Charles Morse (20 August 1820 – 25 March 1883) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, the Marylebone Cricket Club, the All-England team and other amateur teams between 1842 and 1862.[1] He was born in Norwich, Norfolk and died at Dresden in Germany.
Morse was educated at Dedham, Essex and at Trinity College, Cambridge.[2] He played cricket as a lower-order right-handed batsman for the Cambridge University side from 1842 to 1844 and appeared in the University Match against Oxford University in all three seasons.[1] But his only innings of note in this period was a score of 82 made for the MCC against Cambridge University in 1844; this proved to be his highest first-class score and his only score over 50 in a 20-year cricket career spanning 40 first-class games.[3] A contemporary report described his innings: "Mr. Morse played with caution, and now and then indulged in a severity of hitting which was really cricket."[4]
Morse graduated from Cambridge University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1844 and then was admitted to the Inner Temple; he was called to the bar in 1848 but never practised as a barrister.[2] Instead he settled at Aylsham and became a Justice of the Peace and deputy lieutenant of Norfolk.[2] This career enabled him to continue to play cricket fairly frequently through to his 40s, though rarely did he make much impact as a batsman, and he did not bowl in major matches.[1] In 1849, for example, he was a member of a very strong "England" side (the All-England Eleven) in a game against Surrey, playing alongside John Wisden, Alfred Mynn, Fuller Pilch and Jemmy Dean.[5]