Charles (sic) Arthur Lynch Payne, died in hospital in North Vancouver on March 21, 1976, aged 90. A member of the Charterhouse XI in 1903 and 1904, he first appeared in first-class cricket for M.C.C. v. Derbyshire at Lord's in 1905 and scored 101 in 110 minutes, following it a few days later with 52 for Middlesex v. Essex. He continued to play occasionally for Middlesex until 1909 and in 1906 and 1907 represented Oxford at Lord's. For Oxford his highest score was 78 against Sussex, though in 1907 in the first innings v. Cambridge he was top scorer with 38, but probably his most notable performance in first-class cricket was for Middlesex v. Kent at Tonbridge in 1906, when in a needle match he made 40 and 81, in the second innings putting on 182 with Sir Pelham Warner, who to the end of his life spoke highly of Payne's batting on that occasion. Joe Mounsey of Yorkshire, pro at Charterhouse from 1898 to 1926, always regarded Payne as the best batsman he ever taught there, although, like most Carthusians and unlike most Yorkshiremen, he was apt to give considerable encouragement to the slips. About 1910 he went out to Vancouver, where for years he did much to help and encourage young players, and in 1939 published a book entitled What matters in Batsmanship. He played billiards for Oxford in 1906 and 1907, was Amateur Billiards Champion of Canada in 1927 and 1928 and had been Amateur Golf Champion of British Columbia. A cousin of M. W. Payne, against whom he played in his two University matches, he was at the time of his death the oldest living Oxford cricket blue.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack