1. George Herbert Hirst was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929.
117 Facts About George Hirst
1. 2.
One of the best all-rounders of his time, Hirst was a left arm medium-fast bowler and right-handed batsman.
3.
George Hirst played in 24 Test matches for England between 1897 and 1909, touring Australia twice.
4.
George Hirst completed the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in an English cricket season 14 times, the second most of any cricketer after his contemporary and team-mate Wilfred Rhodes.
5.
One of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1901, George Hirst scored 36,356 runs and took 2,742 wickets in first-class cricket.
6.
George Hirst was one of the first bowlers to control the swing of the ball, which batsmen found very difficult to counter, making Hirst's bowling far more successful from then on.
7.
George Hirst played in all England's home Test series between 1899 and 1909, but his record for England was less impressive than his record for Yorkshire, and he may have suffered from playing in Australia where conditions did not suit him.
8.
George Hirst returned to play for Yorkshire after the war, but became a cricket coach at Eton College in 1920, where he remained until 1938.
9.
George Hirst maintained his connections with Yorkshire for the rest of his life, coached young players and established an excellent reputation for developing players of all social backgrounds.
10.
George Hirst was born on 7 September 1871 in the Brown Cow Inn, Kirkheaton, a village close to Huddersfield.
11.
George Hirst was the last of 10 children born to James Hirst and his wife Sarah Maria Woolhouse.
12.
When his father died in 1880, George Hirst lived with his sister Mary Elizabeth Woolhouse and her husband John Berry in Kirkheaton.
13.
George Hirst played rugby football as a full back during winter, and cricket with his friends and brothers in summer.
14.
George Hirst's reputation grew; when he was 18 he was a key player in the Kirkheaton team which won the Lumb Challenge Cup of 1889.
15.
George Hirst scored six runs in his only innings, and took three wickets in the match.
16.
George Hirst played only intermittently for Yorkshire over the next couple of seasons, but continued to develop as a cricketer, signing as a professional for Elland Cricket Club for the 1890 season before joining Mirfield in 1891.
17.
Early in the season, George Hirst appeared for Yorkshire against the Marylebone Cricket Club.
18.
George Hirst did not pass 30 runs in an innings again and averaged 16.15 with the bat.
19.
George Hirst averaged only 15.04 with the bat, but his bowling continued to make a good impression on critics.
20.
George Hirst took 99 wickets at an average of 14.39, placing him third in the Yorkshire averages for the season; that year, the county won the official County Championship, which had begun in 1890, for the first time.
21.
In 1894, George Hirst scored his maiden first-class century against Gloucestershire, hitting an unbeaten 115 out of a partnership of 176 for the ninth wicket.
22.
George Hirst took 98 wickets at an average of 15.98, and his best figures came in a match against Lancashire, a feat appreciated by Yorkshire supporters as the fixture was always highly competitive.
23.
George Hirst established himself as an opening bowler for Yorkshire, assuming the role from Ted Wainwright and developing a good partnership with Bobby Peel.
24.
George Hirst hit a century against Leicestershire and nine other scores over fifty; this improvement in his batting took him past 1,000 runs for the first time, and his average of 28.05 was substantially higher than he had achieved previously.
25.
George Hirst scored 1,535 runs at an average of 35.69, with a century and 11 fifties, and took 101 wickets at an average of 23.22.
26.
George Hirst, suffering from a strained leg for some of the tour, was ineffective as a bowler.
27.
George Hirst's batting was inconsistent and he scored 338 runs at an average of 21.12.
28.
George Hirst's debut came in the first match, England's only victory, when he scored 62 batting at number six in the batting order.
29.
George Hirst's only score over fifty was an innings of 130 against Surrey, and he scored 567 runs at an average of 17.71.
30.
George Hirst increased his number of wickets to 82 at 24.75, and his form was good enough to earn selection for his first home Test match, against Australia.
31.
George Hirst worked hard for his side, his fielding indeed being perfection, but as a bowler he did not cause the Australians any trouble.
32.
George Hirst's batting continued to be more successful than his bowling, to the point where commentators regarded him as primarily a batsman, who bowled occasionally.
33.
Yorkshire won the County Championship, the first of three consecutive victories in which George Hirst played a leading role.
34.
However, around this time, George Hirst began to develop his use of swing bowling, known at the time as swerve bowling.
35.
George Hirst recorded a series of impressive bowling performances, winning extravagant praise from Wisden; he took five wickets in an innings on 15 occasions and 10 wickets in a match five times, including st traditional rivals Lancashire.
36.
George Hirst's batting continued to be successful, and he completed his second double with 1,950 runs at 42.39, including his first double-century: 214 against Worcestershire.
