Charles Terence Spencer is a former English first class cricketer who played for Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Cricket Club

Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....

. Only Ewart Astill

Ewart Astill

Ewart Astill was, along with George Geary, the mainstay of the Leicestershire team from 1922 to about 1935. He played in nine Test matches but was never picked for a home Test or for the Ashes tour...

 and George Geary

George Geary

George Geary was easily the greatest cricketer Leicestershire produced before the advent of David Gower and one of the best and hardest-working bowlers of the inter-war period...

 have taken more wickets for Leicestershire. His career best figures of 9-63 were made in 1954 against Yorkshire.

Early career

Terry Spencer made his debut against Cambridge University at Fenners in 1952, taking one wicket. He took as many as 80 wickets in his debut season, albeit at fairly high cost, and was selected for the 1953 Test Trial. Unusual in being able to play fairly regularly during his National Service, Spencer became a stalwart in a usually weak side. Claiming over 100 wickets once (119 in 1961), he passed 80 in a season a further six times. A useful hitter, he passed fifty seven times including an innings of 90 against Essex at Grace Road

Grace Road

Grace Road is a cricket ground, in Leicester, England, home to Leicestershire County Cricket Club.-History:The land which Grace Road is built on was bought by Leicestershire County Cricket Club in 1877 from the then Duke of Rutland and spent the massive sum of £40,000 on developing a cricket club,...

. He scored over 400 runs in a season eight times.

Comeback

Spencer retired in 1969 but was brought back by Ray Illingworth

Ray Illingworth

Raymond Illingworth, CBE is a former English cricketer, cricket commentator and cricket administrator. He was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in First class cricket, and the last one to do so...

 and after playing regularly for two seasons, he played intermittently in First Class and List A matches until a final championship appearance at the end of 1974 against Essex at Chelmsford

Chelmsford

Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...

. He played his final match for the county in a Benson and Hedges group match against Hampshire at Grace Road

Grace Road

Grace Road is a cricket ground, in Leicester, England, home to Leicestershire County Cricket Club.-History:The land which Grace Road is built on was bought by Leicestershire County Cricket Club in 1877 from the then Duke of Rutland and spent the massive sum of £40,000 on developing a cricket club,...

when several players were struck down with flu. He was 45 at the time.
He was on the First Class umpires list from 1979 until the end of 1983, and continued to Umpire Second Eleven matches until 1990.

External links

• Cricket Archive
  * Wisden 1978
  *A History of Leicestershire Cricket EE Snow Volumes 1 and 2 (1949 and 1980)