Charles Morse (cricketer)

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]

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