Clem Hill's Reminiscences

Chapter One Introducing Clem Hill Great cricketers may be forgotten. Although their deeds are sometimes recalled and recounted when the game they played has altered beyond all recognition, their style and character is lost. Often only the records are left to be scanned and rescanned with undiminished energy by fresh waves of statisticians. W.G.Grace, K.S.Ranjitsinhji and Victor Trumper live on as subjects of major biographical study, but their great contemporary, ClemHill, has been ignored. Even worse, Hill was forgotten in his home state, South Australia, until 2003 at the Adelaide Oval, where other significant cricket figures such as Sir Donald Bradman, George Giffen, Vic Richardson, Clarrie Grimmett, Phil Ridings and the Chappell brothers are commemorated with gates, grandstands, bars and dining rooms named after them. An important purpose of this book is to restore Hill’s significance, so let us remind ourselves of his achievements. Hill was the first player to score 1,000 runs in an Australian season and the only one to do so twice in the era before the First World War. He was the leading run scorer in Test cricket at his retirement in 1912, and held the record until overtaken by Jack Hobbs in 1924. Hill remained Australia’s leading run scorer until Don Bradman passed him in 1934. The judgment as to who was the greatest Australian batsman before Bradman usually goes to Victor Trumper, although that is partly due to Hill’s generosity. Statistics are only one measure and there is little question that Trumper was the most aesthetic batsman of his day. However, the overall Test and career figures reveal that there was little between them: Tests M Inns NO HS Runs Ave 100s 50s Hill 49 89 2 191 3,412 39.21 7 19 Trumper 48 89 8 214* 3,163 39.04 8 13 First-Class M Inns NO HS Runs Ave 100s 50s Hill 252 416 21 365* 17,213 43.57 45 83 Trumper 255 401 21 300* 16,939 44.57 42 87 Hill can certainly claim to be the world’s best left-hand batsman in Test cricket before the Second World War, as his figures were superior to Frank Woolley’s 64 Tests, 3,283 runs, 36.07 average, five centuries. Besides, Hill was never dropped from the Australian side, whereas Woolley was omitted several times by England. Why Hill was forgotten for so long in South Australia is curious. He was the third player from his colony/state to lead Australia after George Giffen and Joe 5