Arthur Carr
Encyclopedia
Arthur William Carr was an English cricket
player. He played for the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
and the English cricket team
, captaining both sides.
A promising young batsman, Carr was given his first game of first-class cricket
for Nottinghamshire in 1910, while still at school. He played well and was rewarded with the captaincy of Nottinghamshire in 1919.
Carr was selected for England's tour of South Africa
in 1922-23, and made his debut in the first Test
against the South African cricket team
. He was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1923.
For the Ashes series against Australia
in 1926, Carr was named captain of England. In the third Test at Leeds, he controversially put Australia into bat after winning the toss, and compounded it by dropping Charlie Macartney at slip in the first over of the match. Macartney scored a hundred before lunch and England was lucky to avoid defeat. He came down with tonsillitis during the fourth Test of the series, and although he recovered in time for the fifth Test, was replaced as captain by Percy Chapman
. He was bitterly disappointed with this decision, and although he captained England twice more in his final two Tests against South Africa in 1929, henceforth he put most of his effort into captaining Nottinghamshire into a dominant position within the English County cricket
competition.
In 1930 and the following years, Carr was instrumental in developing the Bodyline
bowling tactic together with future England captain Douglas Jardine
and the two Nottinghamshire fast bowlers
Harold Larwood
and Bill Voce
. Carr used this tactic of instructing his bowlers to aim at the bodies of batsmen and placing a close set field on the leg side
to take catches fended away from the body with the bat and perfected it as he led Nottinghamshire to success in the county competition. Jardine then used Larwood and Voce in similar fashion on the 1932-33 English tour of Australia, the tactic resulting in injuries to Australian batsmen and raising the ire of the Australian public.
After this tour and the subsequent fallout, Carr was subjected to Bodyline bowling by other English county teams, and was severely shaken by several balls that nearly hit him on the head. He denounced the tactic he had helped develop as unfair. Dissension within the Nottinghamshire club over his role in Bodyline led him being sacked as captain in 1934, and he never played first-class cricket again.
Carr played 11 Test matches, scoring 237 runs at an average of 19.75. His first-class career spanned 468 matches, and in this he made 21,051 runs at an average of 31.56 including 45 hundreds. He also bowled medium pace occasionally at first-class level, taking 31 wickets at an average of 37.09.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
player. He played for the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
and the English cricket team
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
, captaining both sides.
A promising young batsman, Carr was given his first game of first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for Nottinghamshire in 1910, while still at school. He played well and was rewarded with the captaincy of Nottinghamshire in 1919.
Carr was selected for England's tour of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in 1922-23, and made his debut in the first Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
against the South African cricket team
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
. He was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1923.
For the Ashes series against Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
in 1926, Carr was named captain of England. In the third Test at Leeds, he controversially put Australia into bat after winning the toss, and compounded it by dropping Charlie Macartney at slip in the first over of the match. Macartney scored a hundred before lunch and England was lucky to avoid defeat. He came down with tonsillitis during the fourth Test of the series, and although he recovered in time for the fifth Test, was replaced as captain by Percy Chapman
Percy Chapman
Arthur Percy Frank Chapman was an English cricketer who captained England to a then English-record-equalling seven consecutive Test match wins, a record that was not surpassed until Michael Vaughan's team won eight in a row in 2004...
. He was bitterly disappointed with this decision, and although he captained England twice more in his final two Tests against South Africa in 1929, henceforth he put most of his effort into captaining Nottinghamshire into a dominant position within the English County cricket
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
competition.
In 1930 and the following years, Carr was instrumental in developing the Bodyline
Bodyline
Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman...
bowling tactic together with future England captain Douglas Jardine
Douglas Jardine
Douglas Robert Jardine was an English cricketer and captain of the England cricket team from 1931 to 1933–34.When describing cricket seasons, the convention used is that a single year represents an English cricket season, while two years represent a southern hemisphere cricket season because it...
and the two Nottinghamshire fast bowlers
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
Harold Larwood
Harold Larwood
Harold Larwood was an English cricket player, an extremely accurate fast bowler best known for his key role as the implementer of fast leg theory in the infamous "bodyline" Ashes Test series of 1932–33....
and Bill Voce
Bill Voce
Bill Voce was an English cricketer. He played for the Nottinghamshire and England, and was an instrumental part of England's infamous Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932–1933.-Life and career:...
. Carr used this tactic of instructing his bowlers to aim at the bodies of batsmen and placing a close set field on the leg side
Leg side
The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...
to take catches fended away from the body with the bat and perfected it as he led Nottinghamshire to success in the county competition. Jardine then used Larwood and Voce in similar fashion on the 1932-33 English tour of Australia, the tactic resulting in injuries to Australian batsmen and raising the ire of the Australian public.
After this tour and the subsequent fallout, Carr was subjected to Bodyline bowling by other English county teams, and was severely shaken by several balls that nearly hit him on the head. He denounced the tactic he had helped develop as unfair. Dissension within the Nottinghamshire club over his role in Bodyline led him being sacked as captain in 1934, and he never played first-class cricket again.
Carr played 11 Test matches, scoring 237 runs at an average of 19.75. His first-class career spanned 468 matches, and in this he made 21,051 runs at an average of 31.56 including 45 hundreds. He also bowled medium pace occasionally at first-class level, taking 31 wickets at an average of 37.09.