Lives in Cricket No 51 - Rev ES Carter

Preface InMay 1900 themagazine Cricket , in referring to the appointment as a minor canon of the Reverend William Ashleigh, who had played for Kent since 1885 contained this comment within Pavilion Gossip - “ we are not certain whether etiquette would allow a minor canon to disport himself on the cricket field in modern first-class matches. Is there any instance of a minor canon playing for his county? ” That editor had certainly forgotten Edmund Sardinson Carter of Yorkshire, who had become a minor canon at York Minster in 1875 and was still playing occasionally at first-class level up to 1882. In the late 19th century the Church of England and the individual clergy within that Church were powerful forces in England, and in a cathedral city, and the diocese of an archbishop, the force was very considerable. In York with its great Minster, the archbishop and the dean together with the annually changing lord mayor of the city provided a very strong trio of men who led thought and discussion on all manner of topics and campaigns both religious and secular. Those who supported them, as did Edmund Carter, were leaders in their own right and well known to the local population. The churches were full on Sundays and the expansion in numbers too of those churches was considerable. To be a 19th century clergyman was to hold a position both wholly worthwhile and respected. If it were possible to add other attributes to the strictly clerical role, that enhanced the respect given to individual members of the clergy. Edmund Carter, through his sporting ability as an adjunct to his clerical roles was one of those who led an important and valued life. Clerical cricketers in the 19th century were quite common. Over 300 men in that period who went on to play the game at first-class level became or were already clergymen, and many had begun such cricketing status at Oxford or Cambridge universities with no small number going on to play as amateurs for county sides, particularly, it would seem, for Hampshire or Somerset. During the 20th century the number of clerics playing first-class matches declined, maybe to about 150, and that decline continues as the 5