About Charlie Townsend
Charles Lucas Townsend was a Gloucestershire cricketer. An all-round cricketer, Townsend was classically stylish, left-handed batsman, who was able to hit well despite his slender build. His off-side strokes were particularly effective, and his driving allowed him to score at a consistent pace throughout his major innings. In his younger days Townsend was also a spin bowler, who relied chiefly on a big break from leg but could also turn the ball the other way. He was often extremely difficult on sticky wickets but very rarely effective on good ones. Townsend first emerged as a leg break bowler from Clifton College at the age of 16 in 1893. In that season, his county's wicket-keeper, William Brain, completed the only instance in first-class cricket of a hat-trick of stumpings, taken off Townsend's bowling.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.