Colin Blythe
A cricketing genius whose poetic left-arm spin bewitched batsmen before his life was tragically cut short on the battlefields of World War I.
1879–1917 (age 38)·English cricketer·Birthday: May 30·The Gilded Age
Biography
Colin Blythe of Kent was one of cricket's most gifted and tragic figures. On the field, he was an artist. A slow left-arm bowler of mesmerizing flight and subtle turn, he made the ball dance to a tune only he could hear, claiming over 2,500 first-class wickets. For England, his 19 Tests included a stunning 15-wicket haul against South Africa at Headingley. Yet Blythe was a complex man, known to be highly strung and suffering from epilepsy, a condition he hid from the cricketing world. When the Great War called, he enlisted with the Kent Fortress Engineers. In 1917, during the Third Battle of Ypres, a shell ended his life at the age of 38. The sport lost not just a master craftsman, but a sensitive soul whose legacy is forever intertwined with the lost generation of 1914-1918.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Colin was born in 1879, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Colin Was Born
The biggest hits of 1879
Colin's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1879Born
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1884Started school
President: Chester A. Arthur
1892Became a teenager
President: Benjamin Harrison
1895Could drive
First public film screening by the Lumiere brothers
President: Grover Cleveland
1897Could vote
President: William McKinley
1900Turned 21
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1909Turned 30
Robert Peary claims to reach the North Pole
President: William Howard Taft
1917Died at 38
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
Key Achievements
- Took 100 wickets in a first-class season 14 times, with a career total of 2,506 wickets.
- Captured 15 wickets for 99 runs in a single Test match against South Africa at Leeds in 1907.
- Played a key role in Kent's County Championship victories in 1906, 1909, 1910, and 1913.
Did You Know?
He was known by the nickname 'Charlie'.
He composed music for the piano and was considered a talented musician.
He suffered from epilepsy, a fact not widely known during his playing career.
A memorial to him stands at the St. Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, Kent.
“The ball, when it left my hand, felt like a living thing with a will.”
