Name:

Hammond, Walter Reginald

Nickname:

Wally

Date of Birth:

19 Jun 1903

Gender:

Men

Place of Birth:

Dover, Kent, England

Date Died:

01 Jul 1965

Career:

Test: 1927 - 1947
First Class: 1920 - 1951

Teams:

Gloucestershire (Regional)
England (Country)

Legendary stars who lit up the Ashes

Wally Hammond: Rival to Bradman, top class allrounder

Born : 19 June 1903 at Buckland, Dover, Kent, England
Died : 1 July 1965 at Kloof, Natal, South Africa

Wally Hammond was one of the greatest batsmen the game has seen, in addition to being a fine medium-fast bowler and great slip fielder. His batting style was powerful and authoritative.

Over a 30-year career, he took over the mantle as England's premier batsman from Jack Hobbs and throughout the 1930s was the only real answer to the Bradman threat. He was the first batsman to reach 6,000 and then 7,000 Test runs and his eventually aggregate remained a record until Colin Cowdrey broke it more than 20 years later.

He set a world record for the highest score in Test cricket when he made 336* against New Zealand at Auckland in 1933, an innings that included the then record 10 sixes. His finest Test innings was probably the 240 he made against Australia at Lord's in 1938.

In the 1928/29 series against Australia he scored 905 runs at an average of 113.12 in five Tests.

In 1938, Hammond turned back to being an amateur so he could captain England. He captained England in 20 of his Tests.

His career figures were 7249 runs in 85 Tests at an average of 58.45 with 22 tons.

Hammond had a brilliant conversion rate, as out of the 46 times he crossed the 50-run mark in Test cricket, he managed to convert 22 of them into centuries.

Hammond’s bowling too was more than decent. He took 83 wickets, including 5/36 in an innings against South Africa in his debut match at Johannesburg in 1927.

His final Test aggregates for both runs and catches set world records. His bowling was useful and nippy and he took over 700 first-class wickets. In all first-class cricket he scored over 50 000 runs and took 800 catches.

Hammond's obituary in Wisden summed him up: "He was, unchallengeably, one of the cricketing immortals."

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter