Herbert Sutcliffe

Herbert Sutcliffe (born November 24, 1894, Summerbridge, Harrogate, Yorkshire, England; died January 22 1978, Cross Hills, Yorkshire, England) was arguably the greatest opening batsman in cricket history and undoubtedly one of the greatest players of any type the game has known. His Test batting average of 60.73 is the fourth highest of any player, and only Don Bradman's is more than a fraction higher. Uniquely, his average never dropped below 60 throughout his entire Test career — Javed Miandad is the only other man whose average never dropped below 50 in a career of at least 20 innings. Sutcliffe's first-class career batting average of 51.95 (according to Wisden, though Cricinfo claim 52.02) is bettered among batsmen who finished their careers with over 30,000 runs only by Hammond.

Last years

In 1936, it was clear that Sutcliffe's days were numbered, for, despite a brilliant innings at Scarborough against Middlesex, his aggregate of runs was the lowest for fifteen years and his average fell to 33.30. With the emergence of Leonard Hutton (who was now his partner for Yorkshire) England's opening batting problems since his decline in 1933 were largely solved and Sutcliffe's representative career was over. However, in county cricket he showed no further declines in form, and in 1939 — the last season before World War II halted county cricket for six years — he actually averaged 54.46 and his six centuries.

Related Topics:
Leonard Hutton - World War II

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However, during that season Sutcliffe's health broke down so badly that he had to stand out of nine of Yorkshire's matches. This makes it doubtful that he could have continued playing for much longer had the war not intervened. Though he played one match without success in 1945, there was never a question of him continuing to play at the age of fifty-one when county cricket resumed in 1946. In fact, Sutcliffe was plagued by ill-health for the rest of his life up to his death in 1978. During the 1950s he wrote several articles - mostly about the ill-effects of changes in the lbw rule in 1935 - in Wisden and for a time in the early 1960s he was a Test selector. With his health getting steadily worse, little was seen of the once incomparable batsman in his last days before his death in 1978.

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His son William Herbert Hobbs Sutcliffe played for Cambridge University and Yorkshire between 1948 and 1957, captaining Yorkshire for the last three seasons of his career.

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