Oswell Robert Borradaile (9 May 1859 – 11 May 1935) was an English

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 and a cricket administrator who was the secretary of

Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 when ...

for 31 years from 1890. The son of The Reverend Abraham Borradaile, he was born at

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

in May 1859. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, where he was in Grant's House. A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler, Borradaile had played minor matches for Essex from 1891. He made his sole appearance in

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 Essex against

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

at Leyton in 1894: from the lower-middle order, he scored 2 runs in the first innings in which he batted before being dismissed by Tom Richardson, and 5 runs in the second in which he was dismissed leg before by Herbert Thompson, as Essex lost the match by an innings margin. While fielding, he took one catch, that of Bill Brockwell from the bowling of Walter Mead. It was as a cricket administrator that Borradaile became better known. He was secretary of Essex from 1890 and steered the county club towards first-class status in 1894 and membership of the enlarged

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

from 1895. He remained in post for 31 years, and was credited with saving the club from bankruptcy: Borradaile's predecessor, Morton Peto Betts, had saddled the club with big debts through the purchase of the County Ground at Leyton. The debt was finally removed in 1921, the year Borradaile resigned through ill-health, by the sale of the ground to the Army Sports Central Board. Borradaile was described by '' Wisden'' as "a man of strong personality, tremendous enthusiasm and energy". During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he played an active part in keeping the game alive by arranging for teams to play the

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 ...

, whom Borradaile had played minor matches for from 1879 to 1910. He died at

Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish situated in the county of East Sussex in South East England. An ancient town and part of the local government district of Rother, Bexhill is home to a number of arc ...

in May 1935. His cousin was the cricketer and clergyman Thomas Reay.

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Oswell Borradaile
at Cricket Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Borradaile, Oswell 1859 births 1935 deaths Cricketers from the City of Westminster People from Westminster People educated at Westminster School, London English cricketers Essex cricketers English cricket administrators