Hampshire Cricket History

Quite a few, but trying to catch up with myself!

Moore, Richard Henry (‘Dick’) (262 – Amateur) born Charminster, Dorset 14.11.1913, died Denbighshire, Wales 1.3.2002. Batsman Dick Moore holds the record for the highest individual first-class score for Hampshire, 316 v Warwickshire at Bournemouth in 1937, scored in one day and including a century before lunch. On three occasions in the 21^st century, John Crawley (twice) and Michael Carberry have reached 300, in sight of that record, and each time the captain declared – perhaps it will never be broken. Having impressed at Bournemouth School, Moore played occasionally for Hampshire between 1931-1933, with a fine century v Essex (159) but otherwise a fairly modest record; then in 1934 he passed 1,500 runs at an average of 30.17, and after another relatively fallow year caused by a serious illness, he was appointed captain in 1936, a position he held for two years, scoring four centuries and passing 1,000 runs in each season. When Cecil Paris replaced him in 1938, Moore was still only 24 and his average of 42.00 from 11 matches was his best, but business made growing demands on him, as it did increasingly on amateurs through the last 25 years of their participation in first-class cricket. There were just four first-class matches in 1939; during the war, he played in a number of services and other matches, and when non-first-class county cricket returned to Southampton in 1945 he played a match v Sussex. After that he moved to Wales and continued to play some cricket there, before becoming Chairman of Colwyn Bay CC, although in 1952, he was reunited with former colleagues for a match at Bournemouth v the current Hampshire side, in aid of George Heath’s testimonial.

Mordaunt, Sir Henry John (Pre ’95 – Amateur) born London 12.7.1867, died London 15.1.1939. He came from a large cricketing family and while at Eton where he captained the XI in 1886, he played one match for Hampshire the previous season, after which the county lost its first-class status, although he played for them again in 1887. He played also at Cambridge University where he won his ‘blue’ in 1888 & 1889, and in seven matches for Middlesex from 1889-1893. In his first-class match for Hampshire, v Somerset he was dismissed without scoring in his one innings and did not bowl. His career was in education and he succeeded to the family title in 1934.

Mornement, Dr Robert Harry (130 – Amateur) born Norfolk 15.8.1873, died Chatham 16.4.1948. He was a medium-pace bowler, who played in three first-class matches for Hampshire in 1906 and two more for the Combined Army & Navy XI v the Combined Universities in 1910 & 1911. For Hampshire, he scored 41 runs at 8.20 and took six wickets at 28.50, including 3-62 v Yorkshire on debut. He played also for Norfolk, MCC and in other Army matches.

Morris, Alexander Corfield (‘Alex’) (444) born Barnsley 4.10.1976. Alex Morris was a pace-bowling all-rounder who played for England under-19s and his native Yorkshire, before moving to Hampshire in 1998. He was a good enough cricketer to win his county cap in 2001, but he struggled with injuries – only in that debut season and in 2001 did his first-class appearances reach double figures, and in the latter, he scored 423 runs at 24.88 with three half-centuries, and took 51 wickets at 28.00, as Hampshire won promotion. He was only 24 and highly promising, but there were just four first-class matches in the next two seasons, before he retired. In 15 limited-overs matches he took 18 wickets.

Morris, Robert Sean Millner (417) born Buckinghamshire 10.9.1968. He was a right-handed batsman and one of a group of young players who it was hoped would eventually replace Mark Nicholas’s side. He played at Durham University, and for various county 2^nd XIs before settling with Hampshire in 1989, while playing also for Lymington in the Southern League. In May 1992, he made his first-class debut for Hampshire v Oxford University and played a few more Championship matches that year plus, in August, his limited-overs debut v Kent. In 1994, he scored his maiden century and added a second in compiling 686 runs at 49.00 – his best was 174 v Nottinghamshire at Basingstoke, but a month later at Portsmouth his hand was badly damaged by a ball from Gloucestershire’s Courtney Walsh. He played no more that year, and in a further 15 matches in the next two seasons, passed 50 only once, an innings of 112 v Cambridge University. It seemed that the injury had damaged his hand and his confidence and he retired at 26 and pursued a career with the PCA, while playing occasionally for Free Foresters, MCC and others. In both competitions for Hampshire he averaged just a fraction under 30 with a limited-overs best of 87 v Gloucestershire in 1995.

