Robert Chapman
Encyclopedia
Robert James Chapman is an English
cricketer
who played first-class cricket
for Nottinghamshire
and Worcestershire
between 1992 and 1998, and List A cricket for Lincolnshire
in the early 21st century. He is the son of footballer Bob Chapman
, who was often known as 'Sammy'.
Chapman first played for Nottinghamshire's Second XI as a teenager, but his first-class debut came in July 1992 in the County Championship
match against Warwickshire
. He took one wicket in each innings (both future international players: Roger Twose
and Neil Smith), but Notts declared in both innings and he did not get a chance to bat. In fact, he did not play another first team game at all for nearly two years, when he played against Cambridge University
in April 1994. He took two wickets, but again was not called upon to bat.
He finally got his chance at the batting crease in July 1994 in Nottinghamshire's game against the South Africans
, although he must have wondered why he bothered after being dismissed for 9 and 0. With the ball he took a single wicket (that of Peter Kirsten
), but the county slipped to defeat by 134 runs
. He played one other first-class, and two one-day
, matches that season, but had little success in any of them.
In 1995 Chapman played intermittently from mid-June onwards, but averaged
over 70 with the ball for his 11 first-class wickets. In one-day cricket he was less expensive but could manage only four wickets in 44 overs. Nor did his batting improve: he barely batted at all in List A games, but he made only 78 runs in 11 first-class innings at 9.75
. The following year he was selected only twice, though he did take 4-109 against South Africa A
, and he left the county before the 1996 season was out, moving to Worcestershire in August.
Chapman played only second-team cricket for Worcestershire at first, but accompanied his new county on tour to Zimbabwe
in the winter and made his first-class debut for them against a Matabeleland
Invitation XI at Bulawayo
in late March. He took only two wickets in the match, although his part (7 not out
from 25 balls) in a first-innings last-wicket partnership of 19 ultimately proved important as Worcestershire won the game by just 18 runs.
Returning to England, Chapman quickly found himself in a similar position to that which he had experienced at Nottinghamshire: that of the second-string player good enough to play a number of matches but never quite able to hold down a permanent first-team spot. He played six first-class and 11 one-day games during the season, but could manage a total of only 20 wickets in the two forms of the game combined. With the bat he was even more hapless than in previous years, scoring an almost insignificant ten runs in his seven innings, only one of those being not out.
1998 was a better season for Chapman, and in the second half of the season he finally managed to make himself into a first-team regular. He took 33 first-class wickets at 28.57, and 15 List A wickets at under 20 apiece. At the start of August he achieved career bests in both forms of the game, first taking 5-30 against Yorkshire
in the AXA League
and then a matter of days later claiming 6-105 in the Championship against his old county of Nottinghamshire. Sadly for Chapman, both feats were in a losing cause, although the 43 not out he hit against Durham
(his highest score in county cricket
) was more productive: he put on a century stand with Richard Illingworth
(84) for the ninth wicket, then followed that up by taking 3-26 to help his side to a 155-run win.
Despite his improved statistics in 1998, the following year was entirely frustrating for Chapman, who found himself confined to the second team all season. In 2000, he left Worcestershire and moved counties again, this time to the minor county of Lincolnshire under the captaincy of another former Notts player, Mark Fell
. Here he found rather more success, taking 4-18 against Berkshire
in the first round of the 2002 C&G Trophy
(actually played, due to the vagaries of the fixture list, in August 2001), and making his first ever List A half-century when in the same competition in 2003 he hit what, even though Lincolnshire lost the game, must have been a very satisfying unbeaten 53 against Nottinghamshire.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
who played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
and Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
between 1992 and 1998, and List A cricket for Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire County Cricket Club
Lincolnshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs, which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Lincolnshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
in the early 21st century. He is the son of footballer Bob Chapman
Bob Chapman
Bob Chapman is an English footballer who played as a defender in the Football League during the 1960s and 1970s, most notably with Nottingham Forest....
, who was often known as 'Sammy'.
Chapman first played for Nottinghamshire's Second XI as a teenager, but his first-class debut came in July 1992 in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
match against Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
. He took one wicket in each innings (both future international players: Roger Twose
Roger Twose
Roger Graham Twose played 16 Tests and 87 One Day Internationals for New Zealand in the mid-1990s.Born in England, Twose moved to play in New Zealand in 1991-92, as it became clear he would struggle to ever force his way into the England side...
and Neil Smith), but Notts declared in both innings and he did not get a chance to bat. In fact, he did not play another first team game at all for nearly two years, when he played against Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
in April 1994. He took two wickets, but again was not called upon to bat.
