Walter Hammond
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: 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."
He has the highest average amongst those batsmen that have scored in excess of 50,000 first class runs. [1] 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.
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. 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.
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?" 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.
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 |
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