Colin Blythe

Colin Blythe

Colin Blythe photographed c.1906
Personal information
Full name Colin Blythe
Born (1879-05-30)30 May 1879
Deptford, Kent
Died 8 November 1917(1917-11-08) (aged 38)
near Passchendaele, Belgium
Nickname Charlie
Batting style right-handed
Bowling style slow left arm orthodox (SLA)
Role bowler
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 130) 13 December 1901 v Australia
Last Test 11 March 1910 v South Africa
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1899–1914 Kent
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 19 439
Runs scored 183 4,478
Batting average 9.63 9.87
100s/50s 0/0 0/5
Top score 27 82*
Balls bowled 4,546 103,706
Wickets 100 2,506
Bowling average 18.63 16.81
5 wickets in innings 9 218
10 wickets in match 4 71
Best bowling 8/59 10/30
Catches/stumpings 6/– 206/–
Source: Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 11 May 2017

Colin Blythe (30 May 1879 – 8 November 1917), also known as Charlie Blythe, was an English first-class cricketer, active 1899–1914 who played for Kent County Cricket Club as a slow left arm orthodox (SLA) bowler. He was born in Deptford and died near Passchendaele on active service with the British Army during World War I. He is generally regarded as one of the best bowlers of the period between 1900 and 1914. Blythe played in 19 Test matches for England from 1901 to 1910. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the 1904 edition.[1][2] A memorial at Kent's home ground, the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, is dedicated to Blythe and to other members of the club who died on active service in the war.

Early life and career development (1879–1898)

Colin Blythe was born in Deptford. He went on to join the Tonbridge Nursery at the Angel Ground.

Cricket career (1899–1914)

Blythe made his first-class début for Kent in 1899.

Style and technique

Off the field, Blythe played the violin and Harry Altham, writing in Barclay's World of Cricket, said that his slow left arm action "reflected the sensitive touch and the sense of rhythm of a musician", the left arm emerging from behind his back "in a long and graceful arc".[3] Blythe, who had complete mastery of flight and spin, bowled consistently to a full length and made effective use of his fingers at the point of delivery to determine if the ball would be an orthodox break or a late inswinger, either of which was a difficult ball to face on a pitch that helped the bowler.[3][4]

Personality and death

Regarded as a sensitive and artistic person, and a talented violinist, Blythe suffered from epilepsy yet enlisted as a soldier in the British Army when the war broke out in August 1914. He had been about to announce his retirement from cricket at the end of the 1914 season.[4] In September, after the season had been brought to a premature close, his retirement was formally announced.[5] Blythe joined the 12th battalion of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI), which had been raised in Leeds and mostly consisted of Yorkshire miners.[6] He attained the rank of sergeant. On 8 November 1917, he was working on a railway line between Pimmern and Forest Hall near Passchendaele when he was killed instantly after shrapnel from a shell burst pierced his chest.[7]

He is buried in the Oxford Road Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery, near Ypres (Ieper) in Belgium. Like his Kent and England colleague Frank Woolley, Blythe is commemorated in Tonbridge Parish Church and has a road in North Tonbridge named after him.[4] There is a memorial to him at the St Lawrence Ground. Inscribed in block letters on the west face of the plinth is the dedication: "To the memory of Colin Blythe of the Kent Eleven who volunteered for active service upon the outbreak of hostilities in the Great War of 1914–18 and was killed at Ypres on the 18th (sic) Nov 1917. Aged 38 he was unsurpassed among the famous bowlers of the period and beloved by his fellow cricketers". The date is wrong: Blythe was killed on the 8th.[8]

In 2009, when the England cricket team visited the Flanders war graves, they laid a stone cricket ball at Blythe's grave. England's then captain Andrew Strauss said: "It was a deeply moving and humbling experience".[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Colin Blythe". CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  2. ↑ "Colin Blythe". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  3. 1 2 Barclay's, pp.156–157.
  4. 1 2 3 "Tonbridge cricketers". Tonbridge Historical Society. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  5. ↑ Scoble, p. 180.
  6. ↑ Scoble, p. 181.
  7. ↑ Scoble, pp. 185–186.
  8. ↑ Scoble, p. 8.
  9. ↑ "England pay respects in Flanders". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2017.

Bibliography

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