C. A. G. Russell

Who was C. A. G. Russell?

Charles Albert George "Jack" Russell was one of the leading batsmen in county cricket during the period after World War I. Russell's main strength was his leg-side play, but he was a sound batsmen whose watchfulness made him effective on very difficult pitches.

A son of Essex's first regular wicket-keeper and a cousin of Kent bowler Tich Freeman, Russell first played for Essex in 1908 but did not establish himself until 1913. In that year he reached 1,000 runs and repeated this for the next three years, but it was only a knock of 197 against Middlesex at Lord's in 1920 that elevated Russell to the rank of a top-class batsman. His 2,432 runs was third-highest in the country behind Hobbs and Hendren and he was an automatic choice for that winter's Ashes tour. Though the failure of England's professional bowling on the rock-hard Australian wickets meant England lost all five Tests, Russell did well with an average of 58.42 for all matches, including 135 at Adelaide. When his batting the following year was even better than in 1920, scoring two centuries.