Charles Lawrence (cricketer)

At the age of 17 Lawrence was engaged by the Perth Cricket Club in Scotland. In 1849 he played against the All English XI on tour in Scotland and he took all the English wickets for 24 runs. While in Scotland he also played for the Caledonian Cricket Club of Glasgow.

In 1851 Lawrence played for the Phoenix Cricket Club in Dublin, and in 1856 he formed and captained the United All Ireland XI, where he became friends with Tom Wills who played for that team. He played for Surrey between 1854 and 1857. He was selected for England to take part in one of the first international cricket tours, when the first All England XI, captained by H. H. Stephenson, toured Australia in 1861–62. The team travelled on the SS Great Britain. The players in this team were professionals, with each player paid £150 and guaranteed first class travelling expenses by the sponsors, Melbourne-based businessmen Spiers and Pond.[2]

After the 1861–62 tour, Lawrence settled in Australia and was appointed Australia's first professional cricket coach for the Albert Cricket Club in Redfern, Sydney, to raise the standard of cricket in the state. Appointed captain of NSW, Lawrence took a match-winning 14 for 73 against Victoria in his first game, still a record. He played five times for New South Wales cricket team, and in 1863-64 took 4 for 42 and 6 for 48 for New South Wales against an England XI. Four of Australia’s first 15 Test cricketers would later have Albert CC pedigrees.

Lawrence first saw the indigenous team under the instruction of Tom Wills playing a match at the Albert Ground. On this occasion there was some contract disagreement between the failed sponsor Gurnett and Wills, and the players were left in Sydney. Lawrence was instructed to look after the Aboriginal players. At this time Lawrence was a publican and billeted the players in his hotel in Manly until he could arrange some cricket matches to raise money to return the players to the Western District of Victoria.

In 1868 Lawrence was contracted to coach and captain Australia's 'First Eleven' that toured England. He trained the players for two months at "Lake Wallace" in Edenhope in the Western District before selecting a side to tour England. The tour was financed by Sydney Lawyer George Graham along with his cousin George Smith (who had been Mayor of Sydney in 1859) and William Hayman; they all travelled to England for the tour.

After arriving in England, the Aboriginal XI proceeded to play 47 matches against county and local teams, between May and October 1868, including a match at Lord's. The Australian team won 14, drew 19 and lost 14 of their matches.

Aboriginal cricket team in England 1868 with Captain & Coach Charles Lawrence.

On his return to Sydney, the tour having lost £2,000, Lawrence sold the hotel, which fell into disrepair for some time, and moved up the coast to Newcastle where he worked for 24 years as an official for NSW Railways. Here, aged 55, he played for XVIII of Newcastle v Ivo Bligh's 1882/83 tourists.

Lawrence coached the juniors of the Melbourne Cricket Club from 1891 for eight years.