Bob Cottam (born Robert Michael Henry Cottam, 16 October 1944,

Cleethorpes Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...

, Lincolnshire) is a former 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 who played in four

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

from 1969 to 1972. Cottam was a right-handed batsman, who bowled right-arm fast-medium. The cricket writer, Colin Bateman, noted that "Cottam's ability to bowl sharp seamers or cutters at a reduced pace on turning wickets made him a useful tourist, and his four England caps came on two tours of the Indian subcontinentthen retired to live in Dartmouth Devon ".

Life and career

After attending school in Wembley, Cottam began his career at Hampshire in 1963 and used his height, stamina and accuracy to good effect with the new ball. He took 100 wickets in a season on three occasions and took 9 for 25 against Lancashire in 1965. Although ideally suited to English conditions, his only Test caps came on tours of the subcontinent, to Pakistan and

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

under Colin Cowdrey in 1968–9, and India and Pakistan in 1972–3 under Tony Lewis. It was a testament to his skill that he took 14 wickets at 23.35 in his four tests, and he was unlucky to miss out on home selection. He switched counties to Northants in 1971, his style of bowling evolving to concentrate on remorseless accuracy, and continued to be a prolific wicket taker. He took over a 1,000 first-class wickets in all, at an average of 20.91. Although skilled with the ball, he was a confirmed

tailender In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...

with the bat, recording just one half century in 289 first-class matches. He turned to coaching after retiring from the playing arena, appointed as Warwickshire's manager and then Somerset's director of cricket, before being picked by David Lloyd to serve as England's bowling coach between 1998 and 2001. He also played

minor county cricket The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

for Devon. His son,

Andy Cottam Andrew Colin Cottam (born 14 July 1973 in Northampton, England) is an English cricket coach and former player. He was a right-handed batsman and a left-arm slow bowler. He played in 2 Under-19 Tests in 1992 and 13 first-class matches between 199 ...

, played first-class cricket for Derbyshire and Somerset.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cottam, Bob 1944 births Living people England Test cricketers English cricketers Hampshire cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers People from Cleethorpes Cricketers from Wembley Devon cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English cricket coaches T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Touring Team cricketers