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Walter Reginald Hammond, known as Wally Hammond (19 June 1903 – 1 July 1965), was an English Test cricketer, who played for Gloucestershire in a career lasting from 1920 to 1951. Beginning his career as a professional, he later became an amateur and took over the Test captaincy of England. He was considered the best English batsman of the 1930s and at the time of his death was considered to be one of the best four batsmen in the history of cricket. Many considered him to be second only to Donald Bradman. Primarily a middle order batsman, Hammond also bowled at fast-medium pace and contemporaries believed that if he had been a less reluctant bowler, he could have achieved a high standard. His fielding also reached a very high standard and he was described as one of the best slip fielders there had been. Hammond played 85 Test matches. He was captain in 20 matches, winning four, losing three and drawing 13. He was the leading run scorer in Test matches from 1937 until 1970, ending his career with 7,249 runs. His 22 Test centuries remains the joint English record. In 1933, he set a record for the highest Test innings of 336 not out which lasted until 1938. He also took 83 wickets. In all first-class cricket, he scored 50,551 runs, the seventh highest number of runs scored by any first-class cricketer, and took 732 wickets. He scored 167 first-class centuries, the third highest of any player. Although Hammond began his career in 1920, he was forced to wait until 1923 to begin playing full time due to his qualification to play for Gloucestershire being challenged. His promise was spotted immediately and after three full seasons, he was chosen to visit the West Indies in 1925–26 where he contracted a serious illness. When he recovered in 1927, he began to score heavily. Chosen for England, he scored 905 runs in a series against Australia which was then a record. He dominated county cricket into the 1930s and despite a slump in form in Tests in the mid 1930s, he was made captain of England in 1938 when he became an amateur. He continued as captain after World War II, but his health had deteriorated and after an unsuccessful tour of Australia in 1946–47, he retired from first-class cricket. Outside of cricket, Hammond was married twice, divorcing his wife in acrimonious circumstances, and had a reputation for infidelity. He also had difficult relationships with other players and was considered a difficult man to get along with, to the point of becoming involved in feuds with several other players. He was also described as a heavy drinker by people who knew him. He was unsuccessful in several business dealings. He moved to South Africa in the 1950s, but was involved in a serious car crash while he lived there.
[edit] Early life and career[edit] ChildhoodHammond was born on 19 June 1903 in Dover. His parents, William Hammond, a corporal in the Royal Garrison Artillery, and Marion Hammond (born Marion Crisp), lived in the married quarters at Dover Castle where Walter was born. They had married the previous December.[1] Hammond spent the first five years of his life in Dover, often playing cricket, before, when he was five years old, his father was posted to Hong Kong where he served on the China Station and was promoted to sergeant. They remained there until 1911, before being posted to Malta until 1914.[2] Hammond later recalled playing cricket at Malta, using improvised equipment, including a soldier's old bat which he believed taught him to strike the ball powerfully.[3] When the First World War broke out, the Hammonds sailed home to England, with the rest of the 46th Company of the Royal Garrison Artillery and William was subsequently posted to France where his Company became the 116th (Heavy) Battery.[4] Marion Hammond went to live in Southsea while sending Walter to The Portsmouth Grammar School. While there, Hammond showed more interest in games than schoolwork and distinguished himself at cricket (playing for the second eleven), football and fives. He was also much stronger than other boys of his age.[4] However, in 1918, Hammond's mother chose to move him to Cirencester Grammar School where he could live, rather than be at home with her, which she believed would benefit him.[5] She may also have been hoping to encourage him to pursue a career in farming, with agriculture having very close links with Cirencester. Weeks after starting his new school, Hammond was informed that his father, who had been promoted to Battery Sergeant Major, had been killed in action near Amiens.[6] [edit] School lifeHammond soon began to excel in various sports at Cirencester such as running.[7] He played football for the school first eleven in his first term and by the summer of 1919, he was also in the school cricket first eleven where he outperformed all the other players.[8] His headmaster spotted his potential and encouraged him from the start.[7] Hammond said that his headmaster liked to help the boys develop as cricketers and believed that it was due to his coaching that he began to make higher scores in school matches. Hammond also thought that the confidence he had from his cricket in Malta helped him, and he learned to attack the bowling to put the bowler on the defensive.[9] He continued to be successful at football in his second year and was made captain of the cricket team for 1920[10] and his "statistics became a matter of general excitement."[7] He made his first century in a match against a parents' team from the school, while in a match between houses in the school he scored 365 not out, albeit against very weak bowling.[11] Yet, even though Hammond left school in 1920 with very impressive batting and bowling figures, he was not fully tested as a school cricketer because Cirencester did not usually play any strong public schools.[12] In the classroom, Hammond enjoyed less success, with his marks being usually low.[13] Hammond described how "laurels seemed so much easier to win on the pitch than in the classroom."[9] His headmaster knew that Hammond "was no scholar but was determined to get some work out of him", treating him firmly away from the cricket field.[12] In the holidays, Hammond did not usually go home to his mother, instead going to the farm of Billy Neale, a fellow pupil and member of the cricket team who would later play with Hammond for Gloucestershire.[13] At other times, he would stay with the family of another pupil, Freddie Mills. Gerald Howat believed that Hammond preferred living in the country than in town with his mother, while also wanting to avoid his mother's influence.[14] Hammond left Cirencester in July 1920, planning to go to Winchester Agricultural College, both his mother and the headmaster believing that this was the best course.[15] His mother also began to write to farming friends with a view to his pursuing a career in agriculture.[16] Days after leaving school, Hammond played for Cirencester, and on his first appearance in adult cricket, scored a century.[9] Meanwhile, his headmaster had written to the captain of Gloucestershire, including Hammond's school cricket record and suggesting that they had a look at him.[17] As a result, Hammond played in a trial match for the Gloucestershire Club and Ground, scoring 60 runs and taking two wickets against Old Cliftonians which was noticed in the local press. This was enough for two members of Gloucestershire's committee to visit Hammond's mother to discuss his joining Gloucestershire.[9] His mother was reluctant to allow him to sign a contract but his eagerness and appeals to her finally convinced her and he signed a contract.[18] [edit] First years with GloucestershireHammond made his first appearances for Gloucestershire in August 1920, playing three first-class matches against Lancashire, Leicestershire and Worcestershire. Although he only scored 27 runs in four innings, the local press noticed him and said he was "a natural cricketer with a great future before him."[19] That winter, Hammond went to work on a farm on the Isle of Wight, before moving to Bristol for the start of the 1921 English cricket season. He only played two first-class matches in 1921, both against the powerful Australian tourists, but only scored two runs in three innings.[20] He later admitted that the fast bowler, Jack Gregory, "frightened the life out of me" and that he "never saw the ball at all."[21] In between these games, Hammond was sent to Clifton College, Bristol, as assistant coach to John Tunnicliffe who was given the task of improving his batting technique, footwork and generally coaching him.[22] While acknowledging that Tunnicliffe taught him an enormous amount, Hammond felt that he, at times, over-coached him to the extent of trying to alter his natural style of batting.[23] George Dennett also coached Hammond, correcting faults in the cricket nets but being more willing to allow Hammond to play his natural game.[23] By the time of the 1922 English cricket season, Gloucestershire were ready to give Hammond an extended trial. He was chosen to play Middlesex at Lord's Cricket Ground, his first appearance there.[24] He scored 32, but it was noticed by Lord Harris, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) treasurer, that because Hammond was born in Kent, and had not lived in Gloucestershire for the required length of time, he was not qualified to play for the county. After a few more games, MCC told Gloucestershire that Hammond would not be allowed to play for the rest of the season.[25] The press were critical of this ruling and despite Hammond's lack of success since joining Gloucestershire, many reports commented on how promising a player he was, with the Bristol Times describing him as "likely to develop into a player of outstanding ability".[26] Hammond had to spend the rest of the season watching all the games he could and to learn cricket theory. He described it as the most miserable summer he ever spent. However, he always remembered that Gloucestershire continued to pay his wages in full, or the support and encouragement that he was given.