Lives in Cricket No 8 - Ernest Hayes

It appears most unlikely that anything more will be seen in first-class county cricket of R.H.Spooner or E.G.Hayes. The latter’s career, most of us had assumed, had already ended so far as great matches were concerned, and the statement that he has accepted the position of coach at Winchester College apparently removes any likelihood there may have been of his reappearance in the Surrey team. . . . mention of Hayes recalls many a vigorous and plucky innings played against odds. He was – none more so – a great-hearted cricketer, never regarding a game as lost until the winning hit had actually been made, and never losing courage while the last hope of his side remained to be dismissed. As bowler and fieldsman he was also the most variable, and he was in addition, a player who was a great credit to his profession. . . . Winchester is to be congratulated on obtaining the services of such a player, and for every good reason, it is to be hoped that the engagement will last for many years. The journalist was correct in his assumptions about R.H.Spooner, the Lancashire amateur and opening batsman, and frustrated in his hope that the Winchester appointment would last a long time. Other challenges would be taken on board. Away from the cricket field, Hayes was fortunate to escape with his life at an accident at Wimbledon railway station. A local journalist tells the story under the heading ‘Ernest Hayes’ Close Shave’: I saw Ernest Hayes, the famous old Surrey and England cricketer, yesterday. Hayes never forgave me for always arguing that he played with a cross bat – and so he did – but his wonderful quickness of eye, foot and wrist counterbalanced that defect. He told me that he had had a very narrow escape in the Wimbledon accident. He had just bought his ticket and walked towards the man who ‘punches’ them when the train came crashing in and left the buffers. ‘Worse than the bombs in France,’ said Hayes, who was one of the Surrey men who did really good work . . . India: 1922/23 Hayes had no plans for the winter, so accepted with some speed when the former Middlesex professional Frank Tarrant asked him An Officer and a Gentleman – and a Bridegroom 95