Published: Nov 22, 2013, 12:25 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 18, 2016, 11:37 PM (IST)
Charlie Turner, one of greatest fast bowlers of all time, was born November 16, 1862. Abhishek Mukherjee looks at the career of the man they used to call ‘Terror’.
Charlie Thomas Biass Turner was, in the opinion of many — especially contemporaries — the greatest bowler there ever was, especially among Australians. In 32 Years of Cricket, Frank Iredale called Turner a ‘harder task’ then even Fred Spofforth, which was saying something.
Turner’s action was one to die for: an overawed Archie MacLaren once referred to Turner as ‘poetry in action’. ‘Skittled by a sonnet’ was the phrase Sporting Life used to refer to a Turner victim. He ran in like a gazelle, deceptively harmless in approach, and yet, when the ball pitched, it took off at an awkward pace to make the batsman look like a fool.
Of his action Wisden wrote: “not one of them (the great bowlers) creates a happier memory than Turner in his rather long rhythmic run and beautiful right-arm action without any effort to make the most of his medium height — five feet nine inches.”
Even on ordinary days, Turner was a formidable opponent to cope with: if it rained he was unplayable. He often mixed fast off-breaks with his off-cutters; not only did the ball bounce or skid through, but sometimes it turned so much [at that pace] that he could put any spinner to shame. As if that was not enough, he had a yorker that was almost impossible to keep out and also developed a fast leg-break with age.
[Note: As per Ric Sissons, the author of The Terror — Charlie Turner, it is estimated that Turner bowled at around 55 miles per hour. The device that measured this at Woolwich Arsenal in 1888 was typically used to measure the speed of bullets; two sets of wires were placed at a distance from each other. When Turner bowled the ball broke the wires and sent out an electrical charge, which was then used to calculate the speed.]
Wisden wrote: “He [Turner] delivered the ball almost facing square down the pitch, and, added to his off-break with slightly varied pace about fast-medium, was ability to turn the ball from leg, send down a fast yorker, and, above all, to get quick lift from the turf.”
In fact, Turner often turned (if you mind the pun) the ball a bit too much to get wickets. WG Grace summed it up nicely in a comparison between the two Australian greats: “Spofforth could make a ball break on a bowler’s wicket as much as he liked; he could bend it a-foot-and-a-half or two inches; and he knew how much he was putting on. Turner’s fault was that he persisted in bending them a lot ball after ball and could not produce the tiny break at will.”
Turner’s numbers were unreal: from 17 Tests he took 101 wickets at 16.53 and a strike rate of 51.2 with 11 five-fors and 2 ten-fors. These are formidable numbers: of all bowlers with over a hundred Test wickets, his average is third on the list (after George Lohmann’s and Sydney Barnes’) and the best among Australians. His strike rate is the best among Australians as well.
Turner formed a destructive combination with the equally lethal JJ Ferris (who, at 5’5″, was even shorter than Turner): often bowling unchanged. In the 8 Tests and 14 innings they had bowled together, Turner had taken 56 wickets at 11.92 and Ferris 48 more at 14.25. The other Australians combined 21 wickets between themselves. Together they earned the names ‘The Terror’ and ‘The Fiend’.
With Vernon Philander and Ravichandran Ashwin starting their careers on a very high note, Turner’s name had been making rounds in the cricket fraternity of late. Turner had reached the 50-wicket mark in 6 Tests — still a world record (Richardson and Philander managed to reach there in 7 each). He also required 17 Tests to reach the 100-mark, which is next to only Lohmann’s 16. Ashwin had taken 18.
Turner had also turned Walter Read into Test cricket’s first ‘bunny’. He dismissed Read in 6 consecutive innings (5 bowled, 1 caught-behind) in 1888 — a record that wasn’t broken till Imran Khan got Dilip Vengsarkar out 7 successive times over a period of 3 years from 1980 to 1983. Shane Warne currently holds the record, having dismissed Ashwell Prince a record 8 times on the run.
Turner’s First-Class numbers (he used to play for New South Wales [NSW]) read 993 wickets from 155 matches with 102 five-fors and 35 ten-fors. A not-too-bad batsman, he had also scored 3,856 runs at 15.54 with 2 hundreds.
Early days
Robert Turner had arrived in Australia in 1842 as a free settler from Hertfordshire, Leeds. The Turners were originally farmers. He ran several hotels in Bathurst including the Royal Hotel (which still stands). With him he had brought his son Charlie. Charlie’s son, also called Charlie, was born at Bathurst in 1862.
