Claude Buckenham Explained

Percy Buckenham
Country:England
Fullname:Claude Percival Buckenham
Birth Date:16 January 1876
Birth Place:Herne Hill, London, England
Death Place:Dundee, Scotland
Batting:Right-handed
Bowling:Right-arm fast
Role:Bowler
International:true
Testdebutdate:1 January
Testdebutyear:1910
Testdebutagainst:South Africa
Testcap:165
Lasttestdate:9 March
Lasttestyear:1910
Lasttestagainst:South Africa
Club1:Essex
Year1:1899–1914
Columns:2
Column1:Test
Matches1:4
Runs1:43
Bat Avg1:6.14
100S/50S1:0/0
Top Score1:17
Deliveries1:1182
Wickets1:21
Bowl Avg1:28.23
Fivefor1:1
Tenfor1:0
Best Bowling1:5/115
Catches/Stumpings1:2/–
Column2:First-class
Matches2:307
Runs2:5,641
Bat Avg2:14.50
100S/50S2:2/12
Top Score2:124
Deliveries2:52,148
Wickets2:1,150
Bowl Avg2:25.31
Fivefor2:85
Tenfor2:17
Best Bowling2:8/33
Catches/Stumpings2:172/–
Date:20 June
Year:2009
Source:https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/318/318.html CricketArchive
Module:
Embed:yes
Header-Color:lavender
Position:Right back
Clubs1:Santos
Nationalteam1:Essex
Nationalteam2:Great Britain Olympic
Nationalcaps2:1
Nationalgoals2:0

Claude Percival Buckenham (16 January 1876 – 23 February 1937) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Essex and England.[1] He also won a gold medal playing football at the Olympic Games in 1900.

Life and career

Tall and gangling, and with a distinctive moustache, Percy Buckenham was a fast bowler and a useful lower order batsman. He played for Essex from 1899 to 1914, but suffered, particularly in his early years, from slipshod fielding which meant, according to his obituary in Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, he was more expensive than he perhaps deserved.[2] His career average, at more than 25, is high for the era in which he played.

The 1906 season was the first in which he took more than 100 wickets, and he played several representative matches over the next few English seasons without breaking into the Test match team in England. He was picked in the squad for the fifth Test at The Oval against the 1909 Australians, but was then left out of the team: his omission was described by Sydney Pardon, editor of Wisden, as "a fatal blunder" and the selectors' decision not to include a fast bowler at all "touched the confines of lunacy".[3]

Buckenham's only Test experience came on the 1909-10 tour to South Africa, under the captaincy of H. D. G. Leveson Gower. In four Tests, he took 21 wickets at 28 runs apiece, including five for 115 in the first South African innings of the third Test at Johannesburg. But though he had his most productive season in 1911, with 134 first-class wickets, he was considered too old for the 1911-12 tour to Australia.[4]

Buckenham was a good amateur footballer and played county soccer for Essex. He played right-back for the Upton Park F.C. team that won the inaugural Olympic football tournament in 1900.[5] He is one of only four male Test cricketers to compete at the Olympic Games.[6]

Buckenham retired from first-class cricket in 1914 to become professional at the Scottish club Forfarshire. After serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery in the First World War he became cricket coach at Repton School.

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Claude Buckenham. ESPNcricinfo. 23 August 2021.
  2. Book: . 1938 . . Obituary, 1937 . 936–937 .
  3. Book: . 1910 . Part I . . Notes by the Editor . 171–172.
  4. Book: The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers . Christopher Martin-Jenkins . Christopher Martin-Jenkins . 1980 . Orbis . 27 .
  5. Web site: Claude Buckenham . Olympedia . 26 December 2020.
  6. Web site: Olympians Who Played First-Class Cricket . Olympedia . 23 August 2021.