[27] [edit] Football careerIn the winter of 1921–22, Hammond was conscious of the need to find work.[28] He signed to play football for Bristol Rovers F.C. in the Football League Third Division South, although he could also have signed for Bristol City F.C.. Rovers were interested in him after his success at school and having seen his playing in the Downs League in Bristol.[29] After some appearances in the reserves, he played four appearances for the first team that season. In the 1922–23 season, he played 10 times and a further four times in 1923–24.[30] He played on the right wing and scored two goals in his career, but never showed much enthusiasm for his football and was cautious around tackles, conscious that his main career was cricket.[31] He did make a lasting friendship with the Rovers' trainer Bert Williams[32] who believed that he was the fastest player he had seen at Bristol Rovers, and he and the club manager believed that Hammond could have played international football.[30] On the other hand, he was criticised in the local press for his part in two defeats shortly before he was dropped from the first team and he never fitted into the club.[30] In the end, he decided that he could not concentrate effectively on playing two sports professionally, and gave up his football career.[28] [edit] Making an impressionHammond realised before the start of the 1923 English cricket season that "after so chequered a start, I knew that I must make good that year, or perhaps go out of the County game for good."[27] In the first County Championship game of the season, Hammond played for Gloucestershire against Surrey and scored 110 and 92 opening the batting.[33] Although this was his only century of the season, Hammond was noticed by several critics in his first full season. Playing against Lancashire, although only scoring five in the first innings and 31 in the second innings,[34] Hammond made such an impression on cricket correspondent Neville Cardus that he wrote that there was an England player in the making.[35] Plum Warner, after seeing him make 24 against Sussex, complemented his batting style and said that he "liked his cricket immensely",[35] and The Times, after seeing him make 46 for the Players against the Gentlemen at the Oval, said "This is a most interesting player. He obeys exactly the canons of nineteenth century orthodoxy."[36] In all first-class matches that season, Hammond scored 1421 runs at an average of 27.86.[37] Wisden wrote of Hammond, "Here we have in all likelihood one of the best professional batsmen of the future ... He has all the world before him and there is no telling how far he may go."[38] Hammond also passed 1,000 first-class runs in the next two seasons.[37] However, in 1924, Hammond said that he took great care with his batting but could not get going.[39] He had hoped to get into the Test team that season, but he was not selected.[40] He scored only two fifties in home matches until, in the final County Championship match of the season, he scored 174 not out after Gloucestershire had been bowled out of 31 in their first innings by Middlesex,[41] an innings described as "bordering on the sensational" by one press report.[38] It came about when Hammond decided he might as well attack the bowling, as caution had brought him no reward that season.[39] He finished the season with two centuries and 1239 runs at an average of 30.21, a record he improved in 1925 with 1818 runs and an average of 34.30.[37] That season, he did not score more than fifty in home matches until August, when he began to score more runs.[42] When Hammond went to play Lancashire at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, he had not been satisfied with his form for weeks,[40] but he scored 250 not out, sharing a partnership of 330 with Alfred Dipper and repeatedly hooking the short bowling of Australian Test bowler Ted McDonald.[43] Cardus described it as "one of the finest innings that can ever have been accomplished by a boy of his age ... It was plain ... that Hammond is an England batsman of tomorrow."[42] Hammond had also attracted the attention of Jack Hobbs that year, writing of Hammond as a future England player and potentially a "very great" allrounder.[44] That season, he had opened the bowling for Gloucestershire several times[44] and taken 68 wickets at an average of just under 30, having taken 47 wickets in the two seasons prior to that.[45] While writers such as Cardus were impressed by Hammond's bowling, including his action, rhythm and ability to swing the ball, it was also argued that Hammond should not be made into an allrounder as it would overtax his strength.[44] Overall, Hammond's performances that season were enough for his to be selected for the M.C.C. tour of the West Indies that winter. [edit] Serious illnessIn 1925–26, Hammond went to West Indies, setting off in December 1925. At the time, it was a very popular tour, particularly with amateurs.[46] There were only eight professionals, including Hammond, on the tour[46] and they were expected to support the amateurs, who were generally more interested in social engagements, and to do most of the bowling work.[47] Rain affected many of the matches, and nine of 13 matches were drawn.[48] Hammond scored an unbeaten 238 not out in the first representative game (not a Test) against a West Indies side.[49] In all matches, he scored 732 runs at an average of 48.80, including another hundred and two fifties.[37] and took 20 wickets at an average of 28.65.[45] Plum Warner wrote "naturally a great deal will now be expected of Hammond, who must now be nearing an England cap."[50] The captain, Freddie Calthorpe wrote "Young Hammond's fielding was quite exceptional. Nor did he give a single chance in his 238. It was a wonderful effort and took the people by storm."[50] Hammond remembered greatly enjoying the tour[51] and told many stories about it in his first autobiography.[52] However, towards the end of the tour, Hammond became ill. According to Hammond himself, in British Guinana, he strained his groin and was then stung by a mosquito just above the strain and became sick with blood poisoning.[53] He played in a match against Jamaica but moved awkwardly and was observed to be in pain by others in the team and missed the remaining matches of the tour.[54] He saw several doctors, but none were of any help, and on the journey home, he became very ill.[55] He stayed in his cabin most of the time with a bad fever, and there was no doctor on board.[56] The day after they arrived home, in April 1926, he had the first of 12 operations. According to Hammond, "I seemed to get worse and worse, and my life was despaired of. Just what sort of blood-poisoning it was I had, no one ever seemed to find out properly..."[55] For a long time, it was uncertain whether he would live, and surgeons for a while considered amputating his leg. His mother prevented this from happening as it would have ended his career.[57] Hammond was encouraged by a visit from Plum Warner, who reassured him that he would recover and play for England.[55] After a month, he began to recover and in July he was well enough to watch Gloucestershire playing in Bristol,[58] but no official announcement was made about Hammond's illness, other than to say he was in a nusing home, even though he missed the entire [[1926 English cricket season|1926 season].[59] While the cause of the illness was never made clear, David Foot has argued that it was syphilis or a related sexually transmitted disease which he caught in the West Indies. He also argued that the treatment of the illness affected Hammond's subsequent character and personality.[60] A related factor may also have been that before he left England to go on tour, he received an electric shock which gave him blood poisoning.[61] Following his recovery, Hammond was sent to coach in South Africa in the winter of 1926–27 to aid his recovery,[62] which he enjoyed and believed it helped him greatly.[63] [edit] Test cricketerWhen Hammond returned to first-class cricket in the 1927 English cricket season, he made an immediate impact by scoring 1,000 runs in May, only the second man to do so after W. G. Grace.[64] This sequence included five centuries and a score of 99.[65] Against Lancashire, within the sequence, he scored 99 in the first innings and 187 in the second,[66] again hooking McDonald and at one point hitting five consecutive fours.[67][68] Cardus wrote how "in an hour the Lancashire bowling was routed."[67] A collection for Hammond in recognition of his achievement raised £300.[69] Coming close to scoring 1,000 runs in June as well, Hammond finished the season with 2,969 runs at an average of 69.04 and 12 centuries.[37] Finishing fifth in the national averages, he was chosen to play in two Test trial matches, he was also selected in the M.C.C. team to tour South Africa that winter.[70] Although favoured by very favourable batting conditions at the start of the season which saw a number of notable batting achievements,[71] he was selected as one of the cricketers of the year by Wisden, described as a stylist who believed in hitting the ball hard and who drove superbly. His bowling and fielding were also complimented.[64] [edit] Test debutThe same article also said that while on tour in South Africa in 1927–28, Hammond was "not at the moment the dominating personality as a batsman expected".[64] However, he was described as showing fine form with the bat in Wisden's report on the tour.[72] However, he seemed to make more of an impression with the ball. The side was strong but not fully representative and when George Geary became injured, Hammond had to play as an all-rounder.[73] Wisden stated that he "kept a length and came quickly off the pitch".[74] In all first-class matches on the tour, he scored 908 runs at an average of 47.78[37] and took 27 wickets at an average of 23.85.