It was in a hotel that Turner discovered that he could turn the billiards ball venomously, which he later applied to the cricket ball. He was also gifted with exceptionally strong hands and fingers, and was known to have crushed an orange to pulp between his index- and middle-fingers.
Turner’s maiden First-Class appearance came against Ivo Bligh’s team in 1882-83 at Sydney; he returned rather modest figures of 1 for 76. After 4 First-Class matches he had only that solitary wicket to show. He continued to play club cricket, but had achieved little at the level above.
Things changed when he took field against Alfred Shaw’s team at Sydney in 1886-87. Opening with Ferris Turner, he bowled unchanged through the first innings, picking up 6 for 20 and dismissing the tourists for 74. He went a step ahead in the second innings, taking 7 for 34 and skittling them for 98.
From a struggling seamer, Turner almost leapfrogged to the category of the best in the span of a single season. In only 7 matches he picked up 70 wickets at 7.68. He claimed 5 wickets in an innings 8 times and ten wickets in a match thrice. In the match against Victoria at MCG Turner achieved a hat-trick by clean bowling Eugene Palmer, Tom Horan, and John Trumble.
The numbers also included those from his first two Tests.
Test debut
Turner made his Test debut in the 1886-87 Ashes. It was a 2-Test affair, and both Tests were to be played at SCG. His debut Test turned out to be a famous one: he bowled unchanged with Ferris as England, put in on a ‘sticky’, were bowled out for 45 in 35.3 overs (23.5 six-ball overs). Turner returned figures of 6 for 15.
Australia responded with 119, but England fought hard, despite some excellent bowling from Ferris and Turner (2 for 53). 81 crucial runs were added for the last 3 wickets, and England were left to score 111. Billy Barnes and Lohmann then bowled out the hosts for 97. Batting at No. 5 in each innings Turner scored 3 and 7.
England claimed the series with a 71-run victory in the next Test. Turner returned figures of 5 for 41 and 4 for 52, and did the bulk of the bowling along with Ferris. In the second innings of Australia he fielded as a substitute for England and caught Reginald Allen off Billy Bates. He became the third person to do so, after Billy Murdoch and ‘Affie’ Jarvis.
The La Niña led to an extremely wet 1887-88 in Australia. His outstanding performance with the ball earned him spot in the 1888 Ashes side. Playing against the tourists at Sydney, Turner was virtually unplayable: with Ferris as his faithful ally, Turner picked up 8 for 39 and 8 for 40 to lead NSW to en emphatic 153-run victory.
With England bowling out Australia for 42 and 82 in the only Test at SCG, Australia did not have a chance. Turner, however, bowled his heart out, picking up 5 for 44 and 7 for 43 — but in vain. His match analysis of 12 for 87 still remains the best at SCG. On the basis of an excellent season (106 wickets from 12 matches at 13.59), Turner was picked for the 1888 Ashes.
Turner’s finest tour
Let us put the numbers out of the way first. In only 36 matches, Turner picked up 283 First-Class wickets at 11.68 in the 1888 season. In the process he finished miles ahead of Ted Peate’s season record of 214 wickets set in 1882 with 30 five-fors and 12 ten-fors. ‘Tich’ Freeman (twice) and Tom Richardson are the only ones who have managed to go past Turner’s record. It should be noted that Ferris had 199 wickets at 14.74, and no other Australian managed to go past the 50-mark.
The matches against Warwickshire at Edgbaston (Turner picked up 5 for 34 and 2 for 41), against Leicestershire at Grace Road (6 for 44 and 5 for 20), and against Derbyshire at Derby (6 for 20 and 7 for 26) were not given First-Class status. If one included these 3 matches Turner’s 1888 tally would have read 314 wickets at 13.91 from 39 matches.
It should suffice to say that the first time on that season when Turner did not pick up 5 wickets in a match was as late as in May 31 against Players — and that was because Players won the match by ten wickets. Before that, however, he scored 103 against Surrey at The Oval; it would remain his highest First-Class score. Not content, he polished off the hosts with 6 for 44 (bowling unchanged) and 3 for 57.
The Australians played an England XI just before the first Test at Stoke-on-Trent. After the tourists scored 242 Turner and Ferris bowled unchanged throughout the rest of the match: Turner picked up 9 for 15 (his career-best; the other wicket was a run out) and 4 for 33. The hosts were bowled out for 28 and 79.
