John Michael Kumleben (26 May 1933 – 21 June 2014) was a South African

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

between 1956 and 1961. John Kumleben attended

Michaelhouse Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan valley in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. History ''St. Michael's Diocesan College'' was founded in Pietermaritzburg in 18 ...

and the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

before going on to

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

, where he studied law.''University College Record''
November 2016, p. 80. He won a hockey

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

at Oxford, but although he played several matches for the university cricket team he did not win a cricket blue. His highest score was 100, made out of a team total of 196, after Oxford followed on against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

in 1957; he and Christopher Melville added 76 in 50 minutes for the last wicket but were unable to avert an innings defeat. Kumleben became a solicitor after he returned to South Africa in 1957. He played regularly for Orange Free State for four seasons, with a highest score of 51 against Eastern Province in 1959–60, again after a follow-on, this time successfully averting an innings defeat, but not a nine-wicket loss.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumleben, John 1933 births 2014 deaths South African cricketers South African male field hockey players Free State cricketers Cricketers from Bloemfontein Oxford University cricketers Alumni of Michaelhouse University of Cape Town alumni Alumni of University College, Oxford