[45] He made his Test match debut in the first Test, scoring 51 in his only innings and taking five wickets for 36 runs in the South African second innings.[75] He scored quickly in his 51, at one point took three wickets for no runs and was seen as being a key factor in the English victory.[74] Hammond scored 90 in the third Test,[76] playing "in his finest form" according to Wisden,[77] while his bowling in the fourth Test had "startling success" by taking two wickets for seven runs at the start of South Africa's first innings.[78]. He ended the series with a score of 66[79] in the final Test, which South Africa won to level the series 2–2. In the Tests, Hammond scored 321 runs at an average of 40.12[80] and took 15 wickets at an average 26.60[81] which was the equal highest number of wickets taken by an England bowler in the series.[73] With Hammond tired from a strenuous season at home and still recovering from his illness,[82] it was not as successful a series as might have been expected.[73] In the following season of 1928, Hammond scored 2825 runs (average 65.69)[37] and took 84 wickets (average 23.10), the highest total of wickets in a season of his career.[45] He scored three double centuries, and contributed to Gloucestershires season with his inspirational fielding and effective bowling, as Gloucestershire challenged for the championship for the first time since the war.[83] At the Cheltenham festival, in the space of six days, Hammond scored 362 runs, took eleven wickets and held 11 catches.[84] Against Surrey, he scored a century in both innings and then held ten catches in the match, including six in the second innings,[83][85] which remains a record in a first-class match.[86] The day after this match finished, Hammond played against Worcestershire, scoring 80. Then, on a helpful pitch and bowling off-spin, he took nine wickets for 23, the best bowling figures of his career, and followed up with six for 105 as Worcestershire followed on.[87][88] However, Hammond was not successful that season against the West Indies cricket team.[89] He scored 45 in the first Test,[90] playing some "delightful cricket" according to Wisden and "settling down in splendid style."[91] In the second Test, Hammond made a careful 63[92][93] In the series, which England won 3-0, Hammond made 111 runs at an average of 37.[80] While Hammond had an impressive total of runs, there were five batsmen who passed 3,000 runs that season.[94] Hammond played most of his career as a professional but became an amateur in 1938 to allow him to captain England. 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 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. He scored 79 in his final Test innings against New Zealand. Suffering from arthritis and worn down by personal strife he retired on his return to England. [edit] Retirement Hammond only played two more first-class games, for MCC in 1950 and Gloucestershire in 1951, to help boost a membership drive, with little success. "What did they expect," Hammond murmured. "A hundred from me as well?" His business career was generally unsuccessful. He needed to earn a living outside of cricket in order to play as an amateur and become eligible for the England captaincy. Before the war he worked for various established car companies such as Caters and Marsham's. As his cricket career progressed and then declined, he became involved in new business ventures. Fellow England cricketer Bob Wyatt said "I got the impression he suffered because of some of the spivs he attracted or had dealings with". Hammond emigrated to South Africa, to join Denham Motors in Durban, where he lived in sometimes unhappy circumstances. Denham went out of business in 1959 and Hammond was unemployed with a wife and 3 children to support. After a serious car crash sapped much of his remaining strength, he died in Durban in 1965 at 62. [edit] Style and personalityApart 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 79 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, Hammond "was too busy scoring runs to worry about bowling.".[95] 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."[95] 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. [edit] Test centuriesWally Hammond made 22 Test centuries, an England record later equalled by Colin Cowdrey and Geoff Boycott. England never lost a Test in which Hammond made a century, and suffered only one defeat in the 65 Tests in which Hammond, Cowdrey or Boycott made a hundred (when they lost to South Africa in 1965 at Trent Bridge by 94 runs, when Cowdrey made 105). His 336 not out against New Zealand in 1932–33 surpassed Donald Bradman's 334 as the highest score in Test cricket, to be later exceeded by Len Hutton's 364 in 1938. Note that his 227 and 336 not out against New Zealand were his only innings in that series, to give him a record Test series average of 563.00 which stands to this day. The 336 runs came off only 318 balls with 10 sixes and 34 fours. [edit] References
[edit] External links[edit] Bibliography
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