Lives in Cricket No 8 - Ernest Hayes

He was Surrey’s leading scorer in the Championship, with 1,616 runs at 39.41 in 27 matches. His successful performances were not restricted to county cricket: for the Players at Lord’s, his first time in this fixture, he drove and pulled his way to 73. He cannot have been far from Test selection against the Australian tourists: the No.3 position went to J.T.Tyldesley, who was usually followed in the batting order by C.B.Fry and F.S.Jackson, so the competition was formidable. By no stretch of the imagination could Hayes be classed as an all-rounder in the accepted sense of one who can command a place in a side for the discipline of either batting or bowling (competence in the field being understood), but he came closest that season to being what in modern parlance would be called a ‘batting all-rounder’. Playing in 36 first-class matches, he bowled more than 500 overs and took 76 wickets at 23.30, including a ‘five for’ and ‘six for’ in consecutive matches at the end of May. South Africa: 1905/06 For the third time in his life, Ernest Hayes was to spend a winter in South Africa. This time, though, it was not as a club cricket coach or holiday tourist, but as a member of the first MCC side to tour there, under the captaincy of Pelham Warner. The latter had been there before as a member of Lord Hawke’s team in 1898/99, so both Hayes and his captain had the advantage of familiarity with the territory. Not that it seems to have done either of them any good. From the cricket point of view, Hayes had a regrettable and forgettable trip, South Africa had her first Test victory and went on to win the series 4-1. Unfortunately, Hayes’ success in three of the deck sports events (potato race, file and cigarette race, gentlemen’s bridge, double deck quoits, bucket quoits and mixed bridge) and an early 125 against a Griqualand West XV were not portents of continued domination on a tour dogged by poor form and ill-health. Christmas Day was enjoyable enough, spent as the guests of the Mayor and Mayoress of Johannesburg, the First Test at the Wanderers ground in that city which opened the New Year of 1906 rather less so. Having made 91 in their first innings, the hosts were on the back foot at 105 for six, requiring 284 to win in the fourth. A century Under New Management, Test Cricket, and a Purple Passage 51