Colin Blythe

Colin Blythe (30 May 1879 – 8 November 1917), also known as Charlie Blythe, 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.

Early life

Blythe was born on 30 May 1879 in Deptford, at that time part of Kent.Williams, 2015. His paternal grandfather, originally from Rochester, had moved to the area to work as a shirtmaker and later ran a warehouse there. Blythe's father, Walter, was an engineer fitter and his mother, Elizabeth Dready, was the daughter of a cooper.Scoble, pp. 12–13. They married in Kensington at Christmas 1878 when his mother was four months pregnant, returning to live in Deptford where Blythe grew up.Smart, pp. 43–44.

The eldest of thirteen children, Blythe was educated at Duke Street School close to his home, leaving in April 1892 just before his thirteenth birthday. At the time, Deptford was an overcrowded, industrial area which was relatively deprived. The growing size of his family probably prompted him to leave school at the earliest age possible and he became an apprentice engineer fitter and turner alongside his father at the Woolwich Arsenal.Smart, p. 44.Scoble, p. 14.Lewis, p. 113. Blythe decided to study for a Whitworth Scholarship, but the pressure proved too much for his health and a doctor recommended that fresh air would aid his recuperation.

Until this point, Blythe appears to have played few, if any, organised cricket matches. He may have played cricket and football for boys clubs around Blackheath or for his school, but it appears that he did not bowl seriously before the age of 11 at the earliest. There is no evidence that he watched cricket until Saturday 17 July 1897 when Blythe, then aged 18, attended the third and final day of a county match between Kent and Somerset at Rectory Field, Blackheath, a ground relatively close to his home.Scoble, pp. 14–15.Smart, pp. 44–45. When he arrived there were very few spectators—Blythe recalled that "I don't think there were that many more spectators than players"—and one of the Kent team, Walter Wright, came to bat in the nets and asked Blythe, as one of the few present, to bowl to him to give him some practice before play began.Bates, p. 35. Blythe did so and was seen by William McCanlis, a former Kent cricketer who acted as coach and advisor to the team. Impressed by Blythe's bowling action, McCanlis arranged for him to bowl to him on another day.Moore, p. 51.Scoble, p. 16.

McCanlis described his discovery of Blythe as involving "a considerable amount of luck", Deptford not being an area usually considered when searching for new talent. McCanlis W (1907) '1906 – Blythe Blooms in Kentish Nursery' in Stern & Williams, p. 657. Reprinted from ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1907, pp. 96–98.
Available online
Retrieved 1 January 2019.)Haigh G (2006

CricInfo, 1 August 2006. Retrieved 9 November 2017. Shortly after, Blythe bowled to McCanlis at the latter's local cricket club and impressed him sufficiently that he was recommended for a trial at the Tonbridge Nursery where promising young professional cricketers were trained with a view to joining the Kent team.Scoble, p. 17. Blythe was successful in the trial and was taken on at the nursery for the 1898 season; the trials book recorded the verdict: "Bowls slow left. Very useful bowler." Blythe remained at the family home and continued his engineering job over the winter of 1897–98, but rented lodgings in Tonbridge for the 1898 cricket season, a pattern which continued until he married in 1907.Scoble, p. 19.Scoble, p. 73.

Kent cricketer

At the nursery

Blythe spent the 1898 season at Tonbridge, almost certainly the first time he had received formal cricket coaching.Harris & Whippy, p. 123. The regime for the nursery professionals consisted of net practice each morning, followed by further practice in the afternoon early in the season or, in later months, bowling at club members who requested it. The players also gained match practice by playing for local clubs which were able to request their service, and Blythe quickly developed the key cricketing skills, such as line-and-length bowling and variations in the flight and spin of the ball, he would use with great success throughout his career. By 1899, he was playing regularly for local clubs, bowling more than 600 overs and taking 105 wickets during the season, comfortably ahead of the other nursery bowlers.Scoble, p. 20. His batting, a skill which McCanlis recalled he had "no idea whatever" about when he began at the nursery, also developed.

Towards the end of August 1899, Blythe, then aged 20, was called into the Kent side and made his first-class debut against Yorkshire on 21 August 1899 at the Angel Ground in Tonbridge. Kent, enduring a poor season and whose bowlers had not performed effectively, began well and took early wickets.Scoble, pp. 20–21. Yorkshire began to recover and Blythe was given the ball for the first time with the score 86 for the loss of four wickets. With his first delivery in first-class cricket, he bowled Frank Mitchell, who had scored 55 runs.Scoble, p. 21. Blythe played the remaining three games of the season, taking a further 12 wickets to finish with 14 at a bowling average of 22.14 runs per wicket.Scoble, p. 22. His best performance came against Surrey, when he took three wickets in each innings,Croudy, p. 7. after which ''The Times'' wrote that "Blythe, the new Kent left-hand slow bowler, seems a very promising man".Cricket: Kent v Surrey, ''The Times'', 31 August 1899, p. 5.
The Times Digital Archive
. Retrieved 2 January 2019.) ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', in its review of the 1899 Kent season, described him as a "new and promising" bowler, although "he has not yet done enough to justify one predicting a great future for him", whilst ''The Times'', in its review, considered that he was a "bowler of great promise".Cricket: The County Championship, ''The Times'', 4 September 1899, p. 9.
The Times Digital Archive
. Retrieved 2 January 2019.)

First-team regular

In 1900, Blythe played in all of Kent's 22 matches, taking 114 wickets and leading the Kent bowling averages as the county finished third in the 1900 County Championship, their best position in ten years.Smart, p. 49. Gibson A (1967) Cockney with melody in his name and poetry in his action, ''The Times'', 8 November 1967, p. 15.
The Times Digital Archive
. Retrieved 2 January 2019.). In his second match of the season, he had first innings figures of five for 71 against Gloucestershire, the first time he took five wickets in an innings. Further five-wicket returns followed against Middlesex and Yorkshire, and by early August he had taken 56 wickets in 14 games at an average of just over 22 runs per wicket.Scoble, p. 30. In the first match of Canterbury Cricket Week, when Kent played Lancashire, Blythe took eleven wickets for 72 runs in the match in helpful bowling conditions, including six for 40 in the first innings, his best bowling figures to date. Although the match was drawn, the crowd cheered Blythe and held a collection for him in appreciation of his performance; both the local and national press also praised his bowling in the game,Scoble, pp. 34–35. ''The Times'' writing that he had "bowled superbly".The Canterbury Week, ''The Times'', 9 August 1900, p. 4.
The Times Digital Archive
. Retrieved 23 August 2021.) The rest of the season brought a string of successes: in the last eight games, he took 58 wickets at an average of 14.50 and finished the season with 11 five-wicket returns and two 10-wicket matches, including twelve wickets in the game against Worcestershire.

Blythe benefited from Kent's recently instituted winter pay for their professionals; the scheme had begun in 1897, following a similar model to that used by Yorkshire, but the 20 shillings-a-week payment was not enough to live on and Blythe returned to work at the Woolwich Arsenal and to live in his family's home for the winter months.Scoble, pp. 36–37. He was ill for part of the winter and was ordered by Kent to spend two weeks recuperating by the sea.Scoble, p. 37.Smart, p. 50. Although it is uncertain what the nature of the illness was, one of his biographers, Christopher Scoble, speculates that it may have been related to his later epilepsy, or that he was affected by the attention brought about by his successful first full season.

The weather during the 1901 season was dry, leading to a succession of hard pitches which made batting easy and did not play to Blythe's bowling strengths.Croudy, p. 11. In these conditions, he was less effective and took fewer wickets at a higher average: in first-class cricket he secured 93 wickets at 23.12, his only full-season when he did not reach 100 first-class wickets.Scoble, p. 38.Knight & Oakes, p. 159.Croudy pp. 79–80. When conditions favoured his bowling, however, he had success, for example taking seven for 64 against Surrey, and even on good batting pitches Blythe made it difficult for batsmen to score quickly and generally conceded few runs. He remained a nominal member of the Tonbridge Nursery, and played a handful of matches there during the season.

Test match debut

The good impression that Blythe had made during his first two seasons led to his selection for an English team to tour Australia organised by Archie MacLaren. Two of the leading English professional bowlers, Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst, were refused permission to join the tour by Yorkshire, so MacLaren chose Blythe and several other promising cricketers.Scoble, pp. 38–39.Down, pp. 68–74. Kent allowed Blythe to join the tour but withheld his winter pay. Scoble suggests that he enjoyed the tour and "took part fully in the social aspects",Scoble, p. 39. including playing his violin with the ship's band during the voyage to Australia.Carlaw, p. 75. In his first game of the tour, he took five for 45 against South Australia, and when he made his Test match debut on 13 December 1901, he took three for 26 in the first innings and four for 30 in the second,Croudy, p. 14. ''The Times'' reporting that he "bowled splendidly".Cricket: Mr MacLaren's team v Australia, ''The Times'', 17 December 1901, p. 12.
The Times Digital Archive
. Retrieved 25 January 2020.) After his performance, in what was to be the only England Test victory of the tour, Blythe was presented with a gold pocket watch engraved with his bowling figures.Down, pp. 73–74.

Blythe took four for 64 in the first innings of the second Test, but after this his performances fell away and he took only six wickets in the last three Tests, hampered after splitting a finger on his left hand. He generally conceded few runs, but Australian pitches did not favour his bowling style, and the injury to his bowling hand meant he could not turn the ball as much as usual.Dale, pp. 17–18.Scoble, pp. 39–40. ''Wisden'' suggested that Blythe worked hard, albeit in a weak bowling attack,
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1903. London: John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 25 January 2020. and his 18 Test match wickets were taken at an average of 26.11.Croudy, p. 14–15. His health benefitted from the tour, and he returned physically stronger than before.Scoble, p. 40.

No longer required to train before the season at the Tonbridge Nursery, Blythe was successful in the 1902 season, when he was assisted by a wet summer which led to a series of damp, rain-affected pitches.Scoble, pp. 40–41.Croudy, pp. 15–16. He took 127 wickets at 15.47, including his best figures so far, eight for 42 against Somerset, and finished second in the Kent bowling averages.Charles Blythe
Cricketer of the Year, ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1904. London: John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 25 January 2020. Although he was not chosen to play for England against the touring Australians, ''The Times'' wrote that his performance during the season was "far in advance of anything he has previously done for the county".The Kent Averages, ''The Times'', 1 September 1902, p. 9.
The Times Digital Archive
. Retrieved 24 August 2021.)

Leading cricketer

Growing fame

Another wet season in 1903 aided Blythe's bowling and he took 142 first-class wickets at an average of 13.75, his best return in terms of wickets and average so far.Wilde, pp. 49–50.Scoble, p. 47.Croudy, p. 19. He was the "mainstay" of Kent's bowling attack and by the end of the season, ''The Times'' was proclaiming him as "certainly one of the best slow medium left-handers at the present day".Cricket: The Kent Averages, ''The Times'', 3 September 1903, p. 10.
The Times Digital Archive
. Retrieved 26 August 2021.) Kent began the season badly and only rallied in August, when Blythe took over 70 wickets. Beginning with nine for 67 in an innings against Essex in Canterbury week at the start of August―the first of six times he took nine wickets in an innings―Blythe had a string of successful performances, including taking five for 13 from just 4.3 overs against Surrey as part of a spell in which he took 25 wickets in four innings spread across four days.Scoble, pp. 48–51. Kent finished eighth in the Championship, with Blythe taking a wicket in every match he played in, the beginning of a remarkable sequence in which he took at least one wicket in each match he played in until August 1909.Croudy, p. 23. The domestic season was followed by Kent's short tour of the United States, Blythe taking ten wickets in the two first-class matches played in America. In the 1904 edition of the almanack, ''Wisden'' chose Blythe as one of the Cricketers of the Year for the 1903 season, its review of the season having said that "nothing stood out as prominently as the bowling of Blythe".

A drier summer in 1904 resulted in fewer pitches which favoured Blythe's bowling, and his 138 wickets came at the higher average of 19.60. He showed again that he could perform on harder pitches and slow the run-scoring of batsmen when necessary, bowling for an hour against Sussex at Tunbridge Wells in a high-scoring match without conceding a run.Scoble, p. 56. His wickets generally came steadily, although against Hampshire he took thirteen wickets for 91 in JuneScoble, p. 57. and then fifteen for 76 in a single day's play on a wet pitch at Canterbury in August, including nine for 30 in the first innings.Scoble, pp. 58–59. He also began to show more potential as a batsman: against Nottinghamshire, he scored 82 not out, sharing a partnership of 106 for the ninth wicket with Bill Fairservice; batting at number four against Yorkshire he scored 42 not out; and against Somerset he scored 70 in an hour out of a last-wicket partnership of 98 with Fairservice. In total, he scored 400 first-class runs, improving by nearly 150 runs on his previous best, and his batting average reached 15.38, the only time he averaged more than 15 in an English season.Scoble, pp. 57–58. More than one critic claimed that Blythe could have become a good batsman had he so wished, but he never batted as consistently again, and preferred hard-hitting in the lower order to serious batting. At the end of the season he was the subject of one of the prestigious front-page profiles in ''Cricket'' magazine,Scoble, p. 58.Bettesworth WA (1904) A chat about C. Blythe, ''Cricket'', no. 673, vol. XXIII, pp. 369–370.
Available online
at The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 25 August 2021.) and ''The Times'' wrote that Blythe had "strong claims to be considered the best left-hander of his pace".Cricket: The Kent Averages, ''The Times'', 5 September 1904, p. 10.
The Times Digital Archive
. Retrieved 26 August 2021.)

The following season, Blythe had his most successful season to date, taking 149 wickets at 21.08 as Kent finished sixth in the County Championship in 1905―he took 68 more wickets than any of Kent's other bowlers.Croudy, p. 27. He had another success with the bat, scoring 75 and sharing a ninth wicket partnership of 120 with Fairservice, and had several successful games with the ball,Scoble, p. 60. taking 10 wickets in a match five times.Croudy, p. 31. That season, the Australian cricket team toured England, playing five Test matches. Pardon S (1906
The Australians in England 1905
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1905. London: John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 4 June 2014. Wilfred Rhodes, the established England left-arm spin bowler, missed the third Test with a finger injury, and Blythe, in the opinion of ''The Times'' "very likely a better bowler",Cricket: England v Australia, ''The Times'', 4 July 1905, p. 12.
The Times Digital Archive
. Retrieved 26 August 2021.) replaced him to make his only Test appearance of the season and his first on home soil. He took four wickets, including three quick wickets in the Australian second innings which nearly tilted the match, which was drawn, in England's favour.Scoble, p. 59. ''Wisden'' commented that he "got on admirably" and "bowled uncommonly well",
England v Australia 1905, ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1906. London: John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 4 June 2014. although Rhodes returned to the side for the final two matches.Smart, p. 98.

Second overseas tour and County Champions

Blythe was selected by the MCC to tour South Africa over the 1905–06 English winter. The English team was not particularly strong and featured only three players, including Blythe, who had played against Australia the previous season,Smart, p. 101.The M.C.C. Team For South Africa: Prospects Of The Tour, ''The Times'', 11 November 1905, p. 11.
The Times Digital Archive
. Retrieved 28 August 2021.) although ''Wisden'' was of the view it was "good enough" for the task, albeit short of a fast bowler.
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1907. London: John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 4 June 2014. In contrast to his previous tour, Blythe requested that Kent continue his winter pay, suggesting that he would not go otherwise. The Kent committee only agreed after a majority vote, although the influential committee chairman Lord Harris supported Blythe.Scoble, pp. 61–62. In South Africa, Blythe was successful, taking over 100 wickets in all games, including 57 in first-class matches, and thrived on the matting pitches used at the time in the country.Scoble, p. 61. He was one of the few English bowling successes in the Test matches, playing in all five matches and taking 21 wickets at 26.09.Croudy, p. 33. South Africa won the series 4–1; in the only Test won by England, Blythe took eleven for 118, including his first five-wicket returns in Test matches: six for 68 and five for 50.

After finishing third in 1904 and in sixth-place in 1905, Kent won the County Championship for the first time in 1906.Moseling & Quarrington, pp. 3–4. Blythe took 111 first-class wickets at 19.90 in the season, but was hampered by injury which prevented him reaching 100 wickets in the Championship for the first time since 1901 and the last time in his career.Scoble, p. 63. Against Sussex, he split the second finger of his bowling hand and missed three games; attempting to return too soon, he split the finger again and missed four more matches. During the time he was not playing, he received half-pay, and his place was taken by a 19-year-old debutant, Frank Woolley, who became one of Kent's greatest players. He returned for the final eleven Championship matches of the season, all of which Kent won to clinch the title in a tight finish.Moseling & Quarrington, p. 4.'Surprise surrounds first championship' in Stern & Williams, p. 657. Reprinted from ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1907.
Available online
Retrieved 29 August 2021.) Against Surrey at Blackheath, considered the turning point of Kent's season, he "won the game for Kent with some brilliant bowling on an easy batting wicket"Moore, p. 63.―taking five for 25 from 20 overs as Surrey were bowled out for 80 in their second inningsScoble, p. 65.―and the team went in to the final Championship match of the season against Hampshire needing only a draw to secure the title; Blythe took six wickets in each innings and Kent, who scored 610 runs when they batted, won by an innings.Moore, p. 64.Scoble, p. 66.