Despite scoring 116 and 60 Australia finally won the first Test at Lord’s. Turner bowled unchanged throughout both English innings, returning figures of 5 for 27 and 5 for 36: in what turned out to be the shortest Test at that time (it lasted only 792 balls) England scored 53 and 62 and lost by a significant margin.
England fought back at The Oval to square the series. They scored 317, which was the only innings above 200 in the series. Turner toiled hard for 60 overs (40 six-ball overs), picking up 6 for 112; Australia were bowled out for 80 and 100.
WG Grace won a crucial toss in the decider at Old Trafford. The pitch deteriorated during the English innings, and when the hosts scored 171 it was obviously out of reach for the Australians. When he trapped Bobby Peel leg-before Turner reached the 50-wicket mark. He finished with 5 for 86. Australia lost 18 wickets before lunch on Day Two and lost by an innings: the Test lasted only 788 balls, thus creating a new record.
Despite the fact that England retained the Ashes, Turner kept on routing the hosts throughout the season. Perhaps his most spectacular performance came in another match against England XI at Hastings where he bowled unchanged in both innings with figures of 8 for 13 and 9 for 37.
In the inaugural year of their awards Wisden named six bowlers as Wisden Bowlers of the Year. Turner was named one of them [along with Ferris]. The other recipients were Johnny Briggs, Lohmann, Peel, and Sammy Woods.
Second tour of England
After the phenomenal tour of 1888 Turner played only 8 matches over the next two seasons. He picked up 43 wickets from these matches at 19.67; though these were excellent numbers, they did not compare to Turner’s earlier seasons.
In 1888-89 Turner opened the batting with Charles Bannerman for Australian XI against The Rest at SCG. He scored 102 out of an opening stand of 144, and though he returned figures of 2 for 109 in the first innings he was back at his best in the second, picking up 5 for 20.
He was still picked for the 1890 tour of England, and he did not disappoint the selectors. Once again he dominated the tour with 179 wickets from 31 matches at 14.21 with 16 five-fors and 4 ten-fors. He came next to only Ferris, who had 186 wickets at 14.28.
England won the first Test at Lord’s easily; for once Turner failed, picking up only a single wicket in the match. Opening batting he scored 24 and helped John Lyons add 66 in the first innings (the other 9 wickets added 66 between them). The second Test at The Oval turned out to be a humdinger where England managed to chase down 95 with only 2 wickets in hand. Turner, though unable to win the Test, returned figures of 2 for 37 and 3 for 38. The third Test at Old Trafford was washed out.
Subsequent series
Turner played a crucial role when Australia regained the Ashes in 1891-92 at home. With Ferris having left and Harry Trott and George Giffen rising through the ranks Turner bowled first-change. Even then, he was instrumental in Australia’s victory in the first Test at MCG (with 2 for 40 and 5 for 51).
Opening bowling at SCG, he played a crucial role again in Australia’s series win, picking up 2 for 90 and 4 for 46. He also picked up 3 for 111 in the dead-rubber Test at Adelaide that England won by an innings and plenty.
Once again Turner did well on the 1893 tour of England, where he picked up 148 wickets from 26 matches at 13.63 with 16 five-fors and 5 ten-fors. He finished at the top of the bowling charts, way ahead of Giffen (118 at 19.04) and Hugh Trumble (108 at 16.61). However, it was on this season that his differences with Giffen started showing.
Turner later called the 1893 tour as the one he had enjoyed the least of the three. As per Sissons, speaking about Giffen Turner mentioned that the former was “when a man is too conceited and plays for himself instead of his side he does a lot of harm.” Giffen took up the matter rather seriously, and became keen on removing Turner from the side.
England won the 3-Test series 1-0 by thanks to an innings victory in the second Test at The Oval. Though Turner picked up only 3 wickets from the last 2 Tests at The Oval and Old Trafford he did a commendable job in the first Test at Lord’s. In a high-scoring match, given the standards of the era, Turner picked up 6 for 69 and 2 for 64.
Turner versus Briggs
Turner was nevertheless picked for the home Ashes of 1894-95. In the historic first Test at SCG [where England won after following-on] Turner picked up only 3 wickets. In the next Test at MCG, however, he bowled unchanged and picked up 5 for 32 to bowl out England for 75.
Unfortunately, England amassed a mammoth 475 in the third innings of the Test as all eleven batsmen crossed ten for the first time in history. Turner came out to join Iredale when Australia were 268 for 9 chasing 428. He scored 26 and helped Iredale put up 65 for the last stand.
