Charles William Butler (18 September 1854 – 10 June 1937) played
first-class cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
for
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
in six matches over a 26-year period from 1872–73 to 1898–99. He was born in
Hobart
Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...
,
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
and died there as well.
In 1874, the great
English
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* English people
English may also refer to:
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* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
cricketer
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...
stayed with the Butler family while on a cricket tour of Australia and Charles Butler became a friend: Grace named his third son
Charles Butler Grace after Butler.
Butler went into the legal profession, like his father, who was also called Charles Butler, and at his death was reckoned as "one of the best known legal men in Tasmania".
Cricket career
Butler played as a right-handed middle-order batsman, but had limited success in first-class cricket, being dismissed without scoring six times in his 12 first-class innings. His highest score was 31, made in the 1877-78 match against
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
.
In 1878, Butler travelled with the
Australian team that went to England and after
William Midwinter had left the tour to join
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
alongside Grace, Butler was invited to join the team, though in the event he was injured and played in only one non-first-class match, where he failed to score in either innings.
Earlier in the season he had played in a couple of non-first-class matches with Grace at Newcastle upon Tyne.
In Tasmania, he played in the annual North v South and other important non-first-class matches in Tasmania from 1870 to 1902.
His brother,
Francis
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, also played first-class cricket.
Other sports
Butler was also well known in Tasmania for his prowess at
lawn tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
, being the Hobart champion nine times and runner-up 12 times.
His wife, whom he married in 1882 and with whom he had six children, also played tennis for Tasmania against Victoria.
See also
*
List of Tasmanian representative cricketers
This is a list of cricket players who have played representative cricket for Tasmania in Australia.
It includes players that have played at least one match, in senior first-class, List A cricket, or Twenty20 matches. Practice matches are not i ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Charles
1854 births
1937 deaths
Australian cricketers
Tasmania cricketers
Cricketers from Hobart
Australian male tennis players
19th-century Australian sportsmen
Colony of Tasmania people
Sportspeople from Tasmania