Hammond, Walter

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'''Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond''' (born [[June 19]], [[1903]] in [[Dover]], [[Kent]], died [[July 1]], [[1965]] in [[Kloof, KwaZulu-Natal]], [[South Africa]]) was an [[England|English]] [[cricket]]er, who played for [[Gloucestershire]] and [[England]], primarily as a [[batsman]], in a career that straddled (and was disrupted by) the [[Second World War]]. His [[Test cricket|Test]] batting average of 58.45, over an epic twenty years and 85 tests, presently stands eighth in the all-time list. Hammond's 336 not out against [[New Zealand]] in 1933 was the highest Test innings score, until passed by [[Len Hutton]]'s 364 against [[Australia]] five years later.  Hammond is regarded as one of the best batsmen in the history of cricket: his [[Wisden]] obituary put him in a class with [[W G Grace]], [[Jack Hobbs]] and [[Don Bradman]].  On the centenary of his birth the Wisden Cricinfo website's editor ranked him second only to Bradman. "The Don" was five years his junior and the comparisons apparently rankled with Hammond for years.
 
  
Apart from his batting talents, he was regarded as one of the best slip fielders the game has seen.  He took a record ten catches in a county match in 1928, the season in which he set the season record of 78 catches. He was a more than useful right-arm medium-fast bowler.  At his best, in his youth, he had been positively fast but, as [[Sir Donald Bradman]] once remarked, "was too busy scoring runs to worry about bowling." He was not a man to rile on the field of play however. A bouncer barrage by Essex against his team mates brought a hostile response from their champion.  "I never saw a man bowl faster for Gloucestershire than Wally did that day," said [[Tom Goddard]], "and he not only battered them, he bowled them out as well."
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[[Image:1368598_hammond150.jpg|right|thumb]]
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'''Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond''' (born [[June 19]], [[1903]] in [[Dover]], [[Kent]], died [[July 1]], [[1965]] in [[Kloof, KwaZulu-Natal]], [[South Africa]]) was an [[England|English]] [[cricket]]er, who played for [[Gloucestershire]] and [[England]], primarily as a [[batsman]], in a career that straddled (and was disrupted by) the [[Second World War]]. His [[Test cricket|Test]] batting average of 58.45, over an epic twenty years and 85 tests, presently stands eighth in the all-time list. Hammond's 336 not out against [[New Zealand]] in [[1933]] was the highest Test innings score, until passed by [[Len Hutton]]'s 364 against [[Australia]] five years later.  Hammond is regarded as one of the best batsmen in the history of cricket
  
He has the highest average amongst those batsmen that have scored in excess of 50,000 first class runs. [http://www.cricketrecords.com/firstclass/mostruns.html] Only [[Jack Hobbs]] and [[Patsy Hendren]] have scored more first class centuries and only Bradman has more first class double tons. Hammond twice scored double centuries in consecutive matches - 251   and 200 against Australia at Sydney and Melbourne in 1928-29 and 227 and 336* against New Zealand at Christchurch and Aukland in 1932-33.
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==Early Life==
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Although Hammond was born in Dover, he spend some of his early life in Malta and had to experience losing his father in [[World War I]] He first appeared for Gloucestershire, where he had attended school in Cirencester, in 1920 but [[George Harris, 4th Baron Harris|Lord Harris]], annoyed that he would not join Kent, objected to his qualification, delaying his full time entry into the county game for two years until [[1923]].     
  
He first appeared for Gloucestershire, where he had attended school in Cirencester, in 1920 but [[George Harris, 4th Baron Harris|Lord Harris]], annoyed that he would not join Kent, objected to his qualification, delaying his full time entry into the county game for two years until 1923. He missed the whole [[1926]] season through illness contracted in the West Indies and, like every other cricketer, the 6 long years of the [[Second World War]].
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==Profesional Career==
 +
===Early Years on the Caribbean Tour===
 +
Hammond played in 10 first-class matches between [[1920]] and [[1922]] for Bristol Rovers scoring 117 runs at a average of 7.80. Over the next three years, he started to increase his scoring as he gained experience as he scored in the low thirites and also scored six centuries, with the last being a watershed. On [[August 19, 1925]] against the [[Austrialian]] great, [[Ted Mcdonald]]. Hammond batted for a total of five and a half hours scoring a 250. The young hammond was in contention for a Test place, and when the committee fielding a MCC team was picking their players, they gave Hammond an invitation.
  
