Michael St John Whitehead Burton (born 14 February 1944) is a Zimbabwean former first-class

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. Burton was born in February 1944 at Bulawayo, in what was then a part of

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

. He was educated at Umtali Boys' High School. Burton was selected to represent a South African Schools XI in cricket, before gaining first-class experience with Eastern Province. He debuted for Eastern Province against the touring

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

in 1964. He played first-class cricket intermittently for Eastern Province until November 1967, making five appearances. He took 7 wickets for Eastern Province with his

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowling, in addition to scoring 102 runs. Burton went up to Mansfield College at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

as a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

in 1968. While studying at Oxford, he played first-class cricket 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 ...

, making his varsity debut against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

at Oxford in 1969. He played first-class cricket for Oxford until 1971, making 31 appearances. Burton took 70 wickets for Oxford at an average of 40.24. He took a five wicket haul on two occasions, with best figures of 5 for 96, which came against Nottinghamshire in 1970. As a batsman, he scored 719 runs at a batting average of 15.63 and with a high score of 84. In addition to playing first-class cricket for Oxford, Burton also appeared in a single match for a combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities team against the touring West Indians in 1969. He captained Oxford in 1969–70, the first Rhodes Scholar to do so.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Michael 1944 births Living people Cricketers from Bulawayo Zimbabwean cricketers Eastern Province cricketers Zimbabwean Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Mansfield College, Oxford Oxford University cricketers Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers