Lives in Cricket No 8 - Ernest Hayes

Honor Oak and Surrey: 1895 1895 was even better. Hayes accumulated 1,002 runs at an average of 58.94, both club records at the time. Hornsey Rise again suffered at his hands. His seven for 25 was principally responsible for their dismissal for 70. He then opened the batting, as he did regularly that season, with T.R.Dickason, and scored 185, also a record for an individual innings. The opening partnership of 251 established yet another record, eclipsing the same pair’s 172 against Clapton. By the end of the season, Surrey were beginning to take a more serious interest and sent along W.T.Graburn, the cricket instructor, to see him play and, as a result, selected Hayes for five of the county’s second-eleven matches in August. In five innings he scored 331 runs and was asked to sign as a professional, being engaged as a ‘ground bowler’. A local newspaper applauded the policy of using county second-eleven fixtures to provide emerging young players with valuable experience, and singled out Hayes as an example of one whose selection on this basis would benefit both himself and the club: Childhood and Early Cricket 13 Hayes, aged 19, in a fast-fading Honor Oak first eleven of 1895. Back row (l to r): A.Percy (scorer), E.G.Hayes, W.E.Tapp, E.Chapman, T.R.Dickason, J.Gadd (umpire). Middle row: H.H.Burton, A.Jones (wk), G.S.Harrison (capt), F.A.Wilkie, H.L.Holford. On the ground: J.Johnson, F.F.Harrison.