Eddie Hemmings (cricketer)

Last updated

Eddie Hemmings
Personal information
Full nameEdward Ernest Hemmings
Born (1949-02-20) 20 February 1949 (age 73)
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm offbreak
International information
National side
Test debut(cap  497)29 July 1982 v  Pakistan
Last Test4 January 1991 v  Australia
ODI debut(cap  65)17 July 1982 v  Pakistan
Last ODI9 February 1991 v  New Zealand
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC
Matches1633518
Runs scored383309,533
Batting average 22.525.0018.54
100s/50s0/20/01/27
Top score958* 127*
Balls bowled4,4371,752101,688
Wickets 43371,515
Bowling average 42.4434.9729.30
5 wickets in innings 1070
10 wickets in match0015
Best bowling6/584/5210/175
Catches/stumpings 5/–5/–212/–
Source: CricInfo, 27 November 2017

Edward Ernest Hemmings (born 20 February 1949) [1] is a former English cricketer, who played in 16 Test matches and 33 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team between 1982 and 1991. He made his England debut relatively late in his career, at the age of 33, having predominantly represented Nottinghamshire in the County Championship. His chance came when several England players announced their intention to go on a rebel cricket tour to South Africa.

Contents

Life and career

Originally operating as a seam bowler for Warwickshire, Hemmings changed to bowling off-spin for Nottinghamshire, which led to Test match appearances from the age of 33.

England test teams at that time used to have one spinner, usually an off spinner since Ray Illingworth's appointment as captain in 1969. Illingworth was himself an off spinner. When Illingworth was sacked, Tony Greig briefly filled this role until he was removed in 1977. For a brief time, the baton was handed to Geoff Miller and then John Emburey filled the role from his debut in 1978 largely uncontested until 1982 when Emburey was banned for joining the South African Breweries tour. This put Hemmings into contention for the off spinner's spot with Vic Marks, both making their Test debuts in 1982. Hemmings then toured Australia that winter, teaming up with Miller in several Ashes Tests. He hit his highest Test score of 95 as a nightwatchman in the fifth test at Sydney, also taking six wickets in the match. [2] Seven and a half years later he would make his other Test half century (51) against India during a last wicket stand with Devon Malcolm.

At Brisbane during the 1982-3 Ashes series, Hemmings was mocked for his ample girth in an incident in which a group of home supporters smuggled a pig into the ground and release it onto the outfield, having scrawled "Eddie" onto one flank and "Botham" onto the other. [3] (Team-mate Ian Botham had also begun to fill out around the waist at this stage of his career.)

A change in England selection policy after this tour saw the spin department filled by left armers such as Phil Edmonds and Nick Cook in 1983. For the arrival of the West Indies in 1984, Pat Pocock was preferred as the England off spinner. With Emburey's ban lifted in 1985, Hemmings was again forced onto the sidelines in the test arena. By 1987 Emburey was not taking as many wickets as expected, and while Emburey kept his place in the team as a masterly containing bowler, Hemmings had a good season, helping Nottinghamshire to a noted double of the County Championship and the NatWest Bank Trophy. A televised man of the match-winning performance in the NatWest quarter-final victory against Derbyshire helped to raise his profile. [4] Hemmings was then recalled to the England squad in the World Cup in 1987 in India and Pakistan, and played alongside Emburey in a number of key fixtures. Hemmings was instrumental in the crucial group-stage win against the West Indies at Jaipur, especially by dismissing the feared West Indies captain Viv Richards. [5] One of the finest moments of Hemmings' ODI career would then come in the semifinals of the tournament where he took 4/52 to curtail India's chase. [6] Hemmings' spell would account for the key wickets of Mohammad Azharuddin, Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri. Hemmings would also go on to play in the final, which England lost, taking the best bowling figures for any England bowler in the match. [7]

Hemmings also appeared in three Tests that winter, taking his then best Test figures at Sydney (the ground on which he took more of his test wickets than anywhere else), [8] but then lost his place in the side. Earlier that winter he was a bystander in one of the most notorious incidents in Test cricket; he was attempting to deliver the ball when an unseemly row ensued between England captain Mike Gatting and umpire Shakoor Rana. [9]

In county cricket, Hemmings was a useful lower-order batsman, who had made his only first-class century in 1982, a week before his Test debut, making 127 not out (batting at no.9) against Yorkshire. [10] Requiring four runs off the last ball of the Benson & Hedges Cup final in 1989, Hemmings (by now aged 40) struck a boundary off John Lever of Essex to ensure victory for Nottinghamshire. Soon after this win he was reinstated in the England side for the 5th Ashes Test match of the same year at Trent Bridge, thanks in part to the fact that several players had just announced their decision to go on a rebel tour to South Africa, including off-spinner John Emburey. Hemmings took no wickets but had some consolation with the bat, second top-scoring on his home County ground in both England innings. [11] The Australian test attack, impatient to clinch another victory and used to prevailing during a summer in which they regularly humiliated England, was so frustrated by Hemmings' batting that there was a small on field altercation with Australian fast bowler Geoff Lawson just before tea on the fourth day of that match. Hemmings had hit Lawson for several fours in a completely lost cause, the game being well and truly lost for England by this point.

