Herbert Sutcliffe

 Herbert Sutcliffe, one of the best English Test Batsman of them all and the least known, too.

Herbert Sutcliffe was one of the great cricketers and he brought to cricket as to all his undertakings which brought him immense succes .

His technical talent and skill level was matched by none as shown by his achievements, which were on a high plane.

Sutcliffe played 20 years of cricket from 1919 to 1939. Herbert Sutcliffe scored more than 50,000 runs and averaged 52 in first class cricket. He never faced a season of failure, except by setting his own astonishing standars which rose expectations.

At the peak of his career, between the years of 1927 to 1933, in six English seasons and two tours of Australia and one of South Africa. Sutcliffe scored almost 20,000 runs at an average of 66.72.

These were days of good batting pitches and high scoring, but even so, Sutcliffe stood out among his English colleagues.

His career has spanned over the World War 1 which meant he made a late entry in county cricket at am age of 24. He was given a place in the Yorkshire side. His quality was never in doubt and by the en9d of his debut season he had scored five centuries in an aggregate of 1,839 runs.

He formed one of the most revered Test Match association with Jack Hobbs and another iconic opening partnership with Percy Holmes in county cricket. For fourteen years Sutcliffe and Holmes opened the innings for Yorkshire, representing a partnership of unparalleled success in which they put up the hundred stand ( aka partnership )on 74 occasions.

In 1924, he made his debut for England in Test Cricket .

He enjoyed personal success on the 1924–25 Ashes of in Australia, although England lost the series 4–1 to the Australians. In the next Ashes series against Australia, Hobbs and Sutcliffe produced a series-winning partnership at The Oval in difficult batting conditions. He continued to produce match winning performances in Ashes but it would take a lot of time to highlight them which would make this answer unnecessary long, so we focus on some of his personal milestones which actually defined his abilities.

His artistry and mastery over difficult conditions became legendary in his lifetime, with his centuries against Australia at The Oval in 1926 and at Melbourne in 1929 as some well kneon examples. He was a true artist with the willow in hand, and never disappointed his team when they needed him the most. His defensive patience and skill became very well known, yet at need his hitting was brilliant in the extreme.

He had some innings which showed his versatility, his aggressive innings include a 113 on a slin friendly sticky wicket which included 10 sixes.(WOW!)

At Scarborough (which was located in North Yorkshire FYI) against the fast bowling of Farnes and Nichols, Sutcliffe took his personal score from 100 to 194 in a meagre 40 minutes.

His 100th first class hundred was a 132 which was scored in less than 2 hours on a belter.

Concentration and courage were some of his well revered abilities, nothing seemed impossible to him, nothing deeply saddened him, no difficulty overcame him.

Another fact which highlights Sutcliffe's match winning ability is about his counties. Yorkshire and Lancashire were the dominant counties of the period Sutcliffe played in . Yorkshire winning 12 championships and Lancashire five in the 21 seasons between 1919 and 1939 that formed Sutcliffe’s career. He clearly with his batting enabled Yorkshire to win more titles compared to his rivals.

He was a true artist with the bat, a Fredericksque hooker of the ball against fast bowling and as good of a batter against spin bowling. He never allowed his fears overcome his mind.

The manner of his performances have raised him in a special place of the cricketing folklore. He was admired and respected everywhere he went, not just because of his skills, but because he was good human too.

During his playing days, he founded a sports company , too.

Classy, with brisk of movement, calm in repose, he carried his character with a clear label wherever he appeared. His off drives were one of the best and his hook was a ready response to the aggressive intent of any bumper. His defensive play was the reduction of risk to the minimum and his self-confidence was unshakeable.

In a crazy career where he scored 149 centuries, he shared 2 crazy partnerships with his well known opening colleagues, he shared with Holmes a partnership of 555 for Yorkshire, and with Hobbs a partnership of 283 for England against Australia.

Herbert Sutcliffe was second to none in commitment on all occasions. He was expected to break records in every match and left an unmatchable legacy which left a void in English Cricket that will never be recovered.

He boasts of a great statistical record, too.

He has scored an astonishing 50,000 first class runs at an average of 52, in his zenith in Test Cricket he averaged above 60, too.

He was equally successful all home and away with a good record against all countries and in ever country he played in.

In Australia, he averages 63.70 with 1529 runs.

In New Zealand, he averaged 12 but he just played 2 innings

In England, he averaged 64.60 with 2584 runs

In South Africa, he averaged 46.44 with 418 runs.

His home vs away record

Home - 2584 runs with an average of 64.60

Away - 1971 runs at an average of 56.31

This can easily tell his mastery overall conditions, he could handle crunch situations with ease and all who know him wished he played more international cricket because he would've left an even greater legacy. He helped Yorkshire and England win several tournaments, too.

What made him special? Perhaps his fine willow wielding, his classy batsmanship and strong temperament made him special. Perhaps every quality of his made him special. Perhaps the fact that he was one of the rarest cricketers of his kind made him special. Perhaps the fact that England haven't found another opening pair as good as of him and Hobbs makes him special.

Sutcliffe, Herbert died Crosshills on January 22, 1978, aged 83.

Q - What made Herbert Sutcliffe special?

A - Every quality of him, the fact that he was Herbert Sutcliffe made him special.

Even the great Donald Bradman held Sutcliffe in a high esteem, when he heard of his sad demise, he described Sutcliffe as the cricketer with the best temperament he has played against and he was a dear friend too him.

M

Mm

Well, that's the end.