CJ Burnup Collection
Past player and Captain C J ‘Pinky’ Burnup
In 2024, the Club were delighted to receive a number of photograph albums and scrapbooks from the family of past player (and Captain) C J ‘Pinky’ Burnup.
Burnup, a product of Malvern College and Cambridge University, was a fine all-round amateur sportsman who excelled at racquets, golf, played football for England, and made the first double-century for Kent – an even 200 against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1900. Two summers later, he scored over 2,000 runs in a season (in all matches) and was rightly nominated by ‘Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack’ as one of their Five Cricketers of the Year in 1903.
He captained Kent during that season and, in 1906, scored 1,207 runs at an average of 67.05 which helped the county to secure their first County Championship title. His 157th, and last, appearance for the County came in the following season, 1907, after which he retired from the game but continued as a regular visitor at Canterbury during Cricket Week for another forty years.
The family albums show that ‘Pinky’ was clearly a very well-travelled man. He toured South Africa with Corinthians FC in 1897 and cricket took him to Australia, New Zealand, and America. He also appears to have visited the Caribbean, South America and mainland Europe on touring holidays.
