Carst Posthuma

Carst Posthuma's first-class statistics certainly don't tell the story of one of Holland's leading players. A quick bowler who possessed a lethal slower ball and fast offbreak, he toured England in 1892, 1894 and 1901, and it was on the latter trip he really made an impression. Against the MCC he took 6 for 159 and then 8 for 170 against Gentlemen of Surrey. He finished the tour with 4 for 160 against London County, a performance that so impressed WG Grace that he invited Posthuma back the following summer. In his first appearance he took 7 for 68 against Leicestershire, finishing with match figures of 10 for 103, and against the MCC he took 6 for 44. In five matches he took 23 wickets at 15.04. He returned with the Netherlands in 1906 and his international career ended with three outings at the 1910 Brussels Exhibition. He showed his liking for MCC batsman with 5 for 96 and 6 for 50. In the war he won widespread admiration for organising matches for the British troops and offering them lavish hospitality at his country house near Haarlem.

In all, he played 72 times for his country through to 1928, by which time he was 60, and he holds the Dutch record for most wickets in a career, his final total being 2338 at 8.67. He was the first Dutchman to take 100 wickets in a season (1900), six years after becoming the first to score a hundred in domestic cricket.

He was a renowned rose grower and became one of the world's leading authorities.
Martin Williamson