Following their victory, the team were widely acclaimed, particularly within Kent, and the Kent Committee chose to award the professionals a bonus of £10, rather less than a week's wage for Blythe.Scoble, pp. 66–67. At the suggestion of Lord Harris, the Committee commissioned a painting by Albert Chevallier Tayler of one of the season's matches. The main conditions were that it should be set on St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, and should include Blythe as the bowler; the painting, '' Kent vs Lancashire at Canterbury'', became well-known and has been hung in the pavilions at Canterbury and at Lord's Cricket Ground.Williamson M (2005
A Canterbury tale
CricInfo, 9 December 2005. Retrieved 31 December 2020.

Success in 1907

Until 1907, Blythe, when not on a tour, spent his off-season working at the Woolwich Arsenal and living with his parents.Scoble, p. 94. On 11 March 1907, he married Janet Brown; she was from Tunbridge Wells, the daughter of a painter, and at 18, almost ten years younger than Blythe. The couple were married at Greenwich and moved into a house in Tonbridge.Scoble, pp. 74–75.Smart, p. 143. Little is known about their relationship, but she remained close to the Blythe family after her husband's death. They had no children. Scoble observes that Blythe's problems with nervous exhaustion and epilepsy became more noticeable in the cricket season immediately following his marriage, and speculates that the root cause may have been from his changed domestic circumstances.

Kent only managed eighth place in the 1907 County Championship, with their batting inconsistent and suffering from missing players, but Blythe had considerable personal success.Scoble, pp. 75–76. He took 141 Championship wickets for Kent, and 183 in total at 15.42.Croudy, p. 141. His best performance came early in the season against Northamptonshire. Kent had won the first meeting between the two sides and the teams met again two weeks later at the County Ground, Northampton. Rain disrupted the match and, after Kent scored 254, Northampton only came to bat on the third and final day of the match on a damp pitch.Scoble, pp. 78–85. This favoured Blythe's bowling and when Northamptonshire batted in their first innings he took all ten wickets. His final figures were ten for 30 from 16 overs, and may have been better had he not dropped a catch off his own bowling when he had taken eight wickets while conceding only two runs. Northamptonshire followed on, by which time the pitch, which was drying out, was even more difficult for batsmen.Oversen, p. 86. Blythe had a catch dropped from his bowling before any wickets had fallen, but took wickets steadily to finish with seven for 18. In a single day's play, he had taken seventeen wickets for 48 runs.'Colin Blythe', ''Cricket'', vol 26, no. 751, 6 June 1907, pp. 177–178.
Available online
at The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 20 August 2021.)Moseling M (2013
Kent's best: Blythe's 17 for 48 at Northampton 1907
Kent County Cricket Club, 13 September 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2021.

Taking seventeen wickets in a first-class match was, and remains, a rare occurrence. , only two other bowlers have taken seventeen wickets in a single day—Hedley Verity in 1933 and Tom Goddard in 1939—and Blythe's figures are the best in the history of the County Championship.Best figures in a first-class match
CricInfo. Retrieved 1 January 2021. The feat was praised in the contemporary press, and mystique built up around it in later years—possibly owing to Blythe's early death, or the nostalgia which surrounds this era of cricket—including stories that only his dropped catch prevented him taking all twenty wickets in the game.Scoble, pp. 85–88. Blythe missed the next two games with a chill; this may have been caused by playing in wet conditions, but Scoble suggests it may have been exacerbated by the mental strain of his bowling performance.Scoble, pp. 88–89.

Blythe played in all three of the summer's Test matches against South Africa. Usually Rhodes took the spinner's place in the England team, but his loss of bowling form around this time meant that Blythe was preferred. He took four wickets in the drawn first Test, hampered by an injury to his hand after he dropped a catch,Scoble, p. 95. but in the days before the next game, Blythe took 23 wickets in two matches.Scoble, p. 76. England won the second Test, played at Headingley in wet, unsettled weather. The pitch was badly affected by rain and as the only spinner in the England team, Blythe was the only bowler capable of taking full advantage of the conditions. England scored 76 in their first innings; when South Africa batted, Blythe took eight for 59, the best Test match figures of his career. His bowling was not always accurate but he made the ball turn sharply off the damp pitch, and South Africa were bowled out for 110. England replied with 162 to leave South Africa needing 129 to win in difficult batting conditions. Blythe took seven for 40 to bowl South Africa out for 75; he ended the match with figures of 15 for 99, at the time, the best figures in a Test match in England.Scoble, pp. 96–98. Contemporary press reports suggested that he had "bowled himself to a standstill" and it is possible that he suffered an epileptic fit during or after the game. His performances in his next few games were less effective, and he missed one match; Scoble again believes that the cause was mental strain.Scoble, p. 99.

In the third and final Test, Blythe bowled poorly at first, but on the final morning took four wickets for 14 to end the South African second innings and complete figures of five for 61. He ended the season with a total of 26 Test wickets at an average of 10.38.

Second tour of Australia

Blythe was chosen to tour Australia with an MCC team in 1907–08, this time with Rhodes also in the team. Although Blythe had an early success when he took eleven for 83 in the game against Queensland, he took few wickets in his remaining matches. Conditions in Australia did not assist his bowling and he suffered from illness and injury at different points in the tour. After he took just one wicket in the first Test, he was left out of the England team for the remaining matches; of the other slow bowlers, Jack Crawford was the team's leading wicket-taker and Rhodes a much better batsman, so they played at Blythe's expense. Scoble suggests the selectors were swayed by Blythe's problems in the 1907 season and speculates that the close finish to the first Test may have affected him further. Blythe took 41 wickets at 22.80 in first-class matches on the tour. ''Wisden'' judged: "Blythe was so far below his form at home that he was left out of four of the Test games... eheaded the bowling averages but, though successful against weak teams, he did not trouble the good batsmen."The MCC's team in Australia, 1907–08
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1909. London: John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 1 January 2021. Awarded £200 for his efforts on the tour, it is likely that Blythe was unhappy when Kent asked him and his county team-mate in the MCC party, Arthur Fielder, to give the money to them for investment.Scoble, pp. 99–101.

