Lionel Palairet

Lionel Palairet

Lionel Charles Hamilton Palairet (27 May 1870 – 27 March 1933) was an English amateur cricketer who played for Somerset. He was selected to play Test cricket for England twice in 1902, and also appeared for Oxford University. A graceful right-handed batsman, Palairet was frequently described as having one of the most attractive batting styles of his period. His obituary in The Times described him as "the most beautiful batsman of all time". An unwillingness to tour during the English winter limited Palairet's Test appearances, contemporaries believed he deserved more Test caps.

Educated at Repton School, where he played in the cricket team for four years, captaining the side in the latter two, Palairet then went on to Oriel College, Oxford. He achieved his cricketing Blue in each of his four years at Oxford, and was selected to captain the side in each of 1892 and 1893. For Somerset, he frequently opened the batting with Herbie Hewett. In 1892, they shared a partnership of 346 for the first wicket, an opening partnership that set a record for the County Championship and remains Somerset's highest first-wicket partnership. In that season, Palairet made 1,343 runs at an average of more than 30, and was named as one of the "Five Batsmen of the Year" by Wisden.

Over the following decade, he was one of the leading amateur batsmen in England. He passed 1,000 first-class runs in a season on seven occasions, and struck two double centuries. His highest score, 292 runs against Hampshire in 1895, remained the record score for a Somerset batsman until 1948. He played in the only two matches that the near-invincible Yorkshire team lost from 1900 to 1902. His only Test matches were the remarkably close fourth and fifth Tests against Australia in 1902: Australia won the fourth Test by three runs, and England won the fifth Test by one wicket. After 1904, he appeared infrequently for Somerset, though he played a full season in 1907 when he was chosen to captain the county. He retired from first-class cricket in 1909, having scored over 15,000 runs.