Charles McCarthy (cricketer)

Charles Henry Florence D'Arcy McCarthy (29 June 1899 – 24 July 1977) was an English cricketer, born in Coimbatore which was then in the British Raj. McCarthy was a right-handed batsman who bowled leg break.

McCarthy attended Rugby School and played for the school cricket team from 1915 to 1917.[1] He attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in 1918 and later joined the Royal Engineers in 1919. McCarthy made his first-class debut for the Army against Cambridge University in 1921.[2] Six years later he played for Rangoon Gymkhana in their only first-class match, which came against the Marylebone Cricket Club. In this match he took a single wicket, that of John Parsons in the MCC first-innings. With the bat he scored 5 runs in the Gymkhana's first-innings, before being dismissed by Jack Mercer, while in their second-innings he scored 11 runs before being dismissed by Maurice Tate.[3] Two days after the conclusion of that match, McCarthy made his final first-class appearance for Burma against the MCC.[4] He scored top scored in their first-innings with 48. In their second-innings he scored 9 runs before being dismissed by Maurice Tate.[5] His first-innings score is the highest score by a batsman for Burma in first-class cricket, although this feat was not difficult to achieve as this was Burma's only match with first-class status.[6]

Returning to England, McCarthy made two Minor Counties Championship appearances for Devon in 1929, later making four appearances for the county in 1931.[7] He later served in the Second World War and was mentioned in the London Gazette on 9 September 1942 as holding the temporary rank of colonel in the Royal Engineers. He was based in Bath, Somerset, at this time.[8]

He died in Lyford Cay, New Providence in the Bahamas on 24 July 1977.