Charles Baker (cricketer)

Charles Shaw Baker (5 January 1883 – 16 December 1976) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Warwickshire between 1905 and 1920.[1] He was a left-handed middle-order batsman, an infrequent legbreak and googly bowler and on occasion a wicketkeeper. He was born at Moss Side in Manchester and died at Lelant, Cornwall.

Not to be confused with Charlie Baker (cricketer).

Charles Baker

Personal information
Full name	Charles Shaw Baker
Born	(1883-01-05)5 January 1883 Moss Side, Manchester, England
Died	16 December 1976(1976-12-16) (aged 93) Lelant, Cornwall, England
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Leg-break and googly
Role	Batsman
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1905–1920	Warwickshire
First-class debut	8 May 1905 Warwickshire v Somerset
Last First-class	21 May 1920 Warwickshire v Middlesex
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 214 Runs scored 9244 Batting average 29.53 100s/50s 10/49 Top score 155* Balls bowled 1462 Wickets 22 Bowling average 46.22 5 wickets in innings – 10 wickets in match – Best bowling 4/59 Catches/stumpings 99/–
Source: CricketArchive, 12 March 2014

Baker is recorded as playing for Warwickshire's second eleven in a non-first-class match in 1903.[2] But he did not make his first team debut until the opening match of the 1905 season, when he established himself immediately with a score of 53 in the second innings of the game with Somerset.[3] In only his fourth game, he scored 102 against Cambridge University.[4] Though he did not make any further centuries in 1905, he retained his place in the side and totalled 956 runs at an average of 28.96.[5] Wisden Cricketers' Almanack commented in its 1906 edition that he "showed capital form on many occasions", though it added that he was inclined to be a slow scorer.[6]

Baker remained as a regular member of the Warwickshire first team right up to the First World War, and including the surprise County Championship triumph of 1911. His best season in terms of his batting average was 1906, when his 848 runs came at an average of 40.38.[5] He headed Warwickshire's averages in the wet summer of 1907 and Wisden noted that he was "now quite one of the best left handed batsmen in the country"; it added that "he at times erred on the side of over-caution, but he proved on several occasions the possession of ability to hit very hard indeed".[7] In both 1907 and 1908 Baker failed by just a few runs to achieve 1,000 runs in the season, but his batting fell back in 1909 and he averaged only 18.60 in that season before returning to form in 1910, when he scored exactly 1000 runs.[5] The runs in 1910 included an unbeaten innings of 155 in the match against Worcestershire, made out of a total of 292, and this proved to be highest score of his first-class career.[8]

Baker's part in Warwickshire's unexpected Championship victory in 1911 was a modest one, for he scored only 665 runs and was left out of the side for some matches in mid-season.[5] He returned to better form in the wet summer of 1912 and in 1913 had his best season in terms of aggregate, scoring 1242 runs at an average of 33.56, and he passed 1000 runs again in the 1914 season.[5] He returned to Warwickshire after the First World War, but had no success, appearing in two matches in each of the 1919 and 1920 seasons before retiring from first-class cricket.

After retiring from first-class cricket, Baker became a cartoonist, working for the Daily Express newspaper.[9] Baker settled in Cornwall and from 1925 to 1931 he played Minor Counties cricket for Cornwall as an amateur, often referred to in the scorecards of the time as "Mr C. Shaw Baker" and sometimes captaining the team. He ran a market garden at Lelant, near St Ives, where he died aged 93 in 1976.[10]

References

1. "Player Profile: Charles Baker". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
2. "Scorecard: Worcestershire Second XI v Warwickshire Second XI". www.cricketarchive.com. 3 August 1903. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
3. "Scorecard: Warwickshire v Somerset". www.cricketarchive.com. 8 May 1905. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
4. "Scorecard: Cambridge University v Warwickshire". www.cricketarchive.com. 18 May 1905. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
5. "First-class Batting and Fielding in each season by Charles Baker". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
6. "Warwickshire Matches". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Part II (1906 ed.). Wisden. p. 192.
7. "Warwickshire Matches". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Part II (1908 ed.). Wisden. p. 200.
8. "Scorecard: Worcestershire v Warwickshire". www.cricketarchive.com. 16 May 1910. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
9. Preston, Norman, ed. (1977). "Obituary, 1976: Baker, Charles Shaw". Wisden Cricketer's Almanack (1977 ed.). London: Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 1037. ISBN 0-85020-053-9.
10. "Work in Lelant". Maxwell Adams. Retrieved 18 March 2014.