Carter was born in Annesley, Nottinghamshire but the family moved to Bolsover, Derbyshire.
He made his first-class cricket debut for Derbyshire in the 1920 season against Leicestershire in which match he scored 25 and 19.
His arrival coincided with Watford's entry into the Football League for the first time in their history.
[2] Carter was a right-handed batsman and played 112 innings in 65 first-class matches with an average of 17.76 and a top score of 145.
He was a right-arm bowler of slow donkey-drops and took 16 first-class wickets for an average of 44.18 and a best performance of 3 for 12.