37.
George Hirst was selected for the Gentlemen and Players match at Lord's, and appeared in the equivalent fixture in an end-of-season festival match.
38.
George Hirst was statistically less successful in 1902, but he nevertheless returned to the Test team.
39.
George Hirst scored 1,413 runs in the season, at an average of 31.11 with two centuries.
40.
George Hirst took fewer wickets than the previous year, partly as he was often used for a few overs early in an innings by Yorkshire before giving way to slow bowlers Rhodes and Schofield Haigh, who topped the national first-class bowling averages for the season.
41.
In total, George Hirst took 83 wickets at an average of 20.33.
42.
George Hirst scored 48 and Wisden described his partnership with Johnny Tyldesley of 94 in 80 minutes as the turning point of the innings.
43.
George Hirst had figures of three for 15 and Rhodes returned seven for 17.
44.
Well as Rhodes bowled, it was George Hirst who was responsible for the debacle.
45.
George Hirst took four for 35 in the tourist's first innings, but in a low-scoring game, Yorkshire were behind after the first innings.
46.
The second Test was badly affected by weather and George Hirst did not bat or bowl, and in the third Test in Sheffield, lost by England, he scored eight runs and did not take any wickets.
47.
George Hirst was given only 12 players to choose from for the fourth Test.
48.
George Hirst was recalled for the final Test and played a vital role.
49.
George Hirst took a further wicket as Australia were dismissed for 121.
50.
George Hirst scored 58 not out, making an aggressive start but slowing down to score mainly from singles in the later stages of the innings as wickets were lost.
51.
Wisden described George Hirst as playing "a great game", noted the coolness of his play under pressure and said that "George Hirst's innings was in its way almost as remarkable as Jessop's".
52.
In four Tests, George Hirst scored 157 runs at an average of 39.25 and took nine wickets at an average of 23.11.
53.
Apart from his Test appearances, George Hirst played twice for the Players against the Gentlemen and played for the same side against the Australians.
54.
Early in the 1903 season, George Hirst suffered a leg injury.
55.
When George Hirst returned his bowling speed was reduced, but during the season he rediscovered his swing bowling.
56.
George Hirst played in two end-of-season games for the Players against the Gentlemen; his 124 not out in the second match was his only century in the Players versus Gentlemen series.
57.
George Hirst further described him as the best all-rounder in England and noted that "the tighter the match, the better he plays".
58.
George Hirst followed this with 66 in the third match but did not take many wickets before the first Test.
59.
George Hirst played in all five Test matches, the first two of which were won by England.
60.
George Hirst survived to score 60 not out and his partnership with Tom Hayward guided England to victory after wickets had fallen early chasing a target of 194.
61.
George Hirst scored 11 runs in the second match and took three wickets on a difficult batting pitch, badly affected by rain.
62.
George Hirst took two wickets and contributed scores of 25 and 18.
63.
Australia achieved a win in the final match in which George Hirst scored 0 and 1, but after taking no wickets in the first innings he achieved his best Test figures of the tour in the second, with five for 48.
64.
George Hirst scored 569 runs at 33.47 and took 36 wickets at 24.50 over all first-class games on the tour.
65.
Warner described George Hirst as a very consistent batsman throughout the tour, and noted that while he was a less effective bowler in Australian conditions than at home, he was often unlucky.
66.
George Hirst became the first Yorkshire player to achieve the double of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets, a feat previously achieved only by the Gloucestershire trio of W G Grace, Charlie Townsend and Gilbert Jessop.
67.
George Hirst's leg-strain continued to cause him pain throughout the season and again hampered his bowling.
68.
Early in the season, George Hirst scored 341 against Leicestershire, the highest score of his career and, as of 2015, the record individual innings by a Yorkshire batsman.
69.
George Hirst was chosen in the squad for the second match but was left out on fitness grounds.
70.
However, George Hirst was not particularly successful in the three Tests he played that season, hitting a highest score of 40 not out; as a bowler he never took more than three wickets in an innings.
71.
In 1906, George Hirst completed an unprecedented double of 2,000 runs and 200 wickets.
72.
George Hirst's contributions were particularly important in a close race for the County Championship.
73.
Kent were eventual champions after Yorkshire lost a close game to Gloucestershire, but George Hirst performed well in the two matches against Kent.
74.
George Hirst scored a century and took 11 wickets as Yorkshire won the first, and took eight wickets and scored a match-saving 93 in the drawn second encounter.
75.
George Hirst scored 111 and 117 not out when batting and took six for 70 and five for 45 with the ball.
76.
George Hirst became only the second man after Bernard Bosanquet to score two centuries and take 10 wickets in the same first-class match; as of 2015, only one other man, Franklyn Stephenson in 1988, has achieved the feat.
77.
George Hirst commented that his injuries only troubled him once the season was over and it "was a triumph of spirit over matter".
78.
George Hirst did not score a century, making 1,321 runs at 28.71, and the prevalent type of pitches did not suit his bowling pace so that he took fewer wickets.
79.
George Hirst completed another double, scoring 1,598 runs at 38.97 and taking 174 wickets at 14.05, but was not selected for any other representative games until the end of the season.
80.
George Hirst scored 1,256 runs at 27.30, his lowest batting average since 1898.
81.
George Hirst was selected for the Players against the Gentlemen, taking seven wickets in the game.
82.
England won the first game, in which George Hirst took nine wickets.
83.
The Australians were never comfortable; Wisden noted that George Hirst "[made] the ball swerve in his most puzzling fashion".
84.
However, George Hirst was ineffective in the rest of the series, and was left out of the side for the fifth and final Test.
85.
George Hirst led the Yorkshire batting and bowling averages and was the third highest wicket-taker in the country.
86.
George Hirst scored 1,840 runs at 32.85 and took 164 wickets at 14.79.
87.
Yorkshire continued to struggle in 1911, but George Hirst was successful against many of the leading counties, mainly as a bowler.
88.
George Hirst hit one century and his performances with the ball were unspectacular.
89.
George Hirst completed the 14th and final double of his career in 1913, leading the Yorkshire batting averages with 1,540 runs at an average of 35.81.
90.
George Hirst's bowling was not as effective and he was no longer Yorkshire's main attacking bowler, as Alonzo Drake and Major Booth headed the averages.
91.
George Hirst bowled far less frequently than in recent seasons and his 43 wickets, which cost 29.81, were his fewest since 1898; it was the first time since 1902 he failed to complete the double.
92.
George Hirst's batting remained effective and he produced some good performances when his team were in difficult circumstances, although his two centuries were against the weaker bowling attacks of Northamptonshire and Somerset.
93.
George Hirst played in the Bradford League, and became known among cricketers for accepting minimal fees from financially struggling clubs.
94.
When first-class cricket restarted in 1919, George Hirst resumed playing for Yorkshire.
95.
George Hirst umpired two matches on Yorkshire's tour of Jamaica in 1936, and a Minor Counties match between Yorkshire and Lancashire second teams.
96.
From 1920 to 1938, George Hirst was the cricket coach at Eton.
97.
George Hirst taught technical proficiency, but encouraged his pupils to play their natural game.
98.
At Yorkshire George Hirst worked with young players in the cricket nets at Headingley, took charge of indoor trials during the winter, and travelled with the team as coach on a tour to Jamaica in 1936.
99.
George Hirst took 182 wickets in this time at a strike rate of 13.1.
100.
George Hirst coached at the club in the summer months, alongside David Hunter.
101.
Bill Bowes, who received coaching by George Hirst and went on to play for England, described him as "the finest coach in the world".
102.
George Hirst could pass on technical knowledge in a way that was easy to comprehend, backed up with anecdotes to illustrate his point.
103.
George Hirst played a variety of strokes, but he favoured the on drive and particularly the pull and hook shots.
104.
George Hirst was able to pull and hook almost any ball delivered to him, making it difficult to place fielders effectively while he was batting.
105.
George Hirst established a reputation as an outstanding fielder at mid off.
106.
George Hirst was one of the first bowlers to make the ball swerve through the air in a controlled fashion.
107.
George Hirst's success was dependent on atmospheric conditions; for example, he could not swing the ball much in Australia.
108.
George Hirst was particularly effective when bowling into the wind.
109.
George Hirst was not an especially quick bowler, a little faster than medium pace, with a long run-up and a relaxed action.
110.
George Hirst usually bowled over the wicket, meaning he bowled from the right hand side of the wickets and therefore angled the ball across the pitch.
111.
George Hirst completed the double 14 times, more than any other cricketer except Rhodes.
112.
George Hirst gave the impression of enjoying every game he played, and many of the captains under whom he played praised both his personality and his contribution to the team.
113.
Lord Hawke said that George Hirst's smile "went right round his head and met at the back".
114.
George Hirst played during the golden age of cricket, and he was one of the most illustrious of his time.
115.
George Hirst gave his full life to cricket; cricket gave a full life to him.
116.
On 1 January 1896, George Hirst married Emma Kilner in Kirkheaton; James, their first child, was born on 6 October of the same year.
117.
George Hirst's wife died in 1953; twelve months later, on 10 May 1954, Hirst died, aged 82.