Morris, Zachary Clegg (‘Zach’) (445) born Barnsley 4.9.1978. He was a slow-left-arm bowler who came to Hampshire from Yorkshire in 1998, with his older brother ‘Alex’ having, like him, played for England under-19s. He played in just two first-class matches for Hampshire scoring 11 runs but failing to take a wicket. In four limited-overs matches his best bowling was 3-31 v Worcestershire at the Rose Bowl in 2001 – the one occasion on which he took wickets for the county. He left at the end of that season and returned to Yorkshire where he played league cricket for Hoylandswaine.

Mottram, Thomas James (‘Tom’) (367) born Liverpool 7.9.1945. Tom Mottram was a tall, pace-bowler, not strictly fast but accurate, who played a surprising, but key role in Hampshire’s second Championship in 1973. In 1968 & 1969 he played club cricket for Liverpool, and in 1970 played for Lancashire 2^nd XI but also for Hampshire 2^nd XI. He was an architect and in a sense, a reminder of the old category of amateur players which had been abolished from 1963. He made his first-class debut for Hampshire v the Australians in 1972, taking 3-45, and after a few more games that year played regularly in 1973, forming a remarkably effective opening partnership with Bob Herman. He played in 17 of the 20 Championship matches, taking 57 wickets at 22.00, including a remarkable caught-and-bowled from Northamptonshire’s Roy Virgin in the vital match, which precipitated their collapse to 108 all out.

At the end of that season Hampshire chose to sign Andy Roberts in place of spinner David O’Sullivan as their second overseas player, and while O’Sullivan was justified in feeling somewhat hard done by, Mottram too found himself excluded in 1974, although he played some matches in the next two seasons. He continued to play in limited-overs matches until the end of 1977, including as Hampshire won the Sunday League in 1975 – he took 5-21 in the decisive match v Derbyshire at Darley Dale. He played in 35 first-class matches for Hampshire, taking 111 wickets at 24.11 and in 83 limited-overs games, taking 135 wickets at 18.69 – in both cases very fine figures, although he was no batsman, reaching double figures in only three first-class innings, and none in limited-overs games. He has a clear place in the county’s history however, as one of the 13 men who took them to their second, and currently last, Championship.

Mullally, Alan David (406) born Southend, Essex 12.7.1969. Left-arm pace bowler Mullally was born in England but raised in Australia. After matches for Western Australia, he came to England to play with Hampshire in 1988 but after one first-class match v Oxford University, moved to Leicestershire, with whom he won the County Championship. In 2000, he left Leicestershire and returned to Hampshire, playing there for six more years, with just three limited-overs matches in 2005, his final season. He played in 19 Test Matches for England from 1996, with one final (Ashes’) game in 2001 after returning to Hampshire, taking 58 Test wickets at 31.24.

Hampshire were relegated in his first season on return but he took 49 wickets very cheaply, including 9-93 v Derbyshire at Derby. In the following year as Hampshire won promotion, his 64 wickets with a best of 8-90 were only slightly more expensive at 18.50; overall, he took 192 wickets for the county at 23.43, 13 times taking five or more in the innings. He played occasional matches subsequently for Lashings, and worked as a county commentator with Kevan James for BBC Radio Solent, but then returned to Australia

Murgatroyd Henry (Pre ’95) born Swindon 19.9.1853, died Portsmouth 15.3.1905. He played in one match in 1883 v Sussex at Hove, scoring 1 & 1* and taking 0-7, in an innings defeat.

Murtagh, Andrew Joseph (369) born Dublin 6.5.1949. Although born in Ireland, batting all-rounder Murtagh played cricket in the London area and then at Southampton University, where he was spotted by Hampshire and invited to play for their 2^nd XI in 1968. He made his Championship and limited-overs debut for the county in 1973, and while always a ‘reserve’ covering injuries, played in five Championship matches in that first season, one of just 13 men who played their part in Hampshire winning their second title. He did not play in the 1974 Championship but appeared in a few matches from 1975-1977, with a best score of 65 v Gloucestershire at Bournemouth in 1975. Overall, he took six first-class wickets, while he played in 48 limited-overs matches with 481 runs at 16.58 and 23 wickets at 19.73, including a best of 5-33 v Yorkshire at Huddersfield in 1977 – including their top-scorer G Boycott. He appeared in eight (of 16) matches when Hampshire won the 1975 Sunday League. After leaving Hampshire, he was a teacher at Malvern College until retiring in 2000, since when he has written a number of admired cricket biographies, including his former team-mates Barry Richards and John Holder, plus George Chesterton and Tom Graveney.

