Cec Pepper

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Cecil George Pepper (15 September 1916 – 22 March 1993) was an Australian cricketer who later became a professional player in England and then an umpire. He was an all‑rounder, batting right‑handed and bowling leg spin.

Cricket career
- Pepper played first‑class cricket for New South Wales from 1938 to 1941. He also served in World War II in the Middle East and New Guinea.
- After the war, he played for Australian Services teams in England (the Victory Tests) in 1945 and in India, Ceylon, and Australia in 1945–46.
- Notable moments include:
- An innings of 81 for New South Wales in Brisbane in 1940–41, most of which came in boundaries.
- His only first‑class century: 168 for the Australian Services XI against Leveson‑Gower’s XI at Scarborough in 1945, scored in 146 minutes with 17 fours and 6 sixes.
- Best bowling of 6 for 33 in 1949–50 during a tour of India with a Commonwealth side, where he also took a hat‑trick.
- He was the first player in the Central Lancashire League to complete the double (1000 runs and 100 wickets) twice.
- He once made 38 runs off eight balls in a league over.

Later career and life
- Pepper spent much of his career as a professional in English league cricket.
- After retiring as a player, he became a county cricket umpire from 1964 to 1980.
- He stayed in England, earning a high reputation in Lancashire leagues. He also ran a packaging business in Bury and owned homes in Blackpool and in the south of Spain.

Personal life
- Pepper married Maurine Ford in Wagga Wagga in October 1943. They had a son in England in November 1946.
- He had an affair in 1944 that produced a son in 1945. Maurine divorced him in 1948 and returned to Australia, remarrying in 1952.
- Pepper did not remarry, but he had a son in October 1964 with a married woman.
- He died of heart disease in Littleborough, Lancashire, in March 1993, aged 76.
- His estate was about £135,000, divided equally between his third son and the woman he had known for only a few months.