Charles William Christopher Packe (2 May 1909 – 1 July 1944) 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 who played first-class cricket for

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

between 1929 and 1934 and captained the team for much of the 1932 season. He was born at

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

, South Africa and died near

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,British Army cricket team The Army cricket team is a cricket side representing the British Army. The Army team played 51 first-class matches between 1912 and 1939, although a combined Army and Navy side had played two games against a combined Oxford and Cambridge team ...

Cricket career

Packe was a right-handed middle-order batsman. Though born in South Africa, his family was settled at Great Glen Hall in

and he played for Leicestershire's second eleven in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

from 1927. He made his first-class cricket debut in a single match for the county towards the end of the 1929 season, but then did not play again for the next two seasons. In 1932, Leicestershire struggled to find an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

to captain the team; the 1931 captain,

Eddie Dawson Edward William Dawson (13 February 1904 – 4 June 1979) was an English cricketer who played in five Test matches between 1928 and 1930. A batsman whose studious technique made use of his talent, Dawson excelled as a schoolboy for Eton College ...

was not available and played only once, and the captain from 1921,

Aubrey Sharp Aubrey Temple Sharp (23 March 1889 – 15 February 1973) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Leicestershire County Cricket Club between 1908 and 1935. He was born at Whitwick, Leicestershire and died at Leicester. Sharp ...

, was approached but also was able to play only once. Although no formal appointment was made, Packe, home from the army for the first two-thirds of the season, played in 15 matches as captain, one of six amateurs to captain the team at some stage during the season. Even then, Packe's commitment to Leicestershire was not total: the team's most abject defeat of the season came in the match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge when the side was dismissed twice in 160 minutes of batting time by

Harold Larwood Harold Larwood, MBE (14 November 1904 – 22 July 1995) was a professional cricketer for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team between 1924 and 1938. A right-arm fast bowler who combined unusual speed with great a ...

and

Bill Voce Bill Voce (8 August 1909 – 6 June 1984) was an English cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire and England. As a fast bowler, he was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline strategy in their tour of Australia in 1932–1933 under ...

, bowling unchanged. Packe missed the debacle because he was playing for the Army cricket team against a touring South American side. Packe's own record as a batsman was modest, with 451 runs in county matches at an average of 18.79, and three scores of more than 50. He left regular cricket before the end of the 1932 season, but reappeared in five games for Leicestershire in 1934. There was a brief codicil to Packe's first-class cricket career. Following his appearance for the Army cricket team in 1932, he played four further first-class games for the Army between 1937 and 1939. In a rain-spoiled match against a weak Cambridge University side in May 1938, he hit 176 in 135 minutes, with 29 fours, to record his highest first-class score. His century came in 75 minutes and was the fastest of the season until beaten by

Don Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...

, by two minutes, three weeks later. The following season, 1939, the same fixture saw a glut of runs and Packe was again the highest scorer, his 145 on that occasion taking 170 minutes with 20 fours. It was Packe's last first-class match.

Military career and death

Less than a week after Packe's first-class cricket debut, he was cited in the

London Gazette London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

as having passed through the

Royal Military College Royal Military College may refer to: ;Australia * Royal Military College, Duntroon, Campbell, Australian Capital Territory ;Canada * Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario * Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Saint-Jean, Quebec ;Mala ...

as a

gentleman cadet Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University Air ...

and was now attached as a second lieutenant to the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

. He remained with the regiment for the remainder of his life. In 1937 he is recorded as a lieutenant, seconded to Northern Command as supervising officer for physical training. As Major Packe, he was killed in the action that followed the Normandy landings in the summer of 1944. His wife, the former Margaret Lane Fox, youngest daughter of Lord Bingley, gave birth to their daughter two weeks after his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Packe, Charles 1909 births 1944 deaths English cricketers Leicestershire cricketers Leicestershire cricket captains British Army cricketers British Army personnel killed in World War II Cricketers from Pietermaritzburg Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Royal Fusiliers officers South African military personnel