Myburgh, Johannes Gerhardus (510) born Transvaal, South Africa 22.10.1980. He played in South Africa before coming to Hampshire in 2011, playing in all three formats. In six first-class matches for the county he scored 287 runs at 26.09, adding 81 limited-overs runs in three matches, and most successfully, 223 T20 runs at 44.60 with two half-centuries and a career best of 88 v Windward Islands in the semi-final of the Caribbean T20 tournament. He has played subsequently for Durham and Somerset.

Many thanks to Jo (in case you missed this as a Comment)

“For those of you that don’t follow Twitter……an announcement made by the club earlier……Monday’s friendly has been cancelled”

https://twitter.com/hantscricket/status/979781109532721152?s=21

The Warner press conference has happened and it was bizarre. He read from a statement as he would, the tears came (as they would?) and then he took questions. I say ‘took’ deliberately, because he didn’t for the most part answer them, simply repeating the line about accepting full responsibility (etc). Afterwards he had to issue a statement on Twitter, to address that issue.

The BBC site says:

“He did not directly answer questions about whether any other members of the Australian team had been involved in the plan to tamper with the ball, instead restating that he was there to take responsibility for his own actions in Cape Town. Warner later posted on social media that he would do his best “in time” to answer questions people may have”.

I have some sympathy with the view that they are not the first cricketers to transgress like this, and that they have been punished heavily. That seems to be a good deal about what’s been going on for some time with that team, as well as the way they lied and tried to cover it up.

There’s a view out there that Cricket Australia did little or nothing to address the behaviour of their team, until they were caught cheating. Now it seems they are pretty much controlling the whole situation in a contemporary, corporate way. It’s all very nasty and almost as ‘out of control’ as the team were – but in a different, manipulative way.

And all that, over over young men playing a game.

You guys keep spotting typos, asking questions, adding info. to the A-Z, and I’m very grateful. I have set myself a deadline of dispatching to the publisher on 1 May, in the hope that I can have the book available by the Yorkshire Championship game.

I’m delighted (below) that Hedgehog has done a basic search for more information about an unknown birth date. We have a few more, and any help will be very gratefully received. In an ideal world, I wouldn’t go to print before I’d done all that research but I think it’s too big a task, given how much more research and writing I have to do – although I’m quite a bit in advance now of what has so far appeared here.

I could put the deadline back but I don’t see much point in publishing out-of-season and I don’t want to wait another year.

I’m clear that even such a comprehensive project as this, or 150 Not Out in 2013, can never tell the whole story – it’s a job that needs doing, allowing others to build on it in the future. It will also be possible to amend and update things on the Blog and maybe one day even a website …

I want to stress that in the publication I shall acknowledge all the help I’ve had from this Blog, and that I will clearly reference any other publications and websites that I’ve used. It’s all a great help – thank you.

LBW that is.

And at least I got to bed at a decent hour.

PS Amla out today for 27

Melle, Dr Basil George von Brandis (190 – Amateur) born Cape Province, South Africa 31.3.1891, died Johannesburg, South Africa 8.1.1966. Melle was an all-rounder who played for Western Province, before coming to England to study and play at Oxford University in 1913 & 1914, winning his ‘blue’ in both seasons. In 1914, he made his Hampshire debut after the ‘Varsity’ match, but War was declared on 4 August, and although he began a match at Trent Bridge two days later, when rain stopped play after six overs he left the game to join his Army Regiment; James Stone was allowed to take his place and batted. Melle returned to Hampshire in 1919, playing also for MCC and Free Foresters, and played for Hampshire over the first three post-war seasons, before returning to South Africa. He played in 27 first-class matches for the county, mostly in 1919, scoring overall 1,207 runs at 29.43 with one century, 110 v Gloucestershire at Bristol in 1919, and taking 25 wickets at 42.96, with a best of 5-70 v Kent at Tunbridge Wells in 1919. His son, MG Melle, toured England with the South Africans in 1951.

Michell, Edward John (Pre ’95 – Amateur) born Steyning, Sussex 15.6.1853, died New Zealand 5.5.1900. He was a right-handed batsman who attended Harrow School and played in one match for Hampshire v MCC in 1880, scoring seven runs in a match which Hampshire won by an innings.

