Charles Kortright

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Charles Jesse Kortright (born January 9, 1871 at Furze Hall, Fryerning, Ingatestone, Essex; died December 12, 1952 at Brookstreet, South Weald, Essex) was an English cricketer who played for Essex. In his obituary in the 1953 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, he was described as 'probably the fastest bowler in the history of the game'.

Charles Kortright played for Essex from 1889 to 1907. He took 489 wickets in first-class matches at an average of 21.05, with best innings figures of 8/57. (Many of Essex's matches prior to 1895, when they were admitted to the County Championship, were not first-class.) He was also a useful, hard-hitting batsman, with two first-class hundreds to his credit and an average of 17.61.

Though he never played Test cricket, he appeared for the Gentlemen in the Gentlemen v Players match which, in years when no Test team was touring England, was the most prestigious fixture of the season. John Arlott included him in his best XI never to play Test cricket for England. [1]