Charles Stowell "Father" Marriott was an English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Lancashire, Cambridge University and Kent.
36 Facts About Charles Marriott
1.
2.
Charles Marriott went on to teach, having served during World War I in the British Army.
3.
Charles Marriott played in one Test match for the England cricket team in 1933 at the age of 37, taking 11 wickets.
4.
Charles Marriott was born at Heaton Moor near Stockport in Lancashire; his birth was registered as "Charlie Stowell Charles Marriott".
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Charles Marriott was educated in Ireland, first at Monkston Park School in Dublin from 1904 to 1909 and then at The Royal School, Armagh between 1909 and 1912 before attending St Columba's College, Dublin from 1912 to 1913.
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Charles Marriott played cricket in the school XI at both Royal School and St Columba's and was a member of the St Columba's Officer Training Corps.
7.
Charles Marriott enrolled in the Lancashire Fusiliers in September 1915 and was commissioned as a temporary Second Lieutenant in the 21st Reserve Battalion the following month.
8.
Charles Marriott spent time on the front line at Ovillers and, later in the year, to the north of Arras and was promoted, first to Lieutenant and then to acting Captain, commanding a company.
9.
Charles Marriott was injured falling on frozen duckboards during early 1917 and spent some time convalescing in England before returning to the war, seeing action at Savy Wood, Saint-Quentin, Nieuwpoort and around Ypres during the summer.
10.
Charles Marriott was gassed near Nieuwpoort in July 1917 and evacuated home, spending time recovering in Dublin.
11.
Charles Marriott spent early 1918 with the 3rd Battalion at Withernsea in Yorkshire and transferred to the Royal Air Force in July, joining the Cadet Wing at Hastings with the rank of Lieutenant for the remainder of the war.
12.
Charles Marriott went on to make his Lancashire debut later the same month.
13.
The match, against Essex at Leyton, is reported to be the first county cricket match Charles Marriott had ever seen.
14.
Charles Marriott played 12 matches for Lancashire from 1919 to 1921.
15.
Charles Marriott played for Cambridge University Cricket Club, making 17 first-class appearances for the side in his two years at Cambridge.
16.
Charles Marriott won blues in 1920 and 1921, meeting with "remarkable success", taking seven wickets in both of his University Matches.
17.
Charles Marriott took responsibility for cricket at the school between 1921 and 1926.
18.
Charles Marriott eventually accepted the opportunity and played for the Kent side between 1924 and 1937, making 101 first-class appearances for the county, taking 429 wickets.
19.
Charles Marriott took 10 wickets against Hampshire and 11 against Lancashire and had a "remarkable impact" on the side.
20.
Charles Marriott was selected in the squad for the 4th Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 1921, but didn't make the final eleven.
21.
Charles Marriott was aged 37 when he was called in to the England side as a replacement for the injured Hedley Verity.
22.
Wisden reported that with "clever fighting of the ball, perfect length and spin" he produced "one of the best performances accomplished by a bowler when playing for England for the first time" and Charles Marriott remains the bowler with the lowest bowling average to have taken more than 10 wickets in Test matches.
23.
Charles Marriott did not play in any of the three Test matches on the tour and Wisden reported that he "was seldom as good as in England", although he took a hat-trick against Madras, the only time he completed the hat-trick during his career.
24.
Charles Marriott played nine times for MCC during the tour, taking 32 wickets, and made a further appearance for the club against the touring Australians in May 1934.
25.
Charles Marriott was one of the best leg break bowlers of the 1920s and 1930s.
26.
Charles Marriott bowled with a high bowling action, swinging his arm behind his back before he delivered the ball in a style which Wisden compared to Kent's great spin bowler Colin Blythe.
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Charles Marriott bowled a "fierce" top-spinner and although he was able to bowl an effective googly, he used it relatively rarely, having injured himself at school whilst bowling the delivery.
28.
Charles Marriott had begun to write a book, The Complete Leg-Break Bowler, when he died which was published after being completed by Ian Peebles and Richie Benaud.
29.
The 11 wickets Charles Marriott took in his only Test match remain the best bowling figures for any player who has only played a single Test.
30.
Charles Marriott is the only player to have taken two five wicket hauls in their only Test and his Test bowling average of 8.72 runs per wicket is the lowest of any Test cricketer to have taken 10 or more wickets.
31.
Charles Marriott took a total of 711 wickets during his first-class career, 429 of them taken for Kent.
32.
Charles Marriott took 10 wickets in a match 10 times, eight for Kent, and five wickets in an innings 48 times.
33.
Charles Marriott was a less than capable fielder and batsman and scored fewer runs, 574, than he took wickets.
34.
Charles Marriott married Phyllis Taylor at Kensington in 1924 and taught at Dulwich College throughout his career.
35.
Charles Marriott retired from teaching in 1953, three years early due to ill health.
36.
Charles Marriott died in a nursing home at Dollis Hill in Middlesex in 1966 aged 71.