Kent were runners-up in the County Championship in 1908; on generally good batting pitches in a dry summer, Blythe was not quite as devastating as the previous season, but he took 167 wickets in the Championship, his best in a season to that point in his career. He took wickets consistently but was hampered by an injured knee; he twisted it in a game against Yorkshire. He missed a few games and was hampered in others. His best figures of eight for 83 were taken in a match against Hampshire where he was noticeably struggling with his mobility; he bowled 90 overs in the game which further aggravated his injury and in a close finish, he failed to reach a catch, which cost Kent the match.Scoble, pp. 109–113. In all first-class games, he took 197 wickets at 16.88.

Benefit year and 1909 Ashes series

The Kent committee awarded Blythe a benefit match in 1909. In a wet season, Blythe took the highest number of wickets in his career: 178 in the County Championship and 215 in total.Scoble, pp. 115–116. In the first county game of the season, Blythe took sixteen for 102 against Leicestershire; 14 of the wickets came on the second day of the match, when he took nine for 42. A week later, he took fourteen for 75 against Northamptonshire, including nine for 44, his second nine-wicket return in a matter of days.Scoble, pp. 117–119. Early in the season he continued to take wickets prolifically, but his heavy workload meant that his performances tailed off in the final month of the season. His benefit match was the second game of Canterbury Week, played against Hampshire, and was a financial success.Scoble, pp. 121–125. Kent went on to win the County Championship, Blythe taking the wicket which made the outcome a certainty.Scoble, p. 126. His benefit eventually yielded £1,519, a considerable amount for the period and well above average; following their usual practice, the Kent Committee invested the money on Blythe's behalf.Scoble, pp. 127–128.

Blythe's good start to the season ensured his selection for the 1909 Ashes series; prior to the first Test, he had taken 38 wickets in his previous three games. The match was played on a rain-affected pitch. The Australian team was in poor form in the run-up to the Test, and once the match began, having been delayed by rain, were bowled out for 74 early on the second day. Blythe took six for 44. England scored 121, a lead of 47, and batting until the end of the second day in better batting conditions, Australia scored 67 for two. At the start of the third and final day, Australia scored quite freely and added another 30 runs before Blythe took the next wicket. Wickets then fell quickly;Scoble, pp. 101–103. and Blythe finished with five for 58. Jack Hobbs and C. B. Fry then hit off the runs and England won the match by ten wickets. Blythe and George Hirst took all twenty Australian wickets between them—Blythe had eleven for 102—and bowled unchanged throughout the match except for a spell of five overs on the second day.Scoble, pp. 103–104. The match report in ''Wisden'' stated: "Blythe was full of clever devices."First Test
England v Australia 1909, ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1910. London: John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 2 October 2014. Scoble suggests that the low-scoring nature of the match increased the pressure on Blythe, and that the end result was similar to the match at Headingley two years before.

At the start of his next game, for Kent, Blythe was overcome with emotion when the crowd gave him an ovation for his performance in the Test; when he later came on to bowl, he complained of feeling faint after his first over. He remained on the field and recovered later to take six for 37. In his next match, he began badly and was taken out of the attack for a time before he once again returned successfully to finish with seven wickets. Kent were sufficiently concerned to send him to see Sir William Gowers, the leading clinical neurologist in the country and an expert on epilepsy, who concluded that the strain of the Test match had affected him, and that he should not play in the Lord's Test.Carlaw, p. 77.Scoble, pp. 104–105.

Lord Harris informed the selectors of Blythe's unavailability for that match and he was left out of the team.England v Australia, Cricket ''The Times'', 11 June 1909, p. 22.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 23 April 2025. ) The medical advice Kent had received was published in ''The Times'' on 12 June,England v Australia, Cricket ''The Times'', 12 June 1909, p. 18.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 23 April 2025. ) at the start of the match the paper lamented his absence, writing that England "has been deprived of the valuable services of Blythe, who has been medically advised not to undergo the strain and excitement of a Test match―a great loss, as he is the best bowler in England."Cricket ''The Times'', 14 June 1909, p. 21.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 23 April 2025. ) Playing for Kent on what was the second day of the Test, Blythe had a fit and was taken to the team hotel.Scoble, p. 105. Meanwhile, England lost the Test and the selectors were heavily criticised for their decisions.Scoble, pp. 105–106. ''The Times'' called their decisions "rash",The Australians and the Test matches, Cricket ''The Times'', 21 June 1909, p. 16.
Available online
at The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 23 April 2025. ) whilst the following year ''Wisden'' said: "Never in the history of Test Matches in England has there been such blundering in the selection of an England eleven."Second Test
England v Australia 1909, ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1910. London: John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 2 October 2014. To justify themselves, the selectors made public the medical report on Blythe, which stated that he suffered from strain of the nervous system brought about from playing in Test matches. While Blythe's problems of 1907 had been known in private, this made everything public and had a negative effect on his perception by the public and selectors. He returned to the England team for the fourth Test and took five for 63 in the first innings, but was less effective in the second. Critics believed this lessened effectiveness was the result of his nervous strain. The Kent authorities also took no chances and rested him from their next game after the Test to ensure he was fit for his benefit match. Blythe had played just two of the five Tests, taking 18 wickets at 13.44.Croudy, p. 48.

Senior professional

Following the end of the season, Blythe was selected for the MCC's tour of South Africa in 1909–10, despite the opposition of the side's captain HDG Leveson-Gower who, with Woolley and Rhodes selected, considered two left-arm bowlers sufficient.Carlaw, p. 78. Leveson-Gower had been the chairman of the selection panel which published the medical report following Blythe's omission at Lord's, and in South Africa Blythe played in only two of the Test matches. He did, however, lead the touring team in wickets, taking 50 in ten first-class matches, and came into the side for the final two Tests.Croudy, p. 53.MCC team in South Africa 1909–10, '' Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack'', 1911.
Available online
at CricInfo. Retrieved 21 April 2025.) After taking two wickets in the fourth Test, he took 11 in the fifth match, including seven for 46 in the South African first innings.Scoble, p. 131.Fourth Test match, England in South Africa 1909–10, '' Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack'', 1911.
Available online
at CricInfo. Retrieved 21 April 2025.)Fifth Test match, England in South Africa 1909–10, '' Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack'', 1911.
Available online
at CricInfo. Retrieved 21 April 2025.) These matches were Blythe's last for an England side.

Blythe took two hat-tricks in his career, both of them within the same fortnight at the end of June and the beginning of July 1910.Scoble, pp. 134–135. Blythe took 175 wickets during a wet summer and, although he was not at his best, Kent retained the Championship.Croudy, p. 55.Webber, pp. 47–48.

Controversy in 1911

The 1911 County Championship was the first to award points for first innings lead. Kent finished second, just behind Warwickshire, although if the 1910 system had been retained they would have won a hat-trick of titles.Webber, pp. 48–49. Blythe took 138 wickets at 19.38 with a best analysis of eight for 45 during a hot, dry summer which did not suit his bowling. A highlight was the 14 wickets he took in a single day against Gloucestershire.Croudy, p. 60.Scoble pp. 138. The season also saw what Scoble describes as "the only time lythewas ever charged with unsporting behaviour".Scoble, p. 147. Towards the end of the season, Blythe was accused by Hampshire batsman CB Fry of bowling the last over of a days play deliberately out of the sun at Canterbury, a charge which Fry considered unsporting. The incident led to press coverage―Fry writing to both '' The Sportsman'' and '' The Athletic News'' to further his argument―and drew in members of the Kent Committee, including Lord Harris who came to Blythe's defence in the ''Kentish Express''.Scoble, pp. 139–150.

Scoble considers this incident "an important affair" in the context of Blythe's career. Usually considered to have "an unparrelled reputation for sportsmanship" who would only appeal if he considered a batsman was out,Scoble, p. 139. the incident caused controversy at the time and was revisited in 1924 when ex-Hampshire bowler Harold McDonell published ''What is Cricket?'', a pamphlet discussing fair and unfair play in the game, repeating Fry's accusations.Scoble, pp. 147–148. The Kent Committee responded by publishing a reply, interviewing the players who had been on the field at the time.Scoble, p. 148. Fred Huish, who had been keeping wicket to Blythe during the incident, considered the claim that Blythe had bowled out of the sun to be "absurd",Quoted in Scoble, p. 149. whilst Jack Mason considered McDonell's claim that the Kent captain Ted Dillon had ordered Blyth to do so to be "quite untrue".

A final Championship

After a poor start to the 1912 season, Kent won 11 of their last 16 matches and finished third in the Championship,Croudy, p. 64. although they would have won the title again under the 1910 system.Webber, pp. 49–50. Blythe took 178 wickets, including almost 50 during August. He took 15 wickets in the match against Leicestershire in June, including seven at the cost of only nine runs in Leicestershire's first innings,Scoble, pp. 152–153. and bowled unchanged with Woolley against Nottinghamshire during Canterbury Week, before repeating the feat with Douglas Carr later in the month at Dover.Scoble, pp. 154–155.

In 1913 Kent won their fourth championship in eight seasons with 20 victories in 28 matches.Webber, p. 50. Blythe took 167 wickets at 16.34, including 13 against Leicestershire at Canterbury and 11 against Middlesex at Maidstone, but his most memorable performance came against Warwickshire at Tonbridge.Croudy, pp. 68–69. Bowling alongside Woolley, each man took five wickets for the cost of eight runs in Warwickshire's second innings, bowling the county out for a score of just 16 runs to set up a run chase and win the match.Scoble, p. 159.Moseling & Quarrington, pp. 73–84.

Wartime, military service and death

The final season

After the start of World War I in early August 1914, cricket continued to be played, although public interest declined and the social side of the game was curtailed.Renshaw, p. 23. Blythe took ten wickets against Sussex and eight against Northants during Canterbury Week at the beginning of the month. Dover week was moved to Canterbury as The Crabble was being converted to a military camp, and in his final game on the ground Blythe took eleven wickets against Worcestershire, including seven for 20 on a drying pitch to win the match for Kent.Scoble, pp. 170–171. In his final match of the season, played at Lord's, he took another seven wickets, including five for 77 in the first innings, his 218th five-wicket haul. At 35 years of age, Blythe finished the season as the leading county wicket-taker with 170, but did not play in Kent's final match of the season at Bournemouth; war had intervened.Croudy, p. 73.Renshaw, p. 24.Keating, 2007.

Military service

Despite his epilepsy, Blythe enlisted in the Kent Fortress Royal Engineers (KFRE) at the end of August alongside Kent teammates David Jennings and Henry Preston as well as his close friend Claud Woolley and Jennings' brother Tom.Lewis, p. 34.Carlaw, p. 79.Broom, p. 17. As a trained engineer, Blythe's skills lent themselves to service in the KFRE, and after initial training at Tonbridge, the men were posted to the Gillingham depot as part of 2/7 company, a Territorial Force company.Lewis, p. 114. Blythe's enlistment was covered by the press and whilst at Tonbridge he undertook a recruiting tour of Kent, enlisting another 25 men.Scoble, pp. 174–176. He was promoted to corporal by the end of the year and to serjeant in 1915.

After spending the first years of the war working on coastal defences and other construction projects around Kent, the introduction of conscription in January 1916 meant that territorials were required to sign Imperial Service Obligations and were liable to be sent overseas.Lewis, p. 30. Wartime cricket matches, firstly for the KFRE and later for other sides, occupied some of Blythe's time. The side played matches against the Royal Engineers, a South African XI and Chatham Garrison amongst others in 1916, and Blythe played at Lord's and The Oval and against a Linden Park side containing four of Kent's players.Scoble, p. 178.Carlaw, p. 80.

