Charles Thornton (cricketer)

Charles Thornton
Thornton pictured in a book published in 1893
Personal information
Full name
Charles Inglis Thornton
Born20 March 1850
Llanwarne, Herefordshire, England
Died10 December 1929(1929-12-10) (aged 79)
Marylebone, London, England
NicknameBuns
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast
RelationsPercy Thornton (cousin)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1867–1872Kent
1869–1872Cambridge University
1869–1895MCC
1875–1885Middlesex
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 217
Runs scored 6,928
Batting average 19.35
100s/50s 5/20
Top score 124
Balls bowled 2,423
Wickets 47
Bowling average 20.10
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 4/19
Catches/stumpings 119/–
Source: Cricinfo, 24 January 2023

Charles Inglis Thornton (20 March 1850 – 10 December 1929), nicknamed "Buns", was an English cricketer who played more than 200 first-class matches in the later 19th century, for no fewer than 22 different teams.[1] He was also the founder of the Scarborough Festival.[2][3]

Thornton was born in Llanwarne, Herefordshire, the son of the Rural Dean of Hereford. He was orphaned before the age of five. and adopted, along with his brother, by Archdeacon Harrison of Canterbury. This is where he began to play cricket playing with children in the neighbourhood in informal single wicket competitions.[4] He played his first organised game at Great Mongeham in 1861 making 22 not out.

He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.[5] His career at Eton was slow to win approval. The master in charge of cricket, Fred Bell, did not like his attacking play. Thornton remarked that it was because he hit all the best balls into the trees.[6] He had success in both Eton v Harrow and Oxford v Cambridge matches, then very much part of the London season. He must have had independent means because on graduation he was able to rent a hunting box in Oxford with his cousin, hunting three days a week and playing cricket the other four.[7]

He was considered one of the biggest hitters in cricket, with one shot at Hove in 1876 claimed to have exceeded 160 yards.[8] He hit the ball over the pavilion at Lord's in the 1868 Eton v Harrow match. This, however was over the old pavilion. The only person to have struck a ball over the current pavilion (built 1889–90) is AE Trott.[9] Other claims made by Thornton included a 156-yard hit at Ranelagh, a 152-yard hit at Canterbury and a 136-yard hit at Scarborough, the ball landing in Trafalgar Square (Scarborough).[10]

Thornton was a member of the Orleans Club, which was founded in 1878, and organised its cricket teams.[11] His own private team — C. I. Thornton's XI — played most of their early games at Fenner's, but after his retirement from playing in 1897 their home became Scarborough, where they continued to play first-class cricket until 1929, the year of Thornton's death. He died in 1929 aged 79 at Marylebone in London.

Thornton had some interesting ideas about cricket. He wanted bowlers' run ups limited to 10 yards, and the wearing of leg guards (pads) to be forbidden. The only protection he advocated was football style shin pads.[12]

  1. ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Charles Thornton". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
  2. ^ Ambrose, Don (2004). "Brief profile of C.I.Thornton". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
  3. ^ Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914 (revised edition), pp. 522–524. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)
  4. ^ Thornton, Charles (6 August 1921). "50 Years in Cricket". The Cricketer. 1:15: 3 – via Cricket Archive.
  5. ^ "Thornton, Charles, Inglis (THNN868CI)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  6. ^ Cricketer ibid
  7. ^ Cricketer ibid
  8. ^ Broadribb, Gerald (1975). "Thornton's great hit". The Cricketer. Cricinfo. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
  9. ^ Cricketer ibid
  10. ^ Cricketer ibid
  11. ^ A Guide to First-Class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles, second edition, 1982, p. 26. Nottingham: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. (Available online. Retrieved 2024-02-29.)
  12. ^ Cricketer ibid