Sir Pelham Francis Warner, (2 October 1873 – 30 January 1963), affectionately and better known as Plum Warner or "the Grand Old Man" of English

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 ...

, was a

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

er and cricket administrator. He was knighted for services to sport in the 1937 Coronation Honours.

Early life

Warner was born in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, the youngest of 21 children. His mother, Rosa Cadiz, was a Spanish woman, and his father Charles Warner, was from an English colonial family. He was educated in Barbados at Harrison College, and then sent to England to

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

Cricket career

As a right-hand batsman, Warner played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

and England. He played 15 Test matches, captaining in 10 of them, with a record of won 4, lost 6. He succeeded in regaining

The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, ...

in 1903–04, winning the series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

3–2. However he was less successful when he captained England on the tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 1905–06, suffering a resounding 1–4 defeat, the first time England had lost to South Africa in a Test match. He was also to have captained England on the 1911–12 tour of Australia, but fell ill. He was unable to play in any of the Tests, with Johnny Douglas taking over the captaincy. English cricketers 1897

He was named

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 for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1904 and also in 1921, making him one of two to have received the honour twice (the usual practice is that it is only won once: the other is Jack Hobbs). The second award marked his retirement as a county player after the 1920 season, in which he captained Middlesex to the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

title. In the mid-1920s he was Chairman of Selectors, and in 1926 during industrial strife served as a Special Constable. He did not, however, play in another first-class fixture until 1926–27, when he captained a

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) side to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, in which the four representative matches against the host nation were accorded first-class status. MCC scraped a win in the series by two games to one, with one match drawn. He played one more first-class match, in 1929 for the MCC against the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Cricket management

After retiring as a player, he became a tour manager, most notably on the infamous "Bodyline" tour of Australia in 1932–33 in which he was reportedly opposed to the tactics and argued against their use. He was the chairman of the England Test selectors for several years in the 1930s. He later became President of the

. He was knighted for his services to cricket in 1937.

Cricket writing

Warner wrote extensively on cricket. He detailed his Ashes Tests and a history of

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. He founded '' The Cricketer'' magazine. He was cricket correspondent of the '' Morning Post'' from 1921 to 1933, and subsequently of the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

''.

Family life

He married Agnes Charlotte Blyth in the summer of 1904 and had two sons, Esmond and John, and a daughter, Elizabeth. He died, aged 89, at West Lavington, West Sussex. His brother Aucher Warner not only captained the first combined West Indies side in the West Indies during the 1896–97 season (playing against A. A. Priestley's XI and for Trinidad vs. Lord Hawke's touring team, which included Pelham Warner) but also the first West Indian touring side to England in 1900.

Marina Warner Dame Marina Sarah Warner (born 9 November 1946) is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publication ...

, novelist and mythographer, is his granddaughter.Marina Warner
,

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Contemporary Writers.

References

External links

* *''The Golden Age of Cricket 1890–1914'' by David Frith, *

Bibliography

*''Lord's 1787–1945'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Plum Trinidad and Tobago knights Cricket writers England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 Cricketers who made a century on Test debut England Test cricket captains English cricketers Middlesex cricket captains Free Foresters cricketers Oxford University cricketers Presidents of Middlesex County Cricket Club Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club Wisden Cricketers of the Year People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Knights Bachelor Cricket people awarded knighthoods English cricket administrators People of the Victorian era Trinidad and Tobago people of British descent Trinidad and Tobago people of English descent Trinidad and Tobago people of Spanish descent 1873 births 1963 deaths England cricket team selectors Gentlemen cricketers British special constables Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Lord Hawke's XI cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers North v South cricketers Middlesex cricketers Lord Londesborough's XI cricketers P. F. Warner's XI cricketers People educated at Harrison College (Barbados) A. J. Webbe's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers Pelham Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire