THE Herefordshire-born cricket star nicknamed 'Buns and Jam' caused guffaws with his eccentric antics off the pitch - and gasps of astonishment with his prodigious power on the field.

Charles Inglis Thornton, who was born at Llanwarne in 1850, attracted howls of laughter, clad in a nightshirt, stalking waterfowl, but in cricket folklore his playing prowess towered above his pranks.

For he was the game's first big hitter.

Thornton's nickname was eventually abbreviated to 'Buns', but his reputation grew with every gigantic blow. He was highly respected for the way his awesome strikes emanated from the full swing of the bat and the impetus with which he went down the wicket to meet the ball.

The Herefordian was no serial slogger or fortuitous flayer. He hit straight and very, very, very long.

Thornton played for Kent during the holidays in his Cambridge University days, but later, working in London, transferred to Middlesex.

According to a book on the history of Kent Cricket Club his contemporaries were almost universally agreed that they had never seen a man who hit the ball harder, further, or more often. And those were the days when a six required the ball to fly out of the ground not just over the boundary.

Probably his most famous innings was 107 out of 133 in 70 minutes for the Gentlemen of England v I.Zingari at Scarborough in 1886. There were eight sixes.

Two consecutive balls were hit through the same window of a house in an area called Trafalgar Square - and Thornton cheekily suggested that the window had better be left open!

A woman who subsequently heard of the incidents at the Yorkshire site with the London name inquired whether the shots had been struck from either Lord's or the Oval.

At Canterbury in 1870 he hit pace bowler FC Cobden 132 yards into a field on the far side of the Nackington Road. Just months later a lob bowler WM Rose was clouted for 152 yards at the Kent ground.

But Thornton's longest measured hit was 168 yards 2 ft in practice at Brighton.

The tales of his enormous lashes abound. Against Surrey at Canterbury in 1871 he was missed by HH Stephenson at point, but was starting on his third run when the ball reached the ground.

He believed that his colossal clouts were made easier by his not wearing pads to hamper his movements. He also went without gloves for a while, but had to succumb to being a tad soft and donning them after breaking a finger.

His duels with bowler James Southerton were legendary. Thornton often threatened to hit him out of the Oval and at length succeeded. As the ball sailed over the fence Thornton dropped his bat, put his hands on his hips and laughed, saying: "I told you I would do it, Jim."

The beleaguered bowler replied: "Quite right, Mr Thornton, but I shall get you out." And eventually he did.

One massive hit by Thornton left Notts bowler, Shaw, battered but not beaten.

The force of the shot saw Shaw knocked off his feet, but he held on to the ball to bring off a marvellous catch.

But what about the softer side of the hard hitter?

His dear old friend Lord Harris who recounted the tale of the bizarre bird stalking expedition, also told of how Thornton came by his extraordinary nickname.

It came about at Eton and Harris wrote: "He was fielding long-leg, close to the raised road, along which one of the 'Cads' was passing with his basket or barrow of comestibles."

During a break when a wicket had tumbled, Thornton bought a bun and jam and began to consume it.

Continued his friend: "It lasted long enough for play to be resumed. A high catch was hit to him which I fancy he caught.

"What happened to the bun I never heard for certain. Some say he swallowed it, others that he dropped it, others again that he crammed it, jam and all, into his trouser pocket. Anyhow it earned him his nickname."

The holder of the record for the longest verified hit collapsed in a London theatre and died later at his home in Montagu Mansions, Marylebone, on December 10, 1929.