officers
- Military personnel of British India