Nowadays, we hear a lot of complaining about a cricket pitch. If it’s a rank-turner, teams touring the subcontinent would
But what’s the benefit of fetching runs easily and without
facing stifling challenges?
Things were different during the days of uncovered pitches
and pre-helmet era. In those days, countering testing conditions and hostile
bowling was regarded as the yardstick to measure the best batsman in the
business then. Batsmen relished challenges and didn’t boast of scoring big
hundreds on flat decks while numbers hardly mattered for them.
But as soon as the bowler released the ball and posed a
threat after landing it on a nagging length, the Englishman’s eyes would light
up, muscles flexed and the bat negotiated it so gently, backed by a strong
defence . It left the opposition captain and purists of the game astonished, and
in turn, they fell in love with Sutcliffe’s batting display.
Sutcliffe’s
defence was immaculate and it was difficult to notice even the tiniest of space
between the bat and pad while executing the forward defence . His strength lay
in his ability to force well-pitched deliveries off the front foot on either
side of the wicket.
His
initial trigger movement was always on the back foot and it enabled him to
pivot on the back foot quickly and get behind the line of the ball to execute
the hook shot with great control. His back foot stroke-play on sticky wickets
made him one of most respected batsman of his era. At times, on quick pitches,
he was overly defensive, but as soon as he rediscovered his rhythm, eloquent
strokes used to crop up all around the park.
If
the ball rose, it encountered a dead bat, and if it spun sharply and jumped,
Sutcliffe either pushed it down or took it on his body. The short of a length
delivery outside the off stump would be gently deflected by the drop of wrists
at the last moment. The lack of brute force in his drives was compensated by
placements of absolute surgical precision.
A vigilant batsman; partnership with
Sir Jack Hobbs
According
to Sir Neville Cardus, “[Of his batting] Sutcliffe had style... But it was his
eternal vigilance, his keen eye and a mind that could move and anticipate,
which were his assets, plus his Yorkshire realism and his Yorkshire tenacity of
character. Immaculate in flannels, his hair burnished by the sun, the cynosure
of all the women's and girls' eyes, a cricketer of manners, symbol of the new
urban social consciousness, none the less he could be fitted into the Yorkshire
scheme and body and atmosphere, after all”.
Opening
the innings for England in 1924-25, he watched the bowler deliver the first
over to Sir Jack Hobbs. The bowl swung away late regularly and Hobbs drew away
his bat just as the ball was to make contact, a perfect example of
professionalism. At the end of this accurate over, Sutcliffe walked down to
meet Hobbs. “I think I’d leave them alone, Jack, if I were you.” Sir Jack knew then that he had found the
right opener for England.
Sir
Hobbs and Sutcliffe scripted 157 runs for the opening stand in that Test and a
Test later, chasing 600, Hobbs and Sutcliffe stayed in an entire day for 283.
Their stroke-play and running between the wickets left the Australians
frustrated and their understanding was so remarkable, they never called or
seemed to be in a rush.
In
the course of time, Sir Hobbs and Sutcliffe opening pair amassed 3249 runs in
only 38 innings at a whopping average of 87.81 and was recognised as one of the
finest opening pairs in the history of the game.
The
sequence of Sutcliffe’s highly successful Ashes series was 59, 115, 176, 127,
33, 59, 143, 22 and 0, and his 734 runs at an average of 81.55 were the highest
on either side. A partnership of 172 with Hobbs on a tricky track at the Oval
in 1926 decided the fate of the Ashes in favour of England. Sutcliffe’s 161
was, in his esteem, the most satisfying innings of his career.
The
partnership repeated the same on another deadly -sticky-wicket at Melbourne in
1928/29. That time, they added 106 as England successfully chased down 332 to
win. Sutcliffe again scored a brave match winning hundred.
In
the case of Sutcliffe, delight, fury, defeat and charm were all submerged in
glacier like calm. “He was understood over 2000 years in advance by Greek
philosophers. They called his character megalo -psychic. It is the sort of man
who would rather miss a train than run for it and so be seen in disorder and
heard breathing heavily,” said R. C. Robertson-Glasgow, cricketer and cricket
writer, about Sutcliffe.
His later years
After
retirement, Sutcliffe was successful as a manager in an investment firm. Later
on, he also served as a selector in the England Cricket Board and was also a
club committee member for Yorkshire for 21 years.
As
time passed, age took its toll on him. He developed severe arthritis as he grew
older and the severity of the disease was so much that he had to use a
wheelchair. He suffered a personal tragedy in April 1974 when his wife Emmie,
then aged 74, died as a result of severe burns following a fire at the family
home in Ilkley.
On
January 22, 1978, Sutcliffe’s health condition deteriorated and was finally
admitted to a Cross Hills nursing home in North Yorkshire. He breathed his last
in that hospital and world cricket lost an absolute master with the bat.
World
cricket still remembers the great man and his contributions towards the game
with utmost respect.
Note: This article was published at Sportskeeda on 21/01/2017 Remembering the great English batsman Herbert Sutcliffe
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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