While he was primarily a front foot batsman,an immensely strong and athletic physique gave him immense power off either foot. Classical in his batting style, he was strong in the drive and noted for his straight bat in defence.  The power of his driving was remarked on by all his contemporaries, in particular its timing and strength. Early in his career he played quite freely off the back foot  but in Australia in 1928-29, under [[Percy Chapman]], decided to eschew the hook shot to reduce the risk of dismissal. Hammond's cautious strategy brought him 905 runs at 113.12, an aggregate beaten later only by Don Bradman.  His Test performances had no effect on his productivity at county level.  He was the leading Englishman in the batting averages for eight successive cricket seasons, from 1933-46, and topped 3000 runs in a season three times in his career.  
+
During his years on the [[Caribbean]] Tour, Hammond was a very sucessful player as he finished with the highest batting average, and finished second in bowling average.  
  
Hammond played most of his career as a professional but became a notional amateur in 1938 to allow him to captain England, a position barred to professionals before [[Len Hutton]] took charge. His aristocratic bearing may have held him in good stead, but he won only 4 of his 20 matches in charge.  He also captained both [[Gentlemen]] and [[Players]], the only cricketer to have done so. He returned to cricket after the war and enjoyed an Indian summer at 43 when he topped the first class averages with 1783 runs at 84.90., making him an automatic choice to tour Australia for the fourth time, this time as captain. Although Hammond's form extended into the early part of the tour, which saw his 36th double century, against [[Western Australia]], it was soon clear that England had no hope of regaining the [[Ashes]]. After two outstanding innings on a dreadful wicket at [[Brisbane]] in the First Test, which England lost by an innings, Hammond was outperformed by Bradman and struggled for runs in the later Tests. A sparkling 79 in the tour's last Test match, against [[New Zealand]], showed flashes of the old brilliance. Suffering from arthritis and worn down by personal strife he retired on his return and took up occasional cricket commentary.  
+
===Severe Illness, strong comeback===
 +
Hammond missed the [[1926]] season due to [[syphilis]], making him very ill and almost taking his life. At the time of his abscence, his sickness was blamed on a mosquito bite, and the subject of Hammond became the center of many rumors and [[cricket]] gossip. In David Foot's book on the player's life, it is explained that the illness had a tramatic effect on the player's character. In the [[1927]] season, Hammond had a more reserved, bitter, tough demeanor, leading to him scoring 1000 runs in the month of May, and 2969 runs for the first class season with 12 hundreds.  
  
Hammond only played two more [[first-class cricket|first-class]] games, for [[Marylebone Cricket Club|MCC]] in 1950 and Gloucestershire in 1951, help boost a membership drive, with little success. "What did they expect," Hammond murmoured. " A hundred from me as well?"  He emigrated to [[South Africa]], where he lived in sometimes unhappy circumstances, and, after a serious car crash sapped much of his remaining strength, died in [[Durban]] in 1965 at 62.  His reputation for aloofness saw him unpopular after the end of his career.
+
===Increased Success===
 +
With the big season under his belt, Hammond was chosed to play for the MCC team in [[South Africa]]. During his time with the tour he took 0-21 and 5-36 ,and in his test debut, scored 51. He went on to score two more half centuries and also opened bowling during the series, leading to him coming home to score two more fifties against the team from the [[West Indies]].
  
[[Image:Wally Hammond Graph.png|left|thumb|350px|Wally Hammond's career performance graph.]]
+
After his earlier peformance, he went on to play in the Ashes tour and scored 432 runs in eight tests, at a average of 39.27. Even though [[Austrailian]] fans were concerend with the line up the [[English]] brought, they had no idea the english would hit them as hard as they did. Hammond approached the series with the Aussies with extreme confidence. He felt that because the Aussies always played tests to a finish, he could cash in and show his potential. After a century in Adelaide, a double century in [[Sydney]] in a lead up to the first test, the potential turned to success for Hammond. In the opening of the series, [[England]] won by an amazing 675 runs, with Hammond having a double failure.
[[Image:Wally-hammond-1927.jpg|left|thumb|350px|Wally Hammond signed photograph 1927.]]
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 +
After the batting performance Hammond had against Adelaide before the tests, he said, "He nonchalantly lifted the ball over the head of mid-off for four, a stroke I thought had gone the way of top hats, moustaches and the five-ball over. He was a carefree, brillant storke player that day, the Hammond he wished to be."<ref> Legends of Cricket, Geoff Armstrong</ref>
 +
 
 +
he best slip fielders the game has seen.  He took a record ten catches in a county match in [[1928]], the season in which he set the season record of 78 catches. He was a more than useful right-arm medium-fast bowler.  At his best, in his youth, he had been positively fast but, as [[Sir Donald Bradman]] once remarked, "was too busy scoring runs to worry about bowling." He was not a man to rile on the field of play however.  A bouncer barrage by Essex against his team mates brought a hostile response from their champion.  "I never saw a man bowl faster for Gloucestershire than Wally did that day," said [[Tom Goddard]], "and he not only battered them, he bowled them out as well."
 +
 
 +
===Strategy Change===
 +
[[Image:Wally Hammond Graph.png|right|thumb|thumb|Wally Hammond's career performance graph.]]
 +
[[Image:Wally-hammond-1927.jpg|lright|thumb|thumb|Wally Hammond signed photograph 1927.]]
 +
While he was primarily a front foot batsman,an immensely strong and athletic physique gave him immense power off either foot. Classical in his batting style, he was strong in the drive and noted for his straight bat in defence.  The power of his driving was remarked on by all his contemporaries, in particular its timing and strength. Early in his career he played quite freely off the back foot  but in [[Australia]] in 1928-29, under [[Percy Chapman]], decided to eschew the hook shot to reduce the risk of dismissal. Hammond's cautious strategy brought him 905 runs at 113.12, an aggregate beaten later only by Don Bradman.  His Test performances had no effect on his productivity at county level.  He was the leading Englishman in the batting averages for eight successive cricket seasons, from 1933-46, and topped 3000 runs in a season three times in his career.
 +
 
 +
Hammond played most of his career as a professional but became a notional amateur in
 +
[[1938]] to allow him to captain England, a position barred to professionals before [[Len Hutton]] took charge. His aristocratic bearing may have held him in good stead, but he won only 4 of his 20 matches in charge.  He also captained both [[Gentlemen]] and [[Players]], the only cricketer to have done so. He returned to cricket after the war and enjoyed an Indian summer at 43 when he topped the first class averages with 1783 runs at 84.90., making him an automatic choice to tour Australia for the fourth time, this time as captain. Although Hammond's form extended into the early part of the tour, which saw his 36th double century, against [[Western Australia]], it was soon clear that England had no hope of regaining the [[Ashes]]. After two outstanding innings on a dreadful wicket at [[Brisbane]] in the First Test, which England lost by an innings, Hammond was outperformed by Bradman and struggled for runs in the later Tests. A sparkling 79 in the tour's last Test match, against [[New Zealand]], showed flashes of the old brilliance. Suffering from arthritis and worn down by personal strife he retired on his return and took up occasional cricket commentary.
 +
 
 +
Hammond only played two more [[first-class cricket|first-class]] games, for [[Marylebone Cricket Club|MCC]] in [[1950]] and Gloucestershire in [[1951]], help boost a membership drive, with little success. "What did they expect," Hammond murmoured. " A hundred from me as well?" 
 +
 
 +
==Legacy==
 +
Hammond emigrated to [[South Africa]], where he lived in sometimes unhappy circumstances, and, after a serious car crash sapped much of his remaining strength, died in [[Durban]] in 1965 at 62.  His reputation for aloofness saw him unpopular after the end of his career.
  
