Famous Cricketers No 75 - Arthur Haygarth

ARTHUR HAYGARTH Alfred Mynn once said that he would rather bowl to Fuller Pilch, the greatest batsman of his day, than Arthur Haygarth. “So strong was his defence and so unwearied his patience, that if today had been the present, matches against English teams in Australia would drive critics to despair, for Mr Haygarth would doubtless be chosen as one of the representatives of England - unless, indeed, Australia rose to a man to bar him” was the conclusion of W.A.Bettesworth who wrote his biography for the magazine Cricket in 1902. One of the most obdurate batsman of all time and a very difficult batsman to shift on the unreliable pitches of the day which have been described by various authorities as either rough, bumpy, or downright dangerous. The bounce was variable and all batsmen had to be eternally vigilant. That Haygarth certainly was. J.A.H.Catton, writing in The Times on 19 April 1924, compared Haygarth’s batting with that of Thomas Walker who was called “Old Everlasting”. Walker was a member of both the White Conduit Club, a precursor of the M.C.C., and Hambledon’s famous teams and it was said that his primary duty was to stay and tire out the bowlers. Haygarth was the successor to this “unadulterated rustic”, as Catton put it, and critics of the day said he had “the patience of Job [and] in consequence [was] of great annoyance to his opponents”. Obviously a difficult batsman to dismiss, a newspaper in 1853 noticed that “some difficulty is experienced by the wicket-keeper when the gentleman is batting, having a style of play which covers the ball from the wicket-keeper’s sight”; another commented he was “cool, cautious and careful” and that the bowlers were “pleased to see him leave the crease”. Haygarth played in most of the important matches in the cricket calendar between 1842 and 1861 and was said by Frederick Lillywhite in his famous Guide to Cricketers to be “one of the most useful men ever taken into an eleven, from his great steadiness, both with the bat and in the field. He makes fine hits forward, but more particularly against fast bowling.” He was one of the leading players of the period and, although never leading the batting averages, was five times amongst the top five batsmen in the country, achieving third place in 1858. He was also perhaps the greatest ever collector of historical cricket information and, after retiring from active match participation, devoted all his energies in that direction. This small volume is dedicated to his cricket abilities but Appendix II details to some extent his historical contributions to the game. He was born in Hastings, Sussex on 4 August 1825. He had two elder brothers, Henry William and Francis, and although the latter played at least once for M.C.C., neither was serious cricketers. He, however, had four Haygarth cousins, Frederick (Winchester 1864-66), John William (Winchester 1858-61; Oxford 1862-64), Edward Brownlow (Lancing 1868-70; Hampshire 1875; Gloucestershire 1883) and Graham Albert who were good players. His family moved to Surrey where he attended, for five years (1833-1837), Temple Grove School, East Sheen, before moving to Harrow School in September 1839. It was at Harrow that he learnt his cricket and became fascinated with the game and its origins. He was tutored in cricket by the Hon. Fred Ponsonby and the Hon. Robert Grimston. He himself confessed that he “was not a born cricketer, but only gained my defence as a batsman through constant practice, and by that alone”. He was “always weak physically, especially in my arms which possessed scarcely any muscle at all”. He was also not very keen on his studies: “I never did excel in the curriculum - You put together my exercises, and I will play against Winchester and Eton for you at Lord’s” he said to Lord Strangford and Sir Alexander Grant who carried out his scholastic work while he practised at cricket. It seems that his first recorded match, shown in Harrow’s 6th Form Match Book of 1840, was on June 5 that year when he appeared for the Second XI against the First XI in a drawn match. As might be expected he did not make an outstanding debut only scoring 7 out of 103 as he came in first wicket down. He played in three further matches that year. His best score was 11 for a non-smokers’ side 5