Cec Pepper
Encyclopedia
Cecil George Pepper was an Australian first-class
cricket
er. An allrounder, he was the first to complete the double twice in the Central Lancashire League. With the bat he once hit 38 runs off an eight ball over.
He fought in World War II
in the Middle East and New Guinea. After retiring he became an umpire in county cricket from 1964 until 1980. He remained in England and died in 1993 at Lancashire.
Career highlights included an innings he played for New South Wales
at Brisbane in 1940-41 when he made 81 with all but 7 of them coming in boundaries. His best bowling figures of 6 for 33 came in 1949-50 when touring India with a Commonwealth side. He took a hat-trick
in the match.
Pepper became embroiled in a row that is widely believed to have cost him Test selection. Teammates Keith Miller
and Dick Whitington regarded him as one of the best all rounders in the world and a certainty for Australian Test selection. Pepper appealed for leg before wicket
against Australian captain Don Bradman in a match against South Australia. The appeal was turned down and Pepper complained to the umpire, prompting Bradman, who was also a member of the Australian Board, to lodge a complaint about Pepper. Pepper was subsequently never selected for Australia. Cricket historian Gideon Haigh
said that "[team manager Keith] Johnson was clearly upset by the affair, and also by the failure of the [national] selection panel [Bradman among them] ... to send Pepper, second only to Miller as a cricketer in the Services XI, to New Zealand". Johnson tried to intercede on Pepper's behalf to no avail, although the other board members claimed that no directive had been given to the selectors to exclude Pepper.
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er. An allrounder, he was the first to complete the double twice in the Central Lancashire League. With the bat he once hit 38 runs off an eight ball over.
He fought in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in the Middle East and New Guinea. After retiring he became an umpire in county cricket from 1964 until 1980. He remained in England and died in 1993 at Lancashire.
Career highlights included an innings he played for New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
at Brisbane in 1940-41 when he made 81 with all but 7 of them coming in boundaries. His best bowling figures of 6 for 33 came in 1949-50 when touring India with a Commonwealth side. He took a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
in the match.
Pepper became embroiled in a row that is widely believed to have cost him Test selection. Teammates Keith Miller
Keith Miller
Keith Ross Miller MBE was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
and Dick Whitington regarded him as one of the best all rounders in the world and a certainty for Australian Test selection. Pepper appealed for leg before wicket
Leg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
against Australian captain Don Bradman in a match against South Australia. The appeal was turned down and Pepper complained to the umpire, prompting Bradman, who was also a member of the Australian Board, to lodge a complaint about Pepper. Pepper was subsequently never selected for Australia. Cricket historian Gideon Haigh
Gideon Haigh
Gideon Clifford Jeffrey Davidson Haigh is an English-born Australian journalist, who writes about sport and business. He was born in London of a Yorkshire father and an Australian mother, and was raised in Geelong, Victoria.- Career :Haigh has been writing about sport and business for over...
said that "[team manager Keith] Johnson was clearly upset by the affair, and also by the failure of the [national] selection panel [Bradman among them] ... to send Pepper, second only to Miller as a cricketer in the Services XI, to New Zealand". Johnson tried to intercede on Pepper's behalf to no avail, although the other board members claimed that no directive had been given to the selectors to exclude Pepper.