Blythe and Claud Woolley were identified for overseas service in early 1917, were transferred to the Royal Engineers and underwent training at Marlow in Buckinghamshire.Lewis, p. 115. Blythe played more cricket whilst at Marlow, playing alongside Woolley and Jennings. His final appearances at Lord's saw him playing against the Australian Imperial Forces and then, in his final match, for an Army and Navy side against an Australian and South African XI. He took only one wicket, Australian international Charlie Macartney.Broom, p. 150.Scoble, pp. 179–180. By this time Blythe was certain that he would not be able to play cricket professionally after the war, and was appointed as cricket coach at Eton College, intending to take up the position once the war was over.Scoble, p. 180.

Blythe was posted to the 12th battalion of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI), a pioneer battalion which had been raised in Leeds and consisted mostly of Yorkshire miners. He embarked for France in September.Scoble, p. 181. Working in the Ypres Salient sector of the front, the battalion was mainly engaged in laying and maintaining light railway lines to allow easy passage of men, equipment and munitions across the area during the Battle of Passchendaele. On 8 November 1917 Blythe and Woolley were part of a working party on a railway line between Wieltje and Gravenstafel. Shrapnel from a shell burst pierced Blythe's chest, killing him instantly; the same burst wounded Woolley.Scoble, pp. 185–186.

Memorials

Blythe is buried in the Oxford Road Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery near Ypres.Lewis, pp. 349–350. His headstone bears the inscription, chosen by his wife, "In loving memory of my dear husband, the Kent & England cricketer".Casualties of Passchendaele: Serjeant Colin Blythe
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 8 November 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2021. A memorial to him and the other members of Kent's sides who died during the war was erected at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury in 1919. The idea of a memorial was discussed by the Kent Committee as early as December 1917, subject to approval by his widow, and noted in ''The Times'' in April 1918. The memorial, which initially took the form of a drinking fountain, was unveiled by Lord George Hamilton in August 1919.Lewis, pp. 345–346.Blythe memorial re-dedicated to mark tragic centenary
Kent County Cricket Club, 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.Moore, p. 83. Inscribed in block letters on the west face of the plinth was the dedication: "To the memory of Colin Blythe of the Kent Eleven who volunteered for active service upon the outbreak of hostilities in the Great War of 1914–18 and was killed at Ypres on the 18th Nov 1917. Aged 38 he was unsurpassed among the famous bowlers of the period and beloved by his fellow cricketers".Fallen Kent Cricketers, ''The Times'', 25 August 1919, p. 16.
The Times Digital Archive
. Retrieved 31 December 2020.) The date was wrong: Blythe was killed on the 8th.Scoble, p. 8.

The memorial was originally sited on the Old Dover Road side of the ground, just inside the main entrance and next to a memorial to Fuller Pilch. Pelham Warner, who had played with Blythe for England and was a great admirer of his, laid a wreath at the memorial during the 1919 Canterbury Cricket Week, beginning a tradition which has continued.Renshaw, p. 25. It was removed from its initial site during redevelopment of the ground in the early 21st century and restored. It was rededicated, with a corrected inscription, inside the Nackington Road entrance of the ground in 2017 on the centenary of Blythe's death.

Blythe is also commemorated by a decorative mural in Tonbridge Parish Church, on the town's war memorial and has a road in North Tonbridge named after him.Lewis, pp. 355–356.Tonbridge Cricketers
Tonbridge History, Tonbridge Historical Society. Retrieved 31 December 2020. Both the Tonbridge mural and the Canterbury memorial were designed by Walter Cave, the vice-president of the Royal Institute of British Architects.Renshaw, pp. 24–25. Two of Blythe's wallets, torn by the shrapnel which killed him, are on display inside the pavilion at Canterbury.

Style and technique

Off the field, Blythe played the violin and Harry Altham, writing in ''Barclay's World of Cricket'', said that his slow left-arm action "reflected the sensitive touch and the sense of rhythm of a musician", the left arm emerging from behind his back "in a long and graceful arc".Swanton et. al., pp. 156–157. Blythe, who had complete mastery of flight and spin, bowled consistently to a full-length and made effective use of his fingers at the point of delivery to determine if the ball would be an orthodox break or a late inswinger, either of which was a difficult ball to face on a pitch that helped the bowler.Liverman D (2000
A Profile of Colin Blythe
CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 February 2025. Although he was ostensibly a slow-paced bowler, Blythe sometimes bowled an "arm ball" which was decidedly fast and, in general, he had more pace than would be expected. Pardon S (1918) Colin Blythe, Obituaries, ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1918.
Available online
at CricInfo. Retrieved 11 November 2017.)

In his ''Golden Ages'', A. A. Thomson praised Blythe as Wilfred Rhodes' "historic rival as a slow left-hand bowler". Thomson declared Rhodes and Blythe to have been "the greatest of slow left-hand bowlers" but stated a slight personal preference for Rhodes. He qualified his opinion by admitting that many better judges, including Ranjitsinhji, considered Blythe to be "the more difficult to play (against)". As well as Ranji, all the leading batsmen greatly respected Blythe and Gilbert Jessop wrote in his book ''A Cricketer's Log'' that his particular ''bêtes noires'' as bowlers were Blythe, Monty Noble and Tom Hayward.

Blythe is depicted as the bowler in Albert Chevallier Tayler's oil painting, '' Kent vs Lancashire at Canterbury'', commissioned by Kent at the suggestion of Lord Harris to commemorate the club's first official County Championship title in 1906. Harris made two conditions: the ground had to be Canterbury; the bowler had to be Colin Blythe. Harris' choice of Blythe for this honour is echoed in Altham's history: "But when all is said, it is the figure of 'Charlie' Blythe that stands out above his fellows as the greatest factor in the county's success".Altham, p. 259.

Altham went on to say that Blythe elevated bowling "from a physical activity onto a higher plane" and summarised him as "practically unplayable" on a "sticky wicket". Technically, Altham says, Blythe's strengths were "the quickness of his break and rise (of the ball) from the pitch, combined with his perfect length".Altham, p. 260.

Personal life

Blythe met Janet Gertrude Brown, who was from Royal Tunbridge Wells, in 1906. She was called Janet by her own family but Blythe and everyone in his family called her Gertrude so, like him, she had two familiar names. Born in February 1889, she was ten years younger than Blythe. They were married on 11 March 1907 at the registry office in Greenwich. The couple lived in Tonbridge, not far from the Angel Ground. They had no children.Scoble, pp. 73–74. Before his marriage, Blythe had continued to live with his family during the off-season. They had moved from Deptford to New Cross and he continued to work through the winter as an engineer at either the Arsenal or at the Maxim Gun Company, which was in Crayford.

Regarded as a sensitive and artistic person, Blythe was a talented violinist. He had played with a London music hall orchestra before his marriage, and afterwards with the Tonbridge Symphony Orchestra and other musical organisations in Kent. His preference was for classical music, especially that of Brahms and Mozart.Scoble, p. 94.

Blythe had epilepsy, the onset of which may have been during his teenage years, although it is only after his marriage that the condition is recorded. His illness may have been exacerbated by competing responsibilities at home and on the cricket field.Scoble, p. 75. Altham recounts how Blythe was "utterly exhausted" after the Headingley Test in 1907 when he took 15 wickets in the match.

Statistical career summary

Blythe was active in first-class cricket for sixteen seasons from 1899 to 1914, playing in 439 matches. He delivered a total of 103,546 balls and took 2,503 wickets at a bowling average of 16.81 runs per wicket. He took five-wickets in an innings 218 times, ten wickets in a match 71 times, and 100 wickets in a season 14 times. His best innings bowling figures was the 10 for 30 he took against Northamptonshire in 1907; his 17 for 48 in the same match was his best match return.Croudy, p. 78.Colin Bythe
CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 February 2025.

, Blythe is one of only 33 players to have taken 2,000 first-class career wickets. He is ranked 13th in the list of first-class wicket-takers, but had a much shorter career than any of the players above him. Among bowlers with 2,000-plus wickets, his average of 16.81 is the sixth-best.Most wickets in career in FC
CricInfo. Retrieved 10 February 2025.

Blythe played 19 Test matches for England between December 1901 and March 1910. He delivered 4,456 balls and took exactly 100 wickets at an average of 18.63. He took five-wickets in an innins nine times and ten-wickets in a match four times in Tests. His best innings return was eight for 59 at Headingley in 1907, and his 15 for 99 there was his best match return.Croudy, p. 79.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Altham HS (1962) ''A History of Cricket'', vol. 1. London: George Allen & Unwin.
* Barker R, Rosenwater I (1969) ''England v Australia: A compendium of Test cricket between the countries 1877–1968''. London: Batsford.
*Bates S (2017) 'The Real Colin Blythe', ''The Nightwatchman'', vol. 20 (Winter 2017), pp. 34–39.
*Broom J (2022) ''Cricket in the First World War: Play up! Play the Game''. Barnsley: Pen and Sword.
*Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition).
Available online
at The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 21 December 2020.)
*Croudy B (1995) ''Colin Blythe – Famous Cricketers Series, No.27''. Nottingham: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
Available online
Retrieved 29 December 2018.)
*Dale H (1963) ''Cricket Crusaders''. London: The Sportsmans Book Club.
*Down M (1981) ''Archie: A Biography of A. C. MacLaren''. London: George Allen & Unwin.
*Ellis C, Pennell M (2010) ''Trophies and Tribulations: Forty Years of Kent Cricket''. London: Greenwich Publishing.
*Harris C, Whippy J (2008) ''The Greater Game: Sporting icons who fell during the Great War''. Barnsley: Pen & Sword.
*Keating F (2007
A poignant reminder of the talents stolen from sport
''The Guardian'', 13 November 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
*Knight L, Oakes S (eds) (2019) ''Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2019''. Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club.
*Lewis P (2014) ''For Kent and Country''. Brighton: Reveille Press.
*Moore D (1988) ''The History of Kent County Cricket Club''. London: Christopher Helm.
*Moseling M, Quarrington T (2013) ''A Half-Forgotten Triumph''. Cheltenham: SportsBooks.
*Oversen C (2017) ''All Ten: The Ultimate Bowling Feat'', p. 85. Bedford: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
Available online
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*Renshaw A (2014) ''Wisden on the Great War: The Lives of Cricket's Fallen 1914-1918''. London: Bloomsbury.
Available online
Retrieved 31 December 2020.)
*Scoble CL (2005) ''Colin Blythe: Lament for a Legend''. Cheltenham: SportsBooks.
*Smart JB (2009) ''The Real Colin Blythe''. Kingsbridge: Blythe Smart Publications.
*Stern J, Williams M (eds) (2013) ''The Essential Wisden: An Anthology of 150 Years of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack''. London: John Wisden & Co.
* Swanton EW, Plumptre G, Woodcock JC (eds) (1986) ''Barclay's World of Cricket'', 3rd edition. London: Willow Books.
* Thomson AA (1961) ''Cricket: The Golden Ages''. London: Stanley Paul.
* Warner P (1946) ''Lord's 1787–1945''. London: GG Harrap.
* Webber R (1958) ''The County Cricket Championship 1873–1956''. London: The Sportsman's Book Club.
* Wilde S (2013) ''Wisden Cricketers of the Year: A Celebration of Cricket's Greatest Players''. London: John Wisden & Co.
*Williams G (2015
Blythe, Colin (Charlie) (1879–1917)
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
* Woolley F (1936) ''The King of Games''. London: Stanley Paul.
* Wynne-Thomas P (1989) ''The Complete History of Cricket Tours at Home and Abroad''. London: Hamlyn.

External links

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