Lives in Cricket No 51 - Rev ES Carter

Gentlemen of Yorkshire 60 the club moved to play permanently on the Escrick ground which is in a beautiful setting in the larger grounds of the now St Margaret’s School. In August 1877 Carter turned out for Yorkshire Revellers in a two-day match against Wakefield. He did rather well, opening the bowling, later keeping wicket and then scoring 109 not out. This was reported in the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent : “Mr Carter especially was in grand form, his cutting being a treat to witness. A better all round cricketer is seldom seen and his not out innings of 109 was a very fine display. His wicket keeping in both innings was quite first class.” Carter later told Old Ebor that he thought this was his best ever innings, not least because the opening bowlers forWakefield were Luke Greenwood of Yorkshire, and George Hay the Derbyshire fast bowler. He told Old Ebor that he had scored 60 or 80 before lunch and ‘on resuming Luke said “Mr Carter, I wish you’d come to this end a bit, and let me have a go at some other gentlemen. I’ve been hammering at you all day!”’ The Revellers were a social side with a limited fixture list and Carter played three innings for them in 1877, twice not out, and finishing with an average of 143! In the mid 1880s the Revellers would play on the York Cricket Club ground, and Carter continued to play the occasional game for them. He enjoyed those opportunities. In February 1890, at the annual dinner, Carter was named as President for the coming season. Carter had a good 1877 season for the Gentlemen. He played in 19 of the 24 matches in which his club was engaged. In 24 innings he averaged 29, the highest batting average for his team that year and the Yorkshire Herald reported that he ‘carried off the premier bat’ though whether that quotation means that he was given another bat is unclear. His bowling average was as low as ten that year though he was not top of those averages. This was also in a season when he played from late August three consecutive matches for Yorkshire, his best run for the county club, these games, and other first-class matches, to be considered in the next chapter.