Briggs, placed at 91 wickets before the Test, was expected to past Spofforth’s world record tally of 94 Test wickets. He managed to take only 2 wickets, though. Turner was on 86. However, Turner went past Briggs in the Test and caught up with Spofforth when he bowled Bill Brockwell in the second innings.
The race to the hundredth wicket had started. Unfortunately, Turner missed the third Test at Adelaide (that Australia won) and Briggs, with 3 wickets from the Test, went up to 96 (this means that Spofforth, Turner, and Briggs were all tied at 94 at one time).
Turner came back in the fourth Test at SCG. England bowled first, and though Harry Graham’s 105 took the hosts to 284, Briggs became the first person in the world to reach the 100-wicket mark when he had Jarvis caught-behind. Turner came back strongly, picking up 3 for 18 to rout England for 65.
Turner started the innings with 97 wickets against his name. He reached the 100-mark (and became the first Australian to do so) and caught up with Briggs when he had Brockwell. Earlier, he became the first person to have a batsman (Peel) stumped twice in a Test for a pair. Daniel Vettori is the only other bowler to have achieved this when he had Chris Mpofu stumped over a hundred years later.
Turner then went past Briggs when ‘Punch’ Philipson hit one back to him to end the innings. He had played 8 Tests less than the Lancastrian.
The axing
With the series levelled 2-2, the teams were scheduled to play the last Test at MCG. It came as a shock to him when fellow selectors, Giffen (then the captain) and Jack Blackham voted him out of the side. England won comfortably, and Andrew Stoddart, the English captain, later mentioned that the decision to drop Turner played a crucial role in the victory.
Turner never played another Test. With 3 wickets in the Test Briggs went past Turner, and eventually finished with 118 wickets from 33 Tests.
Later years
Turner played First-Class cricket in Australia till 1896-97. Meanwhile, there was a frantic last-minute effort to get him to the boat of England for the 1896 tour, which Turner refused. Arthur Shrewsbury suggested the fact that Turner owed money in England could possibly have been a reason.
He was given a benefit match in as late as 1909-10 (he was 47 then). Opening bowling for NSW he dismissed Edgar Mayne for a duck (The Rest went on to lose 3 wickets before a run was scored) but could bowl only 8 overs in the match, taking a single wicket for 19.
Post-retirement
Turner had started an import business that mostly involved selling cricket goods. The venture bombed during the economic depression of the 1890s (which was perhaps Shrewsbury’s reason of accusing Turner). Later in 1896, Turner started a magazine called Australian Cricket – A Weekly Record of the Game; it stopped after 18 months.
Turner had married Sarah Emily Matthews in July 1882. They moved to Sydney where Turner took up employment in the Australian Joint Stock Bank. Unfortunately ‘Em’ passed away while giving birth, an incident that shattered her husband.
He moved to Gympie in Queensland with his second wife Harriett Emmy and his daughter. He worked as a share-broker there. The family returned to Sydney in 1901 where Turner took up a job at the Government Savings Bank, where he worked till his retirement in 1931.
He worked as a correspondent for Sun in the 1920s; while covering the 1920-21 Test at Adelaide he met Giffen. The duo — two of the finest Pre-War cricketers — resolved whatever animosity had existed between them. Turner was also one of the earliest radio broadcasters.
After retirement, Turner settled down in Manly with his third wife Edith. He passed away on January 1, 1944 in the same place. His ashes were unclaimed at an undertaker’s for a quarter of a century before Jack Gunning and David Frith brought them back to Bathurst. The ashes were buried at the Bathurst Oval. Its presence is acknowledged by a small plaque.
Tributes
In 2007 Turner was selected for the All-Time Baggy Blue XII by Cricket NSW to commemorate their 150 years of First-Class cricket — ahead of men like Glenn McGrath. In 2013 Turner was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame along with — yes, McGrath himself.
(Abhishek Mukherjee is a cricket historian and Senior Cricket Writer at CricketCountry. He generally looks upon life as a journey involving two components – cricket and literature – though not as disjoint elements. A passionate follower of the history of the sport with an insatiable appetite for trivia and anecdotes, he has also a steady love affair with the incredible assortment of numbers that cricket has to offer. He also thinks he can bowl decent leg-breaks in street cricket, and blogs at http://ovshake.blogspot.in. He can be followed on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ovshake42)
