Lives in Cricket No 16 - Joe Hardstaff

Chapter Eight Regular England Player, 1937-1939 Football commentators would nowadays describe Joe’s 1937 season as having two halves. He started slowly and when the First Test against New Zealand began, at Lord’s on 26 June, he had only scored 460 runs at an average of 30.66, figures boosted by his 110 for Notts against the New Zealanders at Trent Bridge. By contrast the rest of the season was one long triumph and he finished with 2,540 runs at an average of 57.72. Only Hammond had a better average. There were eight centuries – three of them against the New Zealanders – and 14 fifties. He was selected as one of the five Cricketers of the Year in the 1938 Wisden . During the season, when Notts played Gloucestershire, the pre-match conversation between the players centred on the batting averages, followed far more closely then than now, and the fact that Joe was only a few decimal points behind Wally Hammond. Feeling slightly embarrassed that he was being compared with (in his view) the greatest-ever batsman, Joe sought to end the conversation by saying: ‘Yes, I’m after you, Wally.’ To which Hammond quickly replied, ‘Yes, you always will be, Joe.’ Looking at his figures for the first part of 1937 one feels that the selectors were, rightly, putting their faith in class when they chose the team for the First Test. Joe had been selected for the two matches played to mark MCC’s 150th anniversary, the first of which, between North and South, also acted as a Test Trial. On a rain-affected pitch, Joe helped Len Hutton add 122 for the second wicket. His score of 71 attracted very favourable attention. The Times described him as ‘a gentleman batsman’ while The Cricketer felt that he batted well and that he appeared to be less casual in his methods than in 1936, having tightened up his game as a result of his Australian experiences. Once again his fielding drew approving comment. It was undoubtedly this innings, played in less than favourable circumstances, that led to his selection for the First Test at Lord’s. 63