Famous Cricketers No 81 - C.W.L.Parker

Charlie Parker was one of the greatest of all spin bowlers as the figures confirm. He did not like the cricketing Establishment and they clearly got the message as his limited representative appearances show. It was a tragedy as he deserved to be able to prove his skills at the highest level of all. 1903 Parker’s great career began in inauspicious fashion with a match for Gloucestershire against London County at the Crystal Palace ground starting on 4 June. With W.G.Grace leading the opposition and hitting 150 in the London County first innings, Parker bowled 23 unsuccessful overs conceding 85 runs. Gloucestershire were captained by Gilbert Jessop who had preceeded Parker at Cheltenham Grammar School. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 1. Gloucestershire v London County, Crystal Palace, June 4, 5, 6 (London County won by seven wickets) b A.Kermode 0 397 16 1 63 0 311 not out 6 61 7 2 22 0 150-3 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 50 Ct Other match 1 2 1 6 6* 6.00 - - Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Strike RunR Other match 23 3 85 0 - - - - - 61.59 1905 After missing the whole of the 1904 season, Parker played in just one Gloucestershire match in 1905, the game against Lancashire at Old Trafford. In this match he took the first of his 3,278 first-class wickets, getting Reg Spooner lbw with his second ball. He bowled only five overs and, with Lancashire winning the match by 10 wickets, he did not bowl in their second innings. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 2. Gloucestershire v Lancashire, Old Trafford, July 27, 28 (Lancashire won by ten wickets) b W.R.Cuttell 2 201 5 1 27 1 R.H.Spooner lbw 348 c and b W.Cook 0 198 - - - - 53-0 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 50 Ct County Championship 1 2 0 2 2 1.00 - - Career 2 4 1 8 6* 2.66 - - Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Strike RunR Championship 5 1 27 1 1/27 27.00 - - 30.00 90.00 Career 28 4 112 1 1/27 112.00 - - 168.00 66.66 1907 After another blank season in 1906, Parker was selected for seven Gloucestershire matches in 1907, in the course of which he took fourteen wickets at an average of 23.35. Included in these figures was his first five-wicket haul when he helped George Dennett to bowl out Worcestershire in forty overs at Gloucester, Parker’s share being 6 for 56 in twenty overs. Wisden records the fact that a new pitch had to be hastily prepared as the original one was too wet, with the result that twenty-two wickets fell on the first day. Parker played twelve innings for the county scoring 54 runs. It is illustrative of the 5