Lord Hawke fractures finger, bats on to honour WG Grace

They called the late 19th century and early 20th century the Golden Era of Cricket for various reasons. While bright cricket was one of them, the Victorian attitude was certainly another. Seldom would cricket be the same after The Wars. Abhishek Mukherjee looks back at July 27, 1891, a day when a Baron braved pain to make sure the greatest cricketer of the era did not have to face the ignominy of a wrong diagnosis.

The Indian summer of 1895 was some time away, but (somewhat humongous) shadow of WG Grace still loomed large over English cricket. His halcyon days were behind him, but The Doctor, with his trademark beard, increasingly absurd girth, and career tally of runs and wickets, was one of the most recognisable and best-known names in England.

Add Cricket Country as a Preferred Source

On the other hand, there was Martin Bladen Hawke, amateur captain of Yorkshire, on his way to lead the county to success of magnitude they would never taste in their illustrious history. In December 1887, Hawke had succeeded his father as the 7th Baron Hawke. His first name remained confined to quiz questions.

The first decade of Hawke’s captaincy was a challenging phase, given the number of senior men that ruled Yorkshire cricket. While these men were champions on the field, they seldom worked as a unit. Yorkshire “continued to be an unreliable side, mingling brilliant achievement with miserable performance,” wrote Jim Kilburn.

The transition started under Hawke. The new brigade, Jack Brown, David Hunter, Stanley Jackson, “Long John” Tunnicliffe, David Denton, Ted Wainwright, and, more importantly, George Hirst would come up; Bobby Peel, already a champion with ball, would improve into an all-rounder. When Peel would eventually be sacked by Hawke after arriving drunk, Yorkshire replaced him with a youngster called Wilfred Rhodes.

With a strong emphasis on fielding, Hawke modified a bunch of talented cricketers into a champion unit. The transition was still on in 1891, the year of our story, but the changes were already evident.

Hawke was not the greatest of batsmen (he would finish with a First-Class batting average of 21 and a Test batting average of 8), but he could be competent on his day. It must also be remembered that he stretched his career till his 51st year, sometimes batting at No. 11 and staying on as captain.

The year 1891 was not the best of seasons for Hawke. His only decent performance till mid-July was 37, for MCC against Lancashire. He scored three consecutive ducks (including a pair against Surrey) before finally finding form against Somerset, with 126 (in three hours; 82 of his runs came in boundaries) and 42. Then came the match against Gloucestershire, at Sheffield.

No ego bruised

With George Ulyett, Louis Hall, Peel, Tunnicliffe, Wainwright, Ernest Smith, and Hunter in the side, Hawke’s side looked formidable. Gloucestershire boasted of WG, then 43, and even EM, months shy of his 50th birthday. William Woof was around, as were young Bill Murch, Fred Roberts, and Jack Board (who would later keep wickets for England).

Hawke won the toss, and walked out with Hall, Yorkshire’s mainstay at the top for almost two decades at that point. Murch sent down military-medium from one end, while Roberts, sharing new ball with him, bowled at a brisk pace.

It is not documented who hit Hawke on his hand, but given the paces at which they bowled, it is more likely to be Roberts than Murch. Anyway, it was a painful blow; and Hawke knew almost immediately that something was wrong.

Thankfully, there was a doctor — the most famous one in England, albeit not for his medical prowess — on the ground. Grace walked up to Hawke and examined him carefully. Then, the high-pitched voice (the one that made everyone do a double-take the first time they heard it — how could a man with a frame that bulky emit a sound like that?) announced that it was a minor bruise.

So Hawke carried on. For a while he felt that Grace had been right, but the pain became excruciating with time; but Hawke would not admit it, for that would have been an insult to the diagnosis of The Doctor.

Indeed, it was a different era.

Despite the pain, Hawke did the bulk of the scoring, reaching 36 in a stand of 63. Then he could not bear the pain any longer, left a straight ball from Murch, and was clean bowled. Subsequent diagnosis revealed a fracture, and Hawke would not play competitive cricket for over a month.

What happened to the match?

While Hall (60) held the top-order together, Wainwright defied the Gloucestershire attack with 68. With 8 for 100, Murch was easily the hero for the visitors as Yorkshire piled up a formidable 283.

In response, Gloucestershire succumbed for 91. Grace’s opening partner, the exotically named Octavius Goldney Radcliffe, top-scored with 23. Bowling unchanged, Wainwright claimed 7 for 47.

Following-on, the tourists did better, with WG (26) and Radcliffe (50) adding 75. There was a 123-run stand between Edward Sainsbury (36) and William Pullen (86), but with five men scoring ducks, they were bowled out for 222. With 3 for 60, Wainwright got his ten-for.

Joseph Mounsey, opening with Hall, polished off the runs in no time.

Brief scores:

Yorkshire 283 (Louis Hall 60, Ted Wainwright 68; Bill Murch 8 for 100) and 31 for no loss beat Gloucestershire 91 (Ted Wainwright 7 for 47) and 222 (Octavius Radcliffe 50, William Pullen 86; Bobby Peel 4 for 37, Ted Wainwright 3 for 60, Ernest Smith 3 for 62) by 10 wickets.

(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketCountry and CricLife. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)