Selected as part of Graham Gooch's touring squad that winter, Hemmings played in one day internationals only – often being the most economical bowler. Hemmings was England's first choice off spinner throughout 1990 as the hot weather demanded England adjust their policy of 4 fast bowlers – which had largely worked during the Caribbean tour.

During the first test against India at Lord's in 1990, Hemmings was famously hit for four consecutive sixes by Kapil Dev from the last four balls of his over. This 24 was the exact amount required for India to avoid the follow on – they were nine wickets down at the time and Kapil Dev did not want to expose Narendra Hirwani to Angus Fraser's next over, as Fraser had Hirwani lbw first ball. (England still won the match.) Hemmings had had a happier match in the previous Test against New Zealand in which (now aged 41) he took his only Test five-wicket haul, figures of 6/58. [12]

Hemmings toured Australia with the full England side in 1990–91 that winter, playing in one test match – his last test match – at Sydney and again featuring as a containing bowler in most of the one day games. England did not make the finals of the World Series Cup. Hemmings last played for England during the short one day international series in New Zealand which followed the Ashes tour.

All in all, Hemmings was probably the second best off-spinner in England from around 1982–1991 and was largely unfortunate that his best years coincided with John Emburey's. He was perhaps underused in one day international cricket, especially given his success in the 1987 world cup and his proficiency in the format; as of 2022 he stands 31st on the list of all-time wicket-takers in List A cricket. [13] There were other contenders for the one place in the England team during the same time such as Geoff Miller, Vic Marks and Pat Pocock. However broadly speaking England selectors preferred their off spinners to be able to bat which explains why Geoff Miller, who had a superior first-class record as a batter, was often selected.

Before retiring from first-class cricket at the age of 46, he also played for Sussex. In his last season he helped the county to inflict a rare innings defeat on the touring West Indies, taking 4/33. [14]

Hemmings holds the record for the most runs conceded by a bowler when taking all ten wickets in an innings – 49.3-14-175-10 for the International XI against a West Indies XI at Kingston, Jamaica in 1982–83. [15]

He now runs a village shop in West Butterwick, Lincolnshire. [16] He has also worked as a talent scout for the ECB. [17]

His niece, Beth Morgan, was also an England Test cricketer. [18]

Related Research Articles

Kapil Dev Former Indian cricketer

Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj is an Indian former cricketer. He was a fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, and was named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002.

Andrew Caddick English cricketer

Andrew Richard Caddick is a former cricketer who played for England as a fast bowler in Tests and ODIs. At 6 ft 5in, Caddick was a successful bowler for England for a decade, taking 13 five-wicket hauls in Test matches. He spent his entire English domestic first-class cricket career at Somerset County Cricket Club, and then played one Minor Counties match for Wiltshire in 2009.

Stuart MacGill Australian cricketer

Stuart Charles Glyndwr MacGill is an Australian former cricketer who played 44 Test matches and three One Day Internationals for the Australian national cricket team. He is a right-arm leg spin bowler, who has been credited with having the best strike rate of any modern leg-spin bowler, but he did not have a regular place in the Australian Test team due to the dominance of Shane Warne in the position of sole spinner. His bowling was slightly slower through the air than Warne's, but he was a prodigious turner of the ball.

Devon Malcolm English cricketer

Devon Eugene Malcolm is a former English cricketer. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Malcolm played in 40 Test matches and 30 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team.

John Ernest Emburey is a former English first-class cricketer who played for Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Western Province, Berkshire and England.

Raymond Illingworth CBE was an English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. As of 2015, he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in first-class cricket. He played for Yorkshire, Leicestershire (1969–1978) and England (1958–1973) and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1960.

Richard Illingworth Cricket umpire

Richard Keith Illingworth is an English former cricketer, who is currently an umpire. The bulk of his domestic cricketing career occurred with Worcestershire, although he had a spell with Derbyshire, and overseas with Natal. He played in nine Tests and twenty five ODIs for England, including participating in the 1992 and 1996 Cricket World Cups. Several websites, mistakenly, report that he is Ray Illingworth's son but the two are not related.

