Robert Carpenter (cricketer)

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Robert Pearson Carpenter (born 18 November 1830 in Mill Road, Cambridge and died 14 July 1901 in Cambridge). He was a noted English cricketer and umpire. A right-handed batsman and occasional wicket-keeper, he played for Cambridgeshire during its brief period as a first-class county in the 1850s and 1860s, as well as for the United All-England Eleven. He umpired in two Tests between England and Australia in the 1880s.

Carpenter's known first-class career spanned the 1855 to 1876 seasons. He scored 5220 runs in 141 matches @ 24.39, making 4 centuries with a highest score of 134. He took 190 catches and made 2 stumpings.

He played in the Gentlemen v Players fixture for the Players on many occasions, scoring centuries in the 1860 and 1861 fixtures at The Oval.

At the end of the 1859 English cricket season, Carpenter was one of the 12 players who took part in cricket's first-ever overseas tour when an England led by George Parr visited North America. He also toured Australia with Parr in 1863.

In the early 1860s, Carpenter and his Cambridgeshire contemporary Thomas Hayward were rated as the finest batsmen in England. Richard Daft was among those ranking them as equal first, but George Parr reckoned Carpenter the better of the two.^[1]

His son Herbert played for Essex.

[edit] Notes

^ Number One: The World's Best Batsmen and Bowlers, Simon Wilde, pub. Victor Gollancz, 1998, ISBN 978-0-575-06453-9, p49.

[edit] External sources

[edit] References

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians - various publications
Scores & Biographies by Arthur Haygarth (SBnnn)
The Hamlyn A-Z of Cricket Records by Peter Wynne-Thomas (PWT) – includes 1859 touring team photo