Charles Henry Palmer (15 May 1919 – 31 March 2005) 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 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 ...

and

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

from 1938 to 1959. He was born at

Old Hill Old Hill is a small village in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands, England, situated around north of Halesowen and south of Dudley. Initially a separate village it is now part of the much larger West Midlands conurba ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

.Telegraph, 95 Palmer also played one

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He later went on to become a respected cricket administrator. He was awarded his CBE in 1984 for services to cricket in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Life and career

Palmer was a small man (five foot seven inches tall, only a slight build) with poor eyesight who played wearing

glasses Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples or ...

Trevor Bailey Trevor Edward Bailey (3 December 1923 – 10 February 2011) was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster. An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting. As the BBC reflected in his obituary: "His ...

joked that he looked "a natural for the role of a hen-pecked bank clerk in a farce".Telegraph, 93 This did not stop him becoming a fine batsman and slow medium bowler because he "possessed deceptively strong wrists" which enabled him to play shots like the cut and drive with excellent timing. Palmer first played cricket for Worcestershire in 1938, before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and a teaching career intervened, although he still played a few games for the Bombay Europeans in Indian domestic cricket in 1946, with some games for Worcestershire. In 1948, he scored 85 in a morning's play against Don Bradman's Australian tourists (the "Invincibles") with

Ray Lindwall Raymond Russell Lindwall (3 October 1921 – 23 June 1996) was a cricketer who represented Australia in 61 Tests from 1946 to 1960. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. He also played top-flight rugby league f ...

and

Keith Miller Keith Ross Miller (28 November 1919 – 11 October 2004) was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. His ability, irreverent m ...

both bowling. Bradman praised his effort but it did not bring a test match selection at that time. Palmer did tour South Africa with MCC in 1948–49 but didn't play in any of the tests there. He joined Leicestershire as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and secretary in 1950, and passed 1,000 runs in each of the eight full seasons he played for them. In 1953, Leicestershire finished third in the

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 ...

, the highest they had achieved at that stage since entering the competition in 1895. As late as August that season, the team were top of the table for the first time ever and Palmer was praised as: "A leader without flourish, but indeed a leader". On the back of this, he was appointed player-manager of the England tour side to the West Indies in 1953-54, which was captained by

Len Hutton Sir Leonard Hutton (23 June 1916 – 6 September 1990) was an English cricketer. He played as an opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England in 79 Test matches between 1937 and 1955. ''Wisden Cricketer ...

, and it was here that he won his only Test cap, making 22 and 0 and taking no wickets in the five overs he bowled. The series was played in bad temper, but Palmer's good-natured style helped the situation. Palmer played two memorable innings for the Gentlemen versus the Players in matches at Lord's in 1952 and 1955, scoring 127 and 154 against some of the best bowlers in the country. In 1955, Palmer was responsible for one of the most remarkable spells of bowling in cricketing history. Putting himself on to bowl 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. ...

to allow his main two bowlers to change ends, he took 8 wickets for 7 runs, with his figures at one stage being 12-12-0-8. Ironically, his figures were "spoiled" by

Jim Laker James Charles Laker (9 February 1922 – 23 April 1986) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club from 1946 to 1959 and represented England in 46 Test matches. He was born in Shipley, West Riding of York ...

whose eight for two in 1950 is the world record return by a bowler taking eight wickets. A catch was dropped from a swing by Laker which deprived Palmer of a nine for none return and Laker then managed to edge a few more so that Palmer finished with eight for seven. Even worse for Palmer was that Surrey still won the match by seven wickets.Telegraph, 94 A curiosity of Palmer's bowling was his fascination with what is called the "donkey drop". This is usually an accidental delivery that flies high because the ball has been released too soon. Palmer used it deliberately, sending it twenty feet or so high with the intention of it dropping behind the batsman and onto his stumps. It sometimes paid off and in 1957 when leading Leicestershire against the touring West Indians, Palmer claimed the wickets of no less than

Frank Worrell Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell (1 August 1924 – 13 March 1967), sometimes referred to by his nickname of Tae, was a West Indies cricketer and Jamaican senator. A stylish right-handed batsman and useful left-arm seam bowler, he became fam ...

and

Rohan Kanhai Rohan Babulal Kanhai (born 26 December 1935) is a Guyanese former cricketer of Tamil Indo-Guyanese origin , who represented the West Indies in 79 Test matches. He is widely considered to be one of the best batsmen of the 1960s. Kanhai featur ...

with it. After retiring as a cricketer, Palmer was appointed chairman of Leicestershire, he became a member of 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 ...

(MCC) committee, was President of the MCC in 1978–79, and chairman of the

Test and County Cricket Board The Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) was the governing body for Test and county cricket in Great Britain between 1968 and 1996. The TCCB was established in 1968 to replace the functions of the Board of Control for Test Matches (established ...

between 1983 and 1985. He died, at the age of 85, in March 2005.

References

* Smith, Martin (editor). ''The Promise of Endless Summer (Cricket Lives from the Daily Telegraph)''. Aurum (2013).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Charles 1919 births 2005 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Leicestershire cricket captains Leicestershire cricketers Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Worcestershire cricketers English cricket administrators Europeans cricketers Sportspeople from Staffordshire Gentlemen cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire North v South cricketers 20th-century British businesspeople Marylebone Cricket Club South African Touring Team cricketers