Brief profile of Peter Perrin by David Jeater

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Player:

PA Perrin

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DateLine: 8th February 2005

 

Percy Perrin, 'Peter' to his friends, was a Tottenham publican, property developer and Rolls-Royce owner who organised his businesses around his cricket. He played for Essex as an amateur middle-order batsman from the age of nineteen till past his fifty second birthday. He played more matches, 496, in the County Championship than any other amateur, and scored more Championship runs than any other Essex player. As a batsman he hit the ball hard without much apparent effort. At Chesterfield in 1904 he scored 343 not out, the first first-class ‘triple’ in England in the twentieth century. In that innings he hit 68 fours, setting a world record total which has remained unbeaten. Fielding at point or gully, he took most catches within reach, but was notoriously slow to chase after the ball; this slowness probably prevented him playing Test cricket or becoming Essex captain. A man of few words but with an independent mind, he was a good judge of players, an England Test selector for ten years, and chaired the selection committee in 1939.

(Article: Copyright © 2005 David Jeater)