Charlie Latham

Charlie Latham was a superb allround sportsman, gaining colours in the three major sports as well as representing Cranleigh at squash and athletics, but it was at cricket that he excelled, eventually playing for Surrey Young Amateurs. He was a brisk rather than fast bowler who at first sight appeared to pose few problems. But the skiddy nature of his delivery - he was a relatively short man -, the ability to move the ball off the seam from just short of a length, combined with his metronomic accuracy made him frustratingly difficult to get away and his stamina meant that he was happy to bowl over after over up the Jubilee hill. Many wickets which fell at the other end were down to Charlie's stifling bowling. In the 1960s he was the leading OC bowler, with his greatest moment coming in 1963 when he took 9 for 51 against a University XI which included ten first-class cricketers - it remains the second-best return by an OC. As a batsman he was under-rated but a more than capable late middle-order player. Charlie was never quite the same bowler after a car accident in the mid 1960s and he slowly drifted out of all forms of cricket at the end of the decade.
Personal Details

Full name Charles F E Latham
Born 1942
Died Kingston, April 19, 2000
Height 5ft 9ins
Nickname
Batting left-hand tailender
Bowling right-arm fast-medium
Clubs Wimbledon
OC Career 1959 to 1973
School 1st XI 1957 to 1960 (Captain 1960)
Career Statistics

Batting
M I No HS Runs Av 50 100 C St
95 82 19 61 812 12.39 1 0 42 0

Bowling
O M R W Av BB 5WI SR ER
998.2 239 2896 155 18.68 9-51 8 38.6 2.9

© OCCC 2002