Charlie Peach

Charles William Peach (3 January 1900 – 27 February 1977), known as Charlie Peach, was an English first-class cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club in 1930 and 1931. He was born in Egerton in Kent in 1900.[1]

Peach was born at Egerton in Kent, the son of Robert and Eliza Peach. His father was a gamekeeper and came from a family with a cricketing tradition.[2]

Peach was a ground bowler and played for The Mote Cricket Club in Maidstone where one of his cousins was the groundsman.[2] He was "one of the mainstays" of the club's bowling attack for a number of years,[3] and good bowling throughout the late 1920s brought him to the attention of Kent. He made his first-class debut for the county in 1930 against Yorkshire, taking six wickets, but his bowling action was queried throughout his short first-class career and, after playing 17 matches in 1930, he played in only two matches in 1931, although he played for the county Second XI throughout the season.[1][2][3] Peach was described in his Wisden obituary as bowling "right-arm, on the quick side of medium" with the ability to "produce a sharp off-break".[3] Despite the suspicions raised about his bowling action he was never no-balled as a result of it in his brief first-class career.[3]

Peach married Dorothy Barker in 1937 and worked as a gamekeeper.[2] He died at Coxheath near Maidstone in 1977 aged 77.[4] His cousin, Alan Peach, made over 300 appearances for Surrey between 1919 and 1931.[2][5]