Charlie Townsend
- This is about the Gloucestershire cricketer. For other uses, see the disambiguation page Charles Townsend
Charlie Townsend (Charles Lucas Townsend; born November 7 1876, Bristol; died October 17, 1958, Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, England) was a Gloucestershire cricketer of the 1890s. Though hardly known today, for natural all-round ability Townsend could certainly bear comparison with the famous Gloucesteshire trio of Grace, Jessop and Hammond. However, it is fair to say Townsend lacked the commitment to cricket required for the sustained success of those players, and his batting and bowling ability almost never came off fully in the one match.
Townsend first emerged as a leg break bowler from Clifton College at the tender age of sixteen in 1893. He took 21 wickets in four games and showed, despite his very slight build, the ability to get through a lot of bowling and spin the ball prodigiously from leg. The following year, Townsend's record was modest, and he was seen as not physically strong enough for county cricket.
It was in 1895 that the sensation of Townsend's career occurred. Schoolwork meant he played only one match up to the 21st of July – taking only two wickets for 94 – yet in Gloucestershire's remaining 11 matches he took 122 wickets. With increased physical strength, Townsend spun the ball so much on the treacherous pitches upon which almost all these games were played that, though he was often freely hit, even the best batsmen inevitably succumbed to viciously turning balls. Townsend's dominance was such that he bowled over 95 percent of Gloucestershire's overs from one end during these matches!
The fact that Townsend was never tested on good pitches during his amazing spell in 1895 was considered insignificant at the time. However, during May, June and July 1896, when the weather was consistently dry and pitches very true, Townsend proved extremely ineffective. Though when the rain finally came he took 38 wickets in the last four matches, it was clear he was an easy bowler to play on firm pitches. The following year, Townsend's bowling was expensive even on the few rain-affected pitches because he was sacrificing accuracy to gain spin, but his batting developed so much that he attained the status of an all-rounder, scoring a maiden century against Yorkshire and winning a critical match against Nottinghamshire. Townsend was classically stylish, left-handed batsman, who was able to hit well despite his slender build. His off-side strokes were particularly effective, and his driving often powerful.
In 1898, Townsend bowled with deadly effect on a sticky wicket at Lord's to win the opening match against Middlesex, and, though on the hard pitches his bowling was utterly harmless, his skill as a batsman reached far beyond that of previous years and he hit five excellent centuries – the highest being 159 against Lancashire. When the rain returned in August, he lost his batting, but his bowling was – remarkably – even more irresistible than in 1895. In five matches, he obtained the following analyses:
- v Kent at Cheltenham: 275 balls; 15 maidens; 13 wickets for 92 runs.
- v Warwickshire at Cheltenham: 389 balls: 12 maidens; 15 wickets for 205 runs.
- v Essex at Clifton College Close Ground: 336 balls; 15 maidens; 15 wickets for 141 runs.
- v Somerset at Taunton: 201 balls; 6 maidens; 12 wickets for 117 runs.
- v Surrey at Clifton College Close Ground: 332 balls; 17 maidens; 9 wickets for 160 runs.
- Total for five matches: 1533 balls; 65 maidens; 64 wickets for 715 runs (average 11.17 runs per wicket).
Townsend was rewarded for his splendid all-round feats with selection as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year, and his jump to the front rank of batsmen continued in the dry summer of 1899, when he made nine centuries, including a brilliant 224 against Essex. Although his bowling had become very expensive even when the pitches helped him, Townsend was chosen for his only Tests against Australia. He did very modestly in these matches, but in 1900 – though he only took 57 first-class wickets – Townsend again batted very well, showing greater ability than before to counter the spinning ball on treacherous pitches.
However, from 1901 Townsend began devoting most of the summer to studying law and later practicing as a solicitor. This meant that he could only play a handful of matches each season until 1906. Though he hardly bowled at all in these games, if anything his batting skill had increased, as shown by his 147 on a fairly difficult pitch against Sussex in 1902, and a brilliant 214 against Worcestershire in 1906. From 1907 he was appointed as Official Receiver at Stockton and could play only exceptionally rarely (though he would have played in the Cheltenham festival in 1908 but for a strain). Innings of 61 against a formidable Yorkshire attack in his only appearance for 1907, 126 against the Australians in 1909 and an astonishing 84 (after Gloucestershire at been dismissed for a record low 22 in their first innings) to beat Somerset in 1920 showed him to be much ahead in class of other Gloucestershire batsmen even when out of practice. His last appearances in 1921 and 1922 yielded little success, and he was never involved in the game after that.