Wally Hammond

Walter Reginald Hammond, born in Dover on 19 June 1903 and dying on 1 July 1965, was an English first-class cricketer who turned out for Gloucestershire between 1920 and 1951. He started as a professional, later switched to amateur status, and eventually captained England. A middle-order batsman by trade, *Wisden Cricketers' Almanack* ranked him among the four finest batsmen cricket has ever seen. Those who played alongside him or watched him in the 1930s rated him as England’s best batsman of that decade, and also praised him as one of the greatest slip fielders. He bowled at a fast-medium pace with real effectiveness; contemporaries felt he could have done even more with the ball had he been keener to use it. Across 85 Test matches, Hammond scored 7,249 runs and took 83 wickets. He led England in 20 of those Tests, winning four, losing three, and drawing the rest. His career Test run total stood as the highest until Colin Cowdrey passed it in 1970, and his 22 Test centuries remained an English record until Alastair Cook beat it in 2012. In 1933, he set a record for the highest individual Test innings—336 not out—which Len Hutton surpassed in 1938. In all first-class cricket, he amassed 50,551 runs and 167 centuries, ranking seventh and third respectively on the all-time lists. Though his career began in 1920, Hammond had to wait until 1923 to play full-time, after a challenge to his eligibility for Gloucestershire was resolved. His talent was obvious from the start, and after three full seasons he was picked for a Marylebone Cricket Club tour of the West Indies in 1925–26, but fell seriously ill there. Once he recovered in 1927, he started scoring heavily and earned an England call-up. During the 1928–29 Ashes series, he piled up 905 runs, then a record for a Test series. He dominated county cricket through the 1930s, and despite a dip in Test form mid-decade, he was made England captain in 1938. He kept the captaincy after the Second World War, but his health had worsened, and he retired from first-class cricket following a failed tour of Australia in 1946–47. He played two more first-class matches in the early 1950s. Hammond married twice, divorcing his first wife bitterly, and had a reputation for unfaithfulness. He found it hard to get along with teammates and opponents alike. His business ventures flopped, and he never built a successful career after cricket. In the 1950s, he moved to South Africa hoping to start a business, but that also came to nothing, leaving his family in financial trouble. Shortly after taking up a sports administration job, he was badly injured in a car crash in 1960, which left him frail. He died of a heart attack in 1965. **Early life and career**

**Childhood and school life**

Hammond was born on 19 June 1903 in Dover, Kent. His father, William, was a bombardier in the Royal Garrison Artillery, and his mother was Marion Hammond (née Crisp). They lived in married quarters at Dover Castle, where Walter was born, having married the previous December. He spent his early years in Dover, often playing cricket. When he was five, his father was posted to Hong Kong on the China Station and promoted to sergeant. The family stayed there until 1911, then moved to Malta until 1914. Hammond later remembered playing cricket in Malta with makeshift gear, including an old soldier’s bat that he felt taught him to hit the ball hard. When World War I broke out, the Hammonds returned to England with the 46th Company of the Royal Garrison Artillery. William was later sent to France, promoted to major, and killed near Amiens in 1918. Marion settled in Southsea and sent Walter to The Portsmouth Grammar School, then in 1918 moved him to board at Cirencester Grammar School, thinking he would benefit from living away from home and hoping he would take up farming. He had a difficult relationship with his mother, often staying with friends during holidays instead of coming home. At both schools, Hammond shone at sports—cricket (playing for the Portsmouth Grammar School second eleven), football, and fives. At Cirencester, he played for the school football first eleven in his first term. He quickly made the cricket first eleven, outperformed others, and became captain in his second season; his headmaster, spotting his potential, encouraged him. He scored his first century against a parents’ team, and in an inter-house match hit 365 not out, though against weak bowling. These feats brought local attention. In class, his marks were poor, and he preferred being outside playing cricket. Leaving Cirencester in July 1920, Hammond planned to attend Winchester Agricultural College and pursue farming, as his mother wanted. But his headmaster wrote to Gloucestershire’s captain, Foster Robinson, reporting Hammond’s school cricket record and suggesting the club take a look. Days after leaving school, Hammond scored a century in his first adult cricket match. In a trial for the Gloucestershire Club and Ground, he made 60 runs, took two wickets, and impressed the local press. Two club committee members then visited his mother to sign him. She was hesitant, but his eagerness won her over, and he signed a professional contract.