Victor James Marks is an English sports journalist and former professional cricketer.

The England cricket team toured Australia during the 1986–87 cricket season for a five-match Test series to contest The Ashes. While in Australia, England also played a number of tour matches against state and representative teams, and competed in two One-Day International (ODI) tournaments. Under the captaincy of Mike Gatting, England retained the Ashes with a 2–1 series win.

Bruce Yardley was an Australian cricketer who played in 33 Test matches and seven One Day Internationals between 1978 and 1983, taking 126 Test wickets.

Peter Such English cricketer

Peter Mark Such is an English cricketer, cricket coach, and match referee. An off-spinner, Such was brought into the Test arena in 1993 as a replacement for John Emburey but, despite taking 6 for 67 on debut and being the highest wicket taker for England in the series only played an initial eight Tests before having to wait 5 years before his next appearance.

Graeme Swann English cricket player (born 1979)

Graeme Peter Swann is an English former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Born in Northampton, he attended Sponne School in Towcester, Northamptonshire. He was primarily a right-arm off-spinner, and also a capable late-order batsman with four first-class centuries, and often fielded at second slip. Swann could score quickly; his test strike rate is the highest of any male English batter to have scored at least 1000 runs.

Phil Edmonds English cricketer

Philippe-Henri Edmonds is a former cricketer who represented England at international level and Middlesex at county level. After retiring he became a successful, albeit controversial, corporate executive.

Geoffrey Miller, is an English former cricketer, who played in 34 Test matches and 25 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team between 1976 and 1984. He played for Derbyshire from 1973 to 1986, captaining the side from 1979 to 1981, and returned in 1990 after playing for Essex between 1987 and 1989. He was an England selector from 2008 to 2013 and was appointed President of Derbyshire C.C.C. in March 2014.

Ray Illingworth captained the English cricket team in Australia in 1970–71, playing as England in the 1970-71 Ashes series against the Australians and as the MCC in their other matches on the tour. They had a successful tour, but an acrimonious one as Illingworth's team often argued with their own management and the Australian umpires. When they arrived the Australian selector Neil Harvey called them "rubbish", and others labelled them "Dad's Army" because of the seniority of the players, whose average age was over 30, but these experienced veterans beat the younger Australian team. They are the only touring team to play a full Test series in Australia without defeat.

The West Indian cricket team played 16 first-class cricket matches in England in 1988, under the captaincy of Viv Richards. They enjoyed considerable success during the tour, while England endured a "disastrous summer" of continuous change.

Kuldeep Yadav Indian cricketer (born 1994)

Kuldeep Yadav is an Indian international cricketer who plays for India and for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket. He was signed by the Delhi Capitals for the 2022 Indian Premier League. He has played for the India Under-19 cricket team. On 18 December 2019, against the West Indies, he became the first bowler for India to take two hat-tricks in international cricket. On 17 January 2020, in the second ODI against Australia, Yadav became the fastest spin bowler for India, in terms of innings, to take 100 wickets in ODI cricket, in his 58th innings.

References

  1. ↑ Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 88. ISBN   1-869833-21-X.
  2. ↑ "Full Scorecard of Australia vs England 5th Test 1982/83". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "Animal antics". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire at Derby". ESPNCricinfo . Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Full Scorecard of England vs West Indies". ESPNcricinfo.
  6. ↑ "Full Scorecard of England vs India 2nd SF 1987/88 – Score Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  7. ↑ "Reliance World Cup Final". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  8. ↑ "Full Scorecard of England vs Australia". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "Fury in Faislabad". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  10. ↑ "Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire at Worksop 21-23 July". ESPNCricinfo . Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  11. ↑ "Full Scorecard of Australia vs England 5th test 1989". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  12. ↑ "Full scorecard of England v New Zealand 3rd Test 1990". ESPNCricinfo . Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  13. ↑ "Records/List A matches/Bowling/Most wickets in career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "Sussex v West Indians at Brighton, 1-3 July 1995". ESPNCricinfo . Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  15. ↑ Frindall, Bill (1998). The Wisden Book of Cricket Records (Fourth ed.). London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 242. ISBN   0747222037.
  16. ↑ "Where are they now?". 31 May 2008.
  17. ↑ "Eddie Hemmings exclusive interview". Big star cricket. 24 December 2006. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
  18. ↑ "Eddie Hemmings player profile". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.