 
{{English batsman with a Test batting average over 50}}
 
{{English batsman with a Test batting average over 50}}
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==References==
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*Armstrong, G. 2002. "Legends of Cricket". Imago Publishing. ISBN 1865088366
 +
*Fingleton, J.H. 1946. " Cricket Crisis". Cassell and Company. ASIN: B000RZ0SEQ.
 +
*James,C.L.R. 1963. "Beyond a Boundary". Patheon Books. ISBN 0395535685
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
 
 
*[http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/PLAYERS/ENG/H/HAMMOND_WR_01000458/ Cricinfo Player Profile : Wally Hammond ]
 
*[http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/PLAYERS/ENG/H/HAMMOND_WR_01000458/ Cricinfo Player Profile : Wally Hammond ]
 
*[http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/JUN/199914_ENG_19JUN2003.html "The Greatest... Bar One"]
 
*[http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/JUN/199914_ENG_19JUN2003.html "The Greatest... Bar One"]
 
*[http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/458/458.html Cricket Archive stats]
 
*[http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/458/458.html Cricket Archive stats]
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*[http://www.334notout.com/ashes/players/enghammond.htm]
  
 
[[Category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]
 
[[Category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]
 
{{credits|Wally_Hammond|155426582}}
 
{{credits|Wally_Hammond|155426582}}

Revision as of 05:49, 11 September 2007

Template:Infobox Historic Cricketer

Walter Reginald "Wally" Hammond (born June 19, 1903 in Dover, Kent, died July 1, 1965 in Kloof, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) was an English cricketer, who played for Gloucestershire and England, primarily as a batsman, in a career that straddled (and was disrupted by) the Second World War. His Test batting average of 58.45, over an epic twenty years and 85 tests, presently stands eighth in the all-time list. Hammond's 336 not out against New Zealand in 1933 was the highest Test innings score, until passed by Len Hutton's 364 against Australia five years later. Hammond is regarded as one of the best batsmen in the history of cricket

Early Life

Although Hammond was born in Dover, he spend some of his early life in Malta and had to experience losing his father in World War I He first appeared for Gloucestershire, where he had attended school in Cirencester, in 1920 but Lord Harris, annoyed that he would not join Kent, objected to his qualification, delaying his full time entry into the county game for two years until 1923.

Profesional Career

Early Years on the Caribbean Tour

Hammond played in 10 first-class matches between 1920 and 1922 for Bristol Rovers scoring 117 runs at a average of 7.80. Over the next three years, he started to increase his scoring as he gained experience as he scored in the low thirites and also scored six centuries, with the last being a watershed. On August 19, 1925 against the Austrialian great, Ted Mcdonald. Hammond batted for a total of five and a half hours scoring a 250. The young hammond was in contention for a Test place, and when the committee fielding a MCC team was picking their players, they gave Hammond an invitation.

During his years on the Caribbean Tour, Hammond was a very sucessful player as he finished with the highest batting average, and finished second in bowling average.

Severe Illness, strong comeback

Hammond missed the 1926 season due to syphilis, making him very ill and almost taking his life. At the time of his abscence, his sickness was blamed on a mosquito bite, and the subject of Hammond became the center of many rumors and cricket gossip. In David Foot's book on the player's life, it is explained that the illness had a tramatic effect on the player's character. In the 1927 season, Hammond had a more reserved, bitter, tough demeanor, leading to him scoring 1000 runs in the month of May, and 2969 runs for the first class season with 12 hundreds.

Increased Success

With the big season under his belt, Hammond was chosed to play for the MCC team in South Africa. During his time with the tour he took 0-21 and 5-36 ,and in his test debut, scored 51. He went on to score two more half centuries and also opened bowling during the series, leading to him coming home to score two more fifties against the team from the West Indies.

