Lives in Cricket No 8 - Ernest Hayes

may be hoped. In the return match with the Australians – his début in first-class cricket – he played a masterly innings.’ 1897 Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee year was the apogee of the British Empire and a time of national celebration, but for Ernest Hayes a time of increasing frustration as he found himself thwarted by not being selected for the county side. He writes: This season I was very disappointed as I was only played in three county matches and one against Oxford University. Yet I was in very good form and always did well when played. For the whole of the first part of the season I was travelling about with the County team as reserve man. Then I played with the 2nd XI for the rest of the season: chief scores for them being 98, 52, 42, 41, 32 and 73. This being a very useful innings as it was a very sticky wicket v Northampton with the game against us. He then records his scores in the three first eleven matches in which he did play – 50 and 0 against Somerset; 34 against Kent and 21; and 3 against Hampshire. (He also scored 5 and 0 against Oxford University, but doesn’t mention this match!) It would be easy to berate the young professional with a lack of modesty, but it must be recalled that the scrapbooks were never kept with a view to publication, but for his own private use and possibly that of his family. There is no reason to doubt, therefore, that these were his genuine and sincerely held beliefs. There were two factors which militated against his regular selection. Firstly, it has to be recalled that the county’s batting line-up was strong at the time, including Abel, Hayward and W.W.Read and secondly, the prevailing custom – indeed, committee policy – was not necessarily to play the best team, but to give the amateurs first refusal. Gloucestershire’s team at the time was mainly amateur (at least notionally), Nottinghamshire’s was mainly professional, but for Surrey, who mixed gentlemen and players in their squads 2 , there was no doubt who had priority with the backing of a committee of which one-third had titles other than Surrey Pro 21 2 A public statement made by Lord Alverstone, the club’s president, sets out the county’s approach: ‘Desirable though it is that the county should always be at the front of county cricket, I certainly do not consider that the county championship should be the only object. I should like, if possible, to arrange matters so that at least three places in the eleven in all county matches should be filled by amateurs.’