Lives in Cricket No 16 - Joe Hardstaff

LIVES IN CRICKET Joe Hardstaff Supreme Stylist ROGER MOULTON ACS PUBLICATIONS £12.00 Some cricketers are best remembered for their statistical achievements. Joe Hardstaff is not one of those. His batting figures, 31,847 first-class runs at an average of 44.35, are ‘only auxiliaries to his reputation’. A ‘handsome and happy man’, commentators of his time reported that he added ‘glamour and stylishness’ to the county and international game between 1930 and 1955. His technique, involving full use of the ‘long handle’ and a high back lift, was developed in the Nottinghamshire nets against the speed of Larwood, Voce and Butler. It flourished on the field through the certainties of the Trent Bridge pitches of his time. To many, his talents were little less than those of Hutton and Compton. His childhood as the son of a Test cricketer, ‘Old Joe’, and neighbour of Harold Larwood gave him advantages, of course. But, like other players from Nottinghamshire’s coalfields, he reached county and Test cricket via the pit. His best cricketing years, 1940 to 1945, were taken up by service in the Royal Artillery. Despite his cricket reputation, ‘Young Joe’ has never before had a biography. Using a wide range of sources, Roger Moulton here carefully traces out the details of a playing career which covered twenty seasons of English cricket and six eventful overseas tours.