Buckenham Claude Image 1 Essex 1907

Description

Herne Hill, London born Claude Buckenham was a tall and gangling opening right-arm fast bowler with a toothcomb moustache, and a useful lower order batsman.

Buckenham bowled very fast with a good high delivery action and played for Essex from 1899 to 1914, but suffered, particularly in his early years, from his colleagues’ slipshod fielding which meant, according to his obituary in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, he was more expensive than he perhaps deserved. His career average, at more than 25, is high for the era in which he played, Buckenham suffering the constant misfortune of seeing slip catches missed.

The 1906 season was the first in which he took more than 100 wickets, and he played several representative matches over the next few English seasons without breaking into the Test match team in England. He was picked in the squad for the fifth Test at The Oval against the 1909 Australians, but was then left out of the team: his omission was described by Sydney Pardon, editor of Wisden, as “a fatal blunder” and the selectors’ decision not to include a fast bowler at all “touched the confines of lunacy”.

Buckenham’s only Test experience came on the 1909-10 tour to South Africa, under the captaincy of H. D. G. Leveson-Gower. He made his Test match debut at Johannesburg in January 1910 in a narrow 19 run defeat to South Africa. In four Tests, he took 21 wickets at 28 runs apiece, including 5-115 in the first South African innings of the third Test at Johannesburg. His batting average was only just over 6, with a high score of 17. But though he had his most productive season in 1911, with 134 first class wickets, he was considered too old for the 1911-12 tour to Australia.

A decent lower order batsman, in 307 first class matches he made two centuries and a dozen half centuries with a highest score of 124 and a batting average of 14.50. As a bowler he took 1,150 wickets at 25.31 a piece with a best of 8-33, managing 17 ten wicket matches and 85 five wicket innings. He also took 172 catches in the first class game.

Buckenham retired in 1914 to become professional at the Scottish club Forfarshire and after serving with Royal Garrison Artillery in the First World War he became cricket coach at Repton School thereafter.

Buckenham was a good amateur footballer and played county soccer for Essex. He played right back for the Upton Park F.C. team that won the inaugural Olympic football tournament in 1900.