Blythe photographed by George Beldam in about 1905
Personal information
Full name
Colin Blythe
Born
(1879-05-30)30 May 1879 Deptford, Kent, England
Died
8 November 1917(1917-11-08) (aged 38) near Passendale, Belgium
Nickname
Charlie
Batting
Right-handed
Bowling
Slow left arm orthodox
Role
Bowler
International information
National side
England
Test debut (cap 130)
13 December 1901 v Australia
Last Test
11 March 1910 v South Africa
Domestic team information
Years
Team
1899–1914
Kent
Career statistics
Competition
Test
First-class
Matches
19
439
Runs scored
183
4,443
Batting average
9.63
9.87
100s/50s
0/0
0/5
Top score
27
82*
Balls bowled
4,546
103,546
Wickets
100
2,503[a]
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: CricInfo, 1 January 2021
Colin Blythe (30 May 1879 – 8 November 1917), also known as Charlie Blythe,[b] was an English professional cricketer who played Test cricket for the England cricket team during the early part of the 20th century. Blythe was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1904 and took more than 2,500 first-class wickets over the course of his career, one of only 13 men to have done so.
Blythe was a slow left-arm orthodox bowler and is considered to have been one of the great left-arm spin bowlers in cricket history. He played county cricket for Kent County Cricket Club between 1899 and 1914 and shares the record for the highest number of first-class wickets taken in a single day's play along with Hedley Verity and Tom Goddard. He took over 100 wickets in 14 of the 16 seasons he played, including 215 in 1909.
Despite having epilepsy, Blythe enlisted in the British army at the beginning of World War I. He was killed during the Second Battle of Passchendaele whilst on active service. A memorial at Kent's home ground, the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, is dedicated to him and to other members of the club who died in the war.
^Croudy, p. 4.
^Caine S (1931) Notes by the Editor, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1931. London: John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
^ abScoble, p. 46.
^Bates, p. 34.
^Scoble, p. 51.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
ColinBlythe (30 May 1879 – 8 November 1917), also known as Charlie Blythe, was an English professional cricketer who played Test cricket for the England...
supporting and character roles in films including RAF Flight Lieutenant ColinBlythe in The Great Escape (1963), the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James...
particularly notable former players include spin bowlers ColinBlythe and Tich Freeman. Blythe was a major force in the four County Championship wins in...
series. The touring English team was a second-string team, with only ColinBlythe, Schofield Haigh and JN Crawford being those who could be considered...
Kent Tom Hayward (Surrey) 1,874 ColinBlythe (Kent) 167 1909 Kent (2) Lancashire Ernie Hayes (Surrey) 1,844 ColinBlythe (Kent) 178 1910 Kent (3) Surrey...
with ColinBlythe, Kent's greatest pre-war bowler, bowling from the Pavilion End of the ground. The Pavilion can be seen clearly behind Blythe. The painting...
mentored by ColinBlythe, a Kent professional who lived in Tonbridge and who bowled slow left-arm spin, the same bowling style as Woolley. Blythe had been...
Melling, who appeared in the Harry Potter films. In 2014, Jim played ColinBlythe in an episode of BBC Radio 4 drama Home Front. He played six one day...
Armstrong Cuthbert Burnup James Iremonger Jim Kelly Victor Trumper 1904 ColinBlythe John Gunn Albert Knight Walter Mead Plum Warner 1905 Bernard Bosanquet...
England's only win came at Newlands where the left-arm slow bowler ColinBlythe took eleven wickets in the match. In 1907 there was a home three match...
captain in Australia for 57 years. Barnes bowled with great success; ColinBlythe and Len Braund, like Barnes chosen by MacLaren and making their Test...
for 5000 BC, 1000 BC and "AD 0". HYDE estimates are higher than those by Colin McEvedy (1978) but lower than those by Massimo Livi Bacci (1989, 2012)....
Giovanni Gentile, Italian philosopher and academic (d. 1944) 1879 – ColinBlythe, English cricketer and soldier (d. 1917) 1879 – Konstantin Ramul, Estonian...
Margaret Cleaves, American physician and writer (b. 1848) November 8 – ColinBlythe, English cricketer (b. 1879) November 11 – Liliʻuokalani, last monarch...
467 made in 1991 against Sri Lanka. The English pairing of Peter May and Colin Cowdrey together scored 411 for the fourth wicket against the West Indies...
65 in the first innings. Also making their debuts in this Test were ColinBlythe and Len Braund. Between them, the three debutant bowlers took all twenty...
Leicestershire v. Glamorgan Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd 1929 10/30 ColinBlythe Kent v. Northamptonshire Northampton 1907 10/32 Harry Pickett Essex v...
parking and the quality of the outfield. Future Kent and England bowler ColinBlythe was first spotted bowling at Rectory Field. Before the start of the final...
and Garry Sobers. Uncorroborated club lore has it that W. G. Grace, ColinBlythe, and K. S. Ranjitsinhji also played at Walker (Livingston) Park. Early...
abeyance Most runs – David Denton 2127 @ 42.54 (HS 221) Most wickets – ColinBlythe 178 @ 12.26 (BB 8–36) Wisden Cricketers of the Year – no award Australia...
had spin bowlers ColinBlythe and Frank Woolley as regulars in the team at this time. He was awarded his county cap in 1903. With Blythe killed in the war...
runs. The other two players were Tich Freeman and Charlie Townsend. ColinBlythe, in 1907, and Tom Goddard, in 1939, are the only other bowlers to take...
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