Charles Henry Vintcent (2 September 1866 – 28 September 1943) was a South African

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 in three

Test matches 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) ...

from 1889 to 1892. Born in

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...

and educated in Cape Town and then

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

, England, Charlie Vintcent, was without doubt the most versatile South African sportsman of his time. He excelled in many sport he played representing both

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

and

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, obtaining his national colours for soccer, a sport he did much to promote on the Reef and as an athlete he was the Transvaal sprint champion in the events from the 100 yards to 440 yards for three years from 1889 to 1891, besides being competitive at both the long and high jump events. Charlie was a left-handed all-rounder who played in both tests in the first home series against England as well as the only test of the 1891/92 series against the second English touring side. He owed his original selection to his fine performance for Kimberley in the fifth match of the tour falling 13 runs short of a century and taking nine wickets in the match for one hundred and five runs off eighty nine overs. He was unable to carry this form into the Internationals and his Test record is not a true reflection of his ability. Nevertheless, he enjoyed a long career in provincial cricket which lasted some twenty seasons playing first an important role for Transvaal in the early

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

fixtures, and then when he returned to the Southern Cape, he captained them in their only appearance at provincial level, by which stage he was nearly 40. Charlie Vintcent lived a long and active life, dying in 1943 at the age of 77.

Family

He married Lilian Jackson and they had three children, among them

Nevill Vintcent Nevill Vintcent OBE DFC (1902 – 29 January 1942) was a South African aviator and airline founder. He was the son of Charles Vintcent, a South African cricketer. Early life Nevill Vintcent, a South African, born in 1902, entered Osborne i ...

DFC, joint founder of the airline that went on to become

Air India Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...

. His elder brother,

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

with Old Carthusians in

1881 Events January–March * January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. * January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The C ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vintcent, Charles 1866 births 1943 deaths People from Mossel Bay South Africa Test cricketers South African cricketers Gauteng cricketers South African rugby union players Golden Lions players People educated at Charterhouse School British sportspeople