Name:

Absolom, Charles A

Nickname:

Charlie, the Cambridge navvy

Date of Birth:

07 Jun 1846

Gender:

Men

Place of Birth:

Blackheath, Kent

Date Died:

30 Jul 1889

Career:

Test: 1879 - 1879

Teams:

Kent (Regional)
England (Country)

Burly allrounder who never wore a cap

Charlie Absolom (1846-89) was a burly, bearded allrounder who played for Cambridge University, Kent and England. He trained in haymaking and beer production. He bowled lively medium pace and was a hard hitting middle order batsman.

Absolom was born at Blackheath, Kent, the son of Edward Absolom. He was educated at a school in Calne in Wiltshire, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was awarded cricket and athletics Blues at Cambridge University. He was nicknamed "Cambridge Navvy" because of his physique.

He toured Australia in 1878/79 under Lord Harris and rescued England with 52 at the MCG in his only Test match.

After ending his first class career, Absolom travelled the world as a ship's purser. He died in agony in 1889 at Port of Spain in Trinidad when a crane discharged a cargo of sugar on him.

His unique style was that he never wore a hat or cap on the field.

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter