Crowther Charlesworth (12 February 1875 – 15 June 1953) 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. He was a right-hand batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler who played for

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. Born in Swinton,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, Charlesworth began his first-class career in 1898 and played regularly for Warwickshire until 1921. Despite missing a number of seasons because of the First World War, he still made 372 matches for the county scoring 14,289 at an average of 23.61 and taking 295 wickets at 30.09. Described by '' Wisden'' as 'A brilliant batsman specially strong in driving',Wisden 1954 – Obituaries

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

, Retrieved on 22 November 2008 Charlesworth passed 1,000 runs in a season five times. His most productive season came in 1911 when he scored 1,376 runs at 38.22, including four centuries. These runs assisted Warwickshire to their first

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 ...

title. Charlesworth scored 15 first-class centuries, two of which he converted into doubles. The first of these came in 1910 when he scored 216 against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, the innings lasting three hours and forty minutes. The second came in 1914 when he struck 206 against a strong

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

attack including

George Hirst George Herbert Hirst (7 September 1871 – 10 May 1954) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929. One of the best all-r ...

and

Wilfred Rhodes Wilfred Rhodes (29 October 1877 – 8 July 1973) was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman t ...

. Charlesworth's pace bowling garnered seven five-wicket hauls, the first two of these came in the same match when he took match figures of 10/135 in a 16-run victory over

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. ...

in 1901. Later that season he recorded the best innings figures of his career when taking 6/45 against Derbyshire. In 1920 he was awarded a benefit match which generated £1041, the figure was a Warwickshire record which remained unsurpassed until 1945. In his final season, after Charlesworth had made a fine 81 out of 138 v Somerset, he suffered a nasty injury to his eye, being hit by a shot played by

Jack MacBryan John Crawford William MacBryan (22 July 1892 – 14 July 1983) was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University and Somerset and made one almost imperceptible appearance in a Test match for England. MacBryan was also a field hoc ...

whilst fielding at short leg. In 1925 and 1926 Charlesworth was on the umpires list, standing in 42 matches.List of First-class matches umpired
CricketArchive, Retrieved on 22 November 2008 He died in

Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th cen ...

, aged 78.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charlesworth, Crowther 1875 births 1953 deaths English cricketers Warwickshire cricketers English cricket umpires People from Swinton, Greater Manchester Cricketers from Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the City of Salford