Edward Paynter (5 November 1901 – 5 February 1979) was an English cricketer: an attacking batsman and excellent fielder. His

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 59.23 is the seventh highest of all time, and second only to

Herbert Sutcliffe Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the tw ...

amongst Englishmen; against Australia alone Paynter averaged an extraordinary 84.42. Born in

Oswaldtwistle Oswaldtwistle ( "ozzel twizzel") is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England, southeast of Blackburn, contiguous with Accrington and Church. The town has a rich industrial heritage, being home to James Hargreaves, inventor of the ...

, Lancashire, Paynter did not make his first-class debut for Lancashire County Cricket Club until the relatively advanced age of 24 in July 1926. He made a slow start to his career, however, not establishing himself as a first-team player until 1930 and only scoring his first century in July of the following year, making exactly 100 against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

in his 48th first-class match. He scored 102 against the touring

New Zealanders New Zealanders ( mi, Tāngata Aotearoa), colloquially known as Kiwis (), are people associated with New Zealand, sharing a common history, culture, and language (New Zealand English). People of various ethnicities and national origins are citiz ...

in the very next game, and in August made his Test debut against the same opposition. However, the match was ruined by rain, with no play possible on the first two of the game's scheduled three days, and Paynter made just three in his only innings. Perhaps the most famous of his Test appearances came against Australia, on the "

Bodyline Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. It was designed to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's leading batsman ...

tour" of 1932/33. At

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Paynter was taken to hospital suffering from

tonsillitis Tonsillitis is inflammation of the tonsils in the upper part of the throat. It can be acute or chronic. Acute tonsillitis typically has a rapid onset. Symptoms may include sore throat, fever, enlargement of the tonsils, trouble swallowing, and en ...

, yet with

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in difficulty at 216/6 in reply to Australia's 340, came out to bat. After spending the night in hospital, he made his way to 83 and helped his team to an unlikely first-innings lead, and though he only fielded for a couple of hours, returned for the second innings and had the honour of hitting the winning runs – with a six off McCabe. Paynter averaged a fine 61.33 over his five innings on this tour. Paynter was then out of the England side for a time, but in 1937 his

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

form – 2,904 runs and a five-hour triple century against Sussex brought him a recall against New Zealand, as well as

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

recognition in the next year's Almanack. In 1938 Paynter had another outstanding series against Australia, averaging 101.75 and hitting 216 not out at

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, at the time an England record for Ashes Tests in England. He also filled in very competently as

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. ...

when

Les Ames Leslie Ethelbert George Ames (3 December 1905 – 27 February 1990) was a wicket-keeper and batsman for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club. In his obituary, ''Wisden'' described him as the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman of ...

was injured at Lord's. Paynter was again very successful the following winter against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, scoring three centuries and two fifties in eight innings, including 243 at

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, to average 81.62. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

brought an effective end to Paynter's career, though he did play a few special and festival games after the war. His final first-class innings was 75 not out for a Commonwealth XI against the

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Governor's XI in 1950/51; he then stood for one season (1951) as a first-class

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

. He spent the rest of his working life stacking wool in a Yorkshire mill.

David Frith David Edward John Frith (born 16 March 1937) is a cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of ''Wisden Cricket Monthly''". Life and career David Frith was born in Gloucester Place in Lo ...

, ''Bodyline Autopsy'', ABC Books, Sydney, 2002, p. 431. He died at the age of 77 in

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, Yorkshire.

Representation in popular culture

Paynter was played by Alan David Lee in ''Bodyline'', the dramatisation of the "

tour" of 1932/33.

References

External links

*
Eddie Paynter
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Paynter, Eddie England Test cricketers English cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 Lancashire cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers Players cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year 1901 births 1979 deaths People from Oswaldtwistle Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers North v South cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers