Name:

Warner, Pelham Francis Sir

Nickname:

Plum

Date of Birth:

02 Oct 1873

Gender:

Men

Place of Birth:

Port of Spain, Trinidad

Date Died:

30 Jan 1963

Career:

Test: 1899 - 1912
First Class: 1894 - 1920

Teams:

Middlesex (Regional)
England (Country)

Golden years: Hill & Gregory to Hobbs & Sutcliffe

Plum Warner: The Grand Old Man of English Cricket

Plum Warner was born on October 2, 1873 in The Hall, Port of Spain, Trinidad. He died aged 89 on January 30, 1963 at West Lavington, Sussex. He was a right handed batsman.

Warner was referred to as the "Grand old man of English cricket" for his long and deep involvement with the game.

His parents were Charles William Warner and Ellen Warner, nee Cadiz, who was of Irish and Spanish stock. His father was the Attorney-General of Trinidad and Tobago for many years. Pelham Warner was the youngest of Charles Warner’s eighteen children. He married Agnes Blythe in 1904 and had three children, Elizabeth (Betty), Esmond and John.

Pelham Warner’s early education began at Queen’s Royal College in Trinidad. In 1887, at the age of thirteen, his father died and the family left Trinidad for England where they spent the remainder of their lives. He attended Rugby, Oriel College and Oxford.

He made his England debut in the Johannesburg Test of the 1898/99 series. He made his sole Test century in the 2nd knock of 132 no, carrying his bat after opening the batting with F. Mitchell.

His Test record is modest. He played 15 Test matches with 622 runs at just under 24.

Amongst those fifteen Tests, were five in which he captained England against Australia on the 1903/04 tour. In this series Warner won the Ashes with a 3-2 series win.

In 1904, Warner was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. He was also named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1921 upon his retirement - a very rare second nomination.

Warner was a surprise choice as captain of the MCC team in Australia in 1903/04.  He won the Ashes 3-2. Warner again captained the MCC team on the 1911/12 Ashes tour. He made 151 against South Australia in the opening tour match. He did not take play again on tour due to a serious illness from a bladder complaint and JWHT Douglas took over the captaincy.

After retirement, Warner served the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in various capacities for almost sixty years. He founded The Cricketer, combining his editorship with writing for the Morning Post. He became chairman of England Test selectors for most of the inter-war years, managed the MCC side to Australia in 1932-33 and later became President of the Marylebone Cricket Club.

Warner wrote well into his old age, nearly twenty books on the game. Pelham Warner was knighted for his services to the game in 1937.

He played for Middlesex from 1894-1920. It was said that Warner knew every blade of grass at Lords. When he died in 1963, his ashes were scattered at Lords

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter