Albert Hallam

Albert Hallam (Albert William Hallam; born November 12 1869, East Leake, Nottinghamshire, England; died July 24 1940, Loughborough, England) was an off spin bowler who is primarily remembered, along with Thomas Wass, for giving Nottinghamshire an astonishing win in the County Championship of 1907. They did not lose a single match and managed to win fifteen out of nineteen games in which a ball was actually bowled. This is the highest proportion of wins by an undefeated side and the third highest proportion of wins in County Championship history - and the two higher figures were in very dry summers with almost no rain interruptions.

Early years

Like so many Nottinghamshire-born men, Albert Hallam took to cricket at an early age. However, as he developed, he was not seen as good enough for a regular place in the Nottinghamshire eleven and, already residing in Leicestershire, played for them for a number of years in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Though these matches were not first-class, Hallam acquired a good enough reputation for Lancashire, desperate for support for the seemingly irrepressible Mold and Briggs, to encourage Hallam to qualify. He steadily improved, and by 1896 Hallam's slow bowling was already providing Lancashire with a third force in attack. The following year, the three bowlers, together with the newly imported Willis Cuttell, gave Lancashire a deadly attack on any helpful wicket and they won the County Championship. Hallam bowled consistently well and in all matches just reached 100 wickets.

Related Topics:
First-class - Mold - Briggs

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