Lives in Cricket No 8 - Ernest Hayes

1906 This season will be recalled by statisticians as the year of George Hirst’s ‘double double’ of 2,385 runs and 208 wickets – unique, and given the reduction in the amount of first-class cricket, unlikely ever to be challenged. Ernest Hayes was never going to compete with that, but he did enjoy what was statistically at any rate his most successful season. He achieved his highest run aggregate (2,309) and highest batting average (45.27) and proudly records: This turned out to be one of my best seasons up to date and also a real good one for the Surrey team. Under an admirable skipper we made up a lot of lost headway and finished third in the Championship. I was again chosen to represent the Players v Gents at Lord’s and was once again successful scoring 5 & 55: also chosen for return match at The Oval and final match at Scarborough, in the later scoring 13 and 122 not out. There were diversions including a trip to Epsom Downs to watch the Derby, the Surrey players taking advantage of the racing connections of their aristocratic captain. They were, however, unable to escape the attention of the press whose members were at this stage beginning to take just a little interest in players’ off-field activities: The early finish of the Surrey and Gloucestershire match was greatly appreciated by The Oval players, who turned up in great force at the Derby on Wednesday. Lord Dalmeny was with his father, and many players were in the big ring. When the big race was over Ernest Hayes was observed wearing a big buttonhole and a bigger smile, and smoking a cigar that seemed to spell satisfaction. 8 For Surrey, batsmen dominated; Hayward had 3,518 first-class runs (unsurpassed until Edrich and Compton’s ‘Brylcreem summer’ of 1947), including four consecutive centuries, a feat never beaten for the county and equalled only three times, by Jack Hobbs in 1920 and 1925 and by Ian Ward in 2002. In June, Hayes had a golden nine days in which he scored 218 against Oxford University, 54 against the touring West Indians and 126 against 56 Under New Management, Test Cricket, and a Purple Passage 8 The cutting is ruefully annotated to the effect that Hayes lost a ‘fiver’ on the day.