Charles William Butler (18 September 1854 – 10 June 1937) played
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 ...
for
Tasmania
)
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, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
in six matches over a 26-year period from 1872–73 to 1898–99. He was born in
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
,
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
and died there as well.
In 1874, the great
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
cricketer
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English Amateur status in first-class cricket, amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played ...
stayed with the Butler family while on a cricket tour of Australia and Charles Butler became a friend: Grace named his third son
Charles Butler Grace after Butler.
Butler went into the legal profession, like his father, who was also called Charles Butler, and at his death was reckoned as "one of the best known legal men in Tasmania".
Cricket career
Butler played as a right-handed middle-order batsman, but had limited success in first-class cricket, being dismissed without scoring six times in his 12 first-class innings. His highest score was 31, made in the 1877-78 match against
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
.
In 1878, Butler travelled with the
Australian team that went to England and after
William Midwinter had left the tour to join
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
alongside Grace, Butler was invited to join the team, though in the event he was injured and played in only one non-first-class match, where he failed to score in either innings.
Earlier in the season he had played in a couple of non-first-class matches with Grace at Newcastle upon Tyne.
In Tasmania, he played in the annual North v South and other important non-first-class matches in Tasmania from 1872 to 1901.
His brother,
Francis
Francis may refer to:
People
*Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome
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, also played first-class cricket.
Other sports
Butler was also well known in Tasmania for his prowess at
lawn tennis, being the Hobart champion nine times and runner-up 12 times.
His wife, whom he married in 1882 and with whom he had six children, also played tennis for Tasmania against Victoria.
See also
*
List of Tasmanian representative cricketers
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Charles
1854 births
1937 deaths
Australian cricketers
Tasmania cricketers
Cricketers from Hobart
Australian male tennis players
19th-century Australian sportspeople
Colony of Tasmania people
Sportspeople from Tasmania