Charles Pigg (4 September 1856 – 28 February 1929) was an English

cricketer 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 ...

who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, 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) and other

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 ...

sides between 1876 and 1901. He was born at

Buntingford Buntingford is a market town and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England. It lies next to the River Rib and is located on the historic Roman road, Ermine Street. As a result of its location, it ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

and died at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

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 ...

. His twin brother,

Herbert Pigg Herbert Pigg (4 September 1856 – 8 June 1913) was an England, English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University Cricket Club, Cambridge University, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and other amateur status in first-class ...

, also played first-class cricket. Pigg was educated at Abington House School in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

. As a cricketer he was a right-handed lower-order batsman and a right-arm round-arm slow bowler. He matriculated at

in the autumn of 1875, but in the 1876 season his only first-class cricket match was for an England XI ''against'' the university side: he scored one run and took one wicket. He played for the university team in a handful of matches in 1877, 1878 and 1879, but at a time when the team could call upon the services of players such as

A. G. Steel Allan Gibson Steel (24 September 1858 – 15 June 1914) was an English amateur cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1877 to 1893, and in Test cricket for England from 1880 to 1888. He was born in West Derby, Liverpool, ...

A. P. Lucas Alfred Perry "Bunny" Lucas (20 February 1857 – 12 October 1923) was an English first-class cricketer from 1874 to 1907, playing for Cambridge University, Surrey, Middlesex and Essex. He also played five Test matches for the England cricket tea ...

and

Ivo Bligh Ivo is a masculine given name, in use in various European languages. The name used in western European languages originates as a Normans, Normannic name recorded since the High Middle Ages, and the French name Yves (given name), Yves is a varian ...

, plus a smattering of Lytteltons, he did not warrant a regular place and he was not picked for any of the University Matches against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Pigg graduated from Cambridge University with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1879; this converted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1887. He became a schoolmaster at Blairlodge School in Scotland for four years before taking up private tutoring, initially in

St Leonards-on-Sea St Leonards-on-Sea (commonly known as St Leonards) is a town and seaside resort in the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. It has been part of the borough since the late 19th century and lies to the west of central Hastings. The origina ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. From 1892 to 1922, he was a private tutor in Cambridge, coaching the duller students through the rigours of Cambridge exams and, according to a reminiscence in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' at his death, a much-loved and respected character. "I should doubt whether any coach ever had pupils more numerous, more idle, and, on the whole, more pleasant," wrote a correspondent calling himself "B. D.". "They loved him; they confided in him as to their adventures; they called him Charles; and they all felt for him complete respect as well as affection." Pigg resumed his intermittent first-class cricket career from 1886 with occasional matches for MCC, many of them against Cambridge University, and for other amateur teams. His highest first-class score came in 1890 when he captained MCC against Cambridge at

Fenner's Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground. History Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orchar ...

and scored 48; he never took more than one wicket in an innings with his occasional bowling. From the mid 1890s he played regularly for

in the

Minor Counties 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 ...

competition and from 1903 to 1911 he likewise appeared in Minor Counties games for

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

, often acting as captain and sometimes with his sons, Charles and Bernard, playing alongside him. In addition to his cricket activities, he was also a keen golfer and was instrumental in securing permanent facilities for the

Cambridge University Golf Club The Cambridge University Golf Club is the golf club for the University of Cambridge, England. It comprises the Blues team, the second-team Cambridge University Golf Club Stymies, and the Ladies team. The club was founded in 1869, and the first ...

at a course near Newmarket. He retired to Cheltenham but had been present at the winter meeting of the golf club a month before his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pigg, Charles 1856 births 1929 deaths English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers All-England Eleven cricketers Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge People from Buntingford Hertfordshire cricketers Cambridgeshire cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers Non-international England cricketers