After his earlier peformance, he went on to play in the Ashes tour and scored 432 runs in eight tests, at a average of 39.27. Even though Austrailian fans were concerend with the line up the English brought, they had no idea the english would hit them as hard as they did. Hammond approached the series with the Aussies with extreme confidence. He felt that because the Aussies always played tests to a finish, he could cash in and show his potential. After a century in Adelaide, a double century in Sydney in a lead up to the first test, the potential turned to success for Hammond. In the opening of the series, England won by an amazing 675 runs, with Hammond having a double failure.

After the batting performance Hammond had against Adelaide before the tests, he said, "He nonchalantly lifted the ball over the head of mid-off for four, a stroke I thought had gone the way of top hats, moustaches and the five-ball over. He was a carefree, brillant storke player that day, the Hammond he wished to be."[1]

he best slip fielders the game has seen. He took a record ten catches in a county match in 1928, the season in which he set the season record of 78 catches. He was a more than useful right-arm medium-fast bowler. At his best, in his youth, he had been positively fast but, as Sir Donald Bradman once remarked, "was too busy scoring runs to worry about bowling." He was not a man to rile on the field of play however. A bouncer barrage by Essex against his team mates brought a hostile response from their champion. "I never saw a man bowl faster for Gloucestershire than Wally did that day," said Tom Goddard, "and he not only battered them, he bowled them out as well."

Strategy Change

Wally Hammond's career performance graph.
File:Wally-hammond-1927.jpg
Wally Hammond signed photograph 1927.

While he was primarily a front foot batsman,an immensely strong and athletic physique gave him immense power off either foot. Classical in his batting style, he was strong in the drive and noted for his straight bat in defence. The power of his driving was remarked on by all his contemporaries, in particular its timing and strength. Early in his career he played quite freely off the back foot but in Australia in 1928-29, under Percy Chapman, decided to eschew the hook shot to reduce the risk of dismissal. Hammond's cautious strategy brought him 905 runs at 113.12, an aggregate beaten later only by Don Bradman. His Test performances had no effect on his productivity at county level. He was the leading Englishman in the batting averages for eight successive cricket seasons, from 1933-46, and topped 3000 runs in a season three times in his career.

Hammond played most of his career as a professional but became a notional amateur in 1938 to allow him to captain England, a position barred to professionals before Len Hutton took charge. His aristocratic bearing may have held him in good stead, but he won only 4 of his 20 matches in charge. He also captained both Gentlemen and Players, the only cricketer to have done so. He returned to cricket after the war and enjoyed an Indian summer at 43 when he topped the first class averages with 1783 runs at 84.90., making him an automatic choice to tour Australia for the fourth time, this time as captain. Although Hammond's form extended into the early part of the tour, which saw his 36th double century, against Western Australia, it was soon clear that England had no hope of regaining the Ashes. After two outstanding innings on a dreadful wicket at Brisbane in the First Test, which England lost by an innings, Hammond was outperformed by Bradman and struggled for runs in the later Tests. A sparkling 79 in the tour's last Test match, against New Zealand, showed flashes of the old brilliance. Suffering from arthritis and worn down by personal strife he retired on his return and took up occasional cricket commentary.

Hammond only played two more first-class games, for MCC in 1950 and Gloucestershire in 1951, help boost a membership drive, with little success. "What did they expect," Hammond murmoured. " A hundred from me as well?"

Legacy

Hammond emigrated to South Africa, where he lived in sometimes unhappy circumstances, and, after a serious car crash sapped much of his remaining strength, died in Durban in 1965 at 62. His reputation for aloofness saw him unpopular after the end of his career.

Template:English batsman with a Test batting average over 50

Preceded by:
Walter Robins
English national cricket captain
1938-1946/7 (Interrupted by Second World War)
Succeeded by:
Norman Yardley

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Armstrong, G. 2002. "Legends of Cricket". Imago Publishing. ISBN 1865088366
  • Fingleton, J.H. 1946. " Cricket Crisis". Cassell and Company. ASIN: B000RZ0SEQ.
  • James,C.L.R. 1963. "Beyond a Boundary". Patheon Books. ISBN 0395535685

External links

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  1. Legends of Cricket, Geoff Armstrong