David Jarrett's main claim to fame was that in 1976 he became the first person to win a Blue for Cambridge after already doing so for Oxford a year earlier, a move that was widely condemned, as was his decision to bat for Cambridge in a dark blue hat.

A right-hand batsman, he did little of note for either side, but his record in his one season with Cambridge in 1976 (327 runs at 20.43) was better than the previous two at Oxford (350 runs at 14.00). There was a certain irony that he made 56 for Cambridge in the 1976 Varsity match, a higher score than he had managed in 25 innings for the dark blues. It was his third Varsity match in a year, as in February 1976 he had won a hockey Blue in Cambridge's 0-7 drubbing.

In 1975 he had staged a dogged rearguard to help save Oxford from defeat. John Woodcock in The Times noted, however, that Jarrett's hairstyle indicated "he might be going straight from Lord's to appear for the Oxford Ladies."

He went into teaching after university, becoming headmaster of Reed's School in Surrey.
Martin Williamson