He finally got his chance at the batting crease in July 1994 in Nottinghamshire's game against the South Africans
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
, although he must have wondered why he bothered after being dismissed for 9 and 0. With the ball he took a single wicket (that of Peter Kirsten
Peter Kirsten
Peter Noel Kirsten is a former cricketer who represented South Africa in 12 Tests and 40 One Day Internationals from 1991 to 1994.-Cricket career:...
), but the county slipped to defeat by 134 runs
The result in cricket
The result in a game of cricket may be a win for one of the two teams playing, a draw or a tie. In the case of a limited overs game, the game can also end with no result...
. He played one other first-class, and two one-day
One-day cricket
Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket and in a slightly different context as List A cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day, whereas Test and first-class matches can take up to five days to complete...
, matches that season, but had little success in any of them.
In 1995 Chapman played intermittently from mid-June onwards, but averaged
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
over 70 with the ball for his 11 first-class wickets. In one-day cricket he was less expensive but could manage only four wickets in 44 overs. Nor did his batting improve: he barely batted at all in List A games, but he made only 78 runs in 11 first-class innings at 9.75
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
. The following year he was selected only twice, though he did take 4-109 against South Africa A
South Africa A cricket team
The South Africa A cricket team is a national cricket team representing South Africa. It is the 'second-tier' of international South African cricket, below the full South Africa national cricket team. Matches played by South Africa A are not considered to be Test matches or One Day...
, and he left the county before the 1996 season was out, moving to Worcestershire in August.
Chapman played only second-team cricket for Worcestershire at first, but accompanied his new county on tour to Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
in the winter and made his first-class debut for them against a Matabeleland
Matabeleland
Modern day Matabeleland is a region in Zimbabwe divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers. The region is named after its inhabitants, the Ndebele people...
Invitation XI at Bulawayo
Bulawayo Athletic Club
Bulawayo Athletic Club is a cricket club that competes in Zimbabwe's National League competition. It is also the name given to the club's ground. It can hold over 12,000 spectators....
in late March. He took only two wickets in the match, although his part (7 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
from 25 balls) in a first-innings last-wicket partnership of 19 ultimately proved important as Worcestershire won the game by just 18 runs.
Returning to England, Chapman quickly found himself in a similar position to that which he had experienced at Nottinghamshire: that of the second-string player good enough to play a number of matches but never quite able to hold down a permanent first-team spot. He played six first-class and 11 one-day games during the season, but could manage a total of only 20 wickets in the two forms of the game combined. With the bat he was even more hapless than in previous years, scoring an almost insignificant ten runs in his seven innings, only one of those being not out.
1998 was a better season for Chapman, and in the second half of the season he finally managed to make himself into a first-team regular. He took 33 first-class wickets at 28.57, and 15 List A wickets at under 20 apiece. At the start of August he achieved career bests in both forms of the game, first taking 5-30 against Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
in the AXA League
National League (cricket)
The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old Sunday League retitled to reflect the fact that large numbers of matches were played on days other than Sunday.-Sunday League:The...
and then a matter of days later claiming 6-105 in the Championship against his old county of Nottinghamshire. Sadly for Chapman, both feats were in a losing cause, although the 43 not out he hit against Durham
Durham County Cricket Club
Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...
(his highest score in county cricket
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
) was more productive: he put on a century stand with Richard Illingworth
Richard Illingworth
Richard Illingworth is an English former cricketer, who is currently a first-class cricket umpire. The bulk of his domestic cricketing career occurred with Worcestershire, although he had a spell with Derbyshire, and overseas with Natal...
(84) for the ninth wicket, then followed that up by taking 3-26 to help his side to a 155-run win.
Despite his improved statistics in 1998, the following year was entirely frustrating for Chapman, who found himself confined to the second team all season. In 2000, he left Worcestershire and moved counties again, this time to the minor county of Lincolnshire under the captaincy of another former Notts player, Mark Fell
Mark Fell
Mark Fell was an English cricketer. he was a right-handed batsman and a slow left-arm bowler who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire between 1981 and 1985....
. Here he found rather more success, taking 4-18 against Berkshire
Berkshire County Cricket Club
Berkshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Berkshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and MCCA Knockout Trophy....
in the first round of the 2002 C&G Trophy
C&G Trophy
The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom.It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties compete each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland...
(actually played, due to the vagaries of the fixture list, in August 2001), and making his first ever List A half-century when in the same competition in 2003 he hit what, even though Lincolnshire lost the game, must have been a very satisfying unbeaten 53 against Nottinghamshire.
External links
- Statistical summary from CricketArchiveCricketArchiveCricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...