Charlie Absolom
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Charles Alfred Absolom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
7 June 1846 Blackheath, Kent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died |
30 July 1889 (aged 43) Port-of-Spain, Trinidad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Cambridge Navvy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Only Test (cap 12) | 2 January 1879 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1866–1869 | Cambridge University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1868–1879 | Kent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricInfo, 19 March 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Charles Alfred Absolom (7 June 1846 – 30 July 1889) was an English amateur cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Kent County Cricket Club and England in the period from 1866 to 1879.
Early life
Absolom was born at Blackheath, Kent, the son of Edward Absolom. He was educated at a school in Calne in Wiltshire and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He won Blues in cricket and athletics at Cambridge before graduating in 1870.[1] He was nicknamed "Cambridge Navvy", a reference to his size and strength.[2][3] In 18 matches for the university he took over 100 wickets and played in the Varsity Match in each year between 1866 and 1869.[4] He played in several games for the Gentlemen against the Players and in 1868 started playing for Kent.[5] After Cambridge he enrolled at Inner Temple but did not complete his law studies.[1]
Cricket career
Absolom toured Australia with Lord Harris's team in 1878/79 and played in the only Test match of the tour. He was selected by Harris, his county captain, for the tour, although at 32 both his batting and his bowling ability were declining.[3] After Australia's Fred Spofforth had taken a hat-trick and helped reduce England to 26 for 7, Absolom came in and made 52 runs from ninth in the batting order, adding 63 runs with Harris for the eighth wicket.[4][6]
He did not play another Test match and had completed his career with Kent by the end of the 1879 season. He had played in 57 matches for the county and taken 87 wickets.[5] In 1868, whilst playing for Cambridge, Absolom became the first batsman in first-class cricket to be given out obstructing the field when a ball being returned to the wicket came into contact with his bat whilst he was attempting to complete a seventh run.[4]
Later life
Absolom left England in 1880 to travel, with little being heard from him for the remainder of his life. He spent time in the Americas and became a ship's purser on the SS Orinoco and the SS Muriel.[1][3] He died in 1889 aged 43 in an accident whilst cargo was being loaded onto a ship at Port of Spain in Trinidad.[3][6]
References
- 1 2 3 "Absolom, Charles Alfred (ABSN865CA)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ↑ Charlie Absolom, CricInfo. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- 1 2 3 4 Green B (1980) The Curious Affair of Charlie Absolom, The Cricketer, 1980. Retrieved from CricInfo, 2017-11-17.
- 1 2 3 Mukherjee A (2016) Charlie Absolom becomes first to get out obstructing the field in First-Class cricket, Cricket Country, 2016-05-11. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- 1 2 Charlie Absolom, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
- 1 2 Liverman D (2017) A profile of Charlie Absolom, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-11-17.