Lives in Cricket No 16 - Joe Hardstaff

Trumper, Frank Woolley, Alan Kippax, Archie Jackson, Donald Knight and David Gower. That this is so is borne out by the many descriptions of his play, many of which have already been quoted. Frank Lee, Somerset opener and Test umpire, referred to him as ‘the effortless Hardstaff’. His brother, Harry Lee, described him as ‘an exceptionally brilliant player’. Trevor Bailey recalled him as being ‘extremely graceful with a classic stance’. Dudley Carew said the same, emphasising his ‘beautifully upright’ stance at the wicket. Raymond Robertson-Glasgow, perhaps for once lost for words, referred simply to ‘his natural grace of stroke and movement’. Neville Cardus said that ‘at his best he was an artist, a spreader of delight, not one of the bricklayers and hod-carriers’. Tom Graveney recalls him as an absolutely superb stroke-maker and timer of the ball and that, like Denis Compton, he played the game for enjoyment. There is frequent mention of his top-of-the-handle grip of the bat which is also borne out in many photographs. His bats, weighing 2lb 7oz, were very heavy by the standards of the day and were specially made for him by Gunn and Moore. As a result, according to Denis Compton and Alec Bedser, this made him the hardest hitter of a ball amongst his contemporaries. Alf Gover felt that he was a fine all-round stroke-player and that, despite his grip, he was one of the best hookers of fast bowling, although Alec Bedser did not recall him making much use of this, perhaps because Jim Iremonger, the Notts coach, advised him to cut out that particular shot. Driving on either side of the wicket was his greatest glory. His preference for driving shots, combined with his high back-lift, perhaps accounts for his higher proportion of dismissals bowled (33%), compared with his illustrious contemporaries Len Hutton (28%), Denis Compton (26%) and Bill Edrich (30%). He was generally reckoned to be better against faster bowling rather than slow. Alec Bedser put this down to endless net practice against Larwood and Voce. He was particularly effective against medium-paced seamers, although Tom Graveney remembers with much amusement a match between Gloucestershire and Notts at Trent Bridge in 1951 when Arthur Milton bowled him off the inside edge when Joe had reached 81 and clearly had a century in his sights. Reg Simpson felt that if he had a weakness it was against top-class, back-of-the-hand spin bowling, particularly as practised by Jack Walsh. Joe himself felt that Bill O’Reilly caused him the most trouble and in fact O’Reilly dismissed him nine times in 17 120 Latter Days, 1956-1990