Lives in Cricket No 8 - Ernest Hayes

The following spring he was nominated one of Wisden ’s Five Cricketers of the Year along with Surrey amateur colleagues, J.N.Crawford and N.A.Knox. The citation mentioned that he had added the pull to his drive, that his batting was ‘lively and adventurous’, and that he had no superior among Surrey batsmen except Hayward. Recognising that he had now been associated with Surrey for more than ten years, the Almanack went on to comment that ‘Hayes has never yet had the honour of being picked for England against Australia but he would be a credit to a representative team.’ 1907 That was to be remedied the following year, however. Surrey, with Lord Dalmeny still at the helm, and Hayes at three following fellow aspirates Hobbs and Hayward, finished fourth in the Championship. Hayes had a good season; he was Surrey’s leading run scorer in the competition, with 1,721 runs. With fewer not outs than his rivals, he was third in his county’s averages with 37.41, behind Hayward’s 46.17 and Hobbs’ 40.88. A ‘wonderful week’ in August saw 95 and 104 against Nottinghamshire, followed by a double century against Middlesex – an innings quoted by Pelham Warner, who himself made 149 in the match, as one of the best he had seen. In the second innings, Hayes’ wicket was taken by the Middlesex fast bowler, Edward Mignon. They were later to share a wife – consecutively, not concurrently. He was not asked to play in any of the three Test Matches against South Africa, their first in England, that summer, but with all due respect to the tourists, then as now Australia was the ‘big one’. Nor did he play in any other ‘showcase’ match. Despite this, Hayes records: ‘This again proved to be a very successful season for me and led to my being asked to join A.O.Jones’ Australian team.’ Under New Management, Test Cricket, and a Purple Passage 60