Middleton, Tony Charles (399) born Winchester 1.2.1964. If timing is the key to a long and successful career as a county batsman then Tony Middleton was particularly unfortunate for during his time with the county they had the strongest batting line-up in their history. He played first for the 2^nd XI in 1982 and between then and his final season, 1995, Hampshire could select at various times from Test batsmen, Greenidge, Terry, Gower and the Smith brothers, plus Jesty, Turner, James, and the captain Nicholas. He made his debut in 1984, at a damp Bournemouth v Kent in a match in which Underwood took 12-121 and 40 wickets fell without any side reaching 200. Hampshire lost and Middleton had to wait two years for his next chance, and a run in the side in the late summer which brought 316 runs at 28.72, and a first half-century. Despite this he played just two more matches in the next two seasons, and seven more in 1989, by which time he had made his limited-overs debut. 1990, a good season for batting, and at Hampshire, between Greenidge and Gower, and with Robin Smith playing for England, was Middleton’s breakthrough season, with 1,238 runs at 47.61with five centuries, and while his record declined somewhat in 1991, he was even more successful in 1992, with 1,780 runs at 49.44, with six more centuries, including 221 v Surrey at Southampton. Meanwhile late in 1991, Chris Smith, having heped Hampshire to their first Nat West Final, departed and Middleton made his 60-over debut in a Lord’s Final and was equal top scorer with 78 as Hampshire won.

In a short period, Middleton had gone from a loyal reserve to a leading player and was rewarded with a tour of Australia with the England ‘A’ side. By his own admission, he tried to adapt his patient game, to a more enterprising one, and it did not work. He scored few runs on tour and in the next two first-class seasons scored just over 500 runs. There were just two games in 1995 and he retired to take up a coaching role with the county which he still holds today. He scored 5,665 runs for Hampshire at 34.75, one of the highest averages by any Hampshire-born batsman, and including 13 centuries. Bowling slow-left-arm, he took five wickets.

Milburn, Stuart Mark (430) born Harrogate, 29.9.1972. Pace bowler Stuart Milburn played for his native Yorkshire from 1992-1995, before joining Hampshire for two seasons. He played in 21 first-class matches, taking 39 wickets at 52.97 with a best of 4-38 v Sussex in his final game for the county in mid-September 1997, and scoring one half-century v the Indians in 1996. He played in 15 limited-overs matches, taking 13 wickets.

Mildmay, Sir Henry Paulet St John (Pre ’95 – Amateur) born London 28.4.1853, died Dogmersfield Park, Hants 24.4.1916. He was educated at Eton but did not play in the XI. He was an Army officer until 1894 and played in military matches and for MCC and I Zingari, as well as in seven matches for Hampshire from 1881-1884, scoring 137 runs at 11.41 and taking one wicket.

Misselbrook, Henry (Pre ’95) born Otterbourne 16.12.1832, died Winchester 11.7.1895. In the 1850s and 1860s he played in many of the more prominent non-first-class matches in Hampshire, and in 1869 he played in one first-class game for the county v MCC at the Antelope. In a thrilling match, he took 4-18 & 2-21, but opening the batting scored just 3 & 0, as Hampshire failed by three runs to score the 71 needed to win the game.

Moberly, John Cornelius (Pre ’95 – Amateur) born Winchester 22.4.1848, died Bassett, Hants 29.1.1928. He was educated at Winchester College and Oxford University but did not win his ‘blue’. He played in one first-class match for Hampshire at Derby in 1877, scoring 27 & 4 in an innings defeat. He was the President of the club in the two years prior to the First World War.

Moorcroft, William (163 – Amateur) we have no details of birth or death. We know of him, only that he played in one match, v Gloucestershire at Southampton in 1911, did not bat and took 0-17 & 0-51 in a drawn game.

Moore, John William Spearink (152) born Winchfield, Hants 29.4.1891, died Basingstoke 23.6.1980. He played in 15 first-class matches for Hampshire in 1910, 1911 & 1913. He scored 256 runs at 13.47 and in 12 overs took 0-72.

BBC: “Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes have been dropped by England for the second and final Test against New Zealand in Christchurch on Friday … Batsman James Vince, uncapped spinner Jack Leach and fast bowler Mark Wood have all come into the 12-man squad”.

I can’t deny it, I’m astonished. He might not play, but if he doesn’t, their numbers 7-11 would be in any order you like, Leach, Wood, Overton, Anderson & Broad. I think that’s improbable.

PS Sam Northeast added just nine runs today before he was dismissed (44)

Having seen the south coast forecast, I find it hard to believe Hampshire will get any cricket at Hove tomorrow or Friday, but they have named 13 men (via Twitter):

Adams, Weatherley, Dawson Alsop, McManus, Berg, Wood, Taylor, Sole, Wheal, Hart, Scriven, Organ.

Meanwhile in Barbados, Fidel Edwards took 1-45 for MCC v Essex (Champion County) and Sam Northeast is 35* overnight.

PS: (Twitter) No play before lunch at Hove. It’s hardly drying weather on the south coast today!

PPS (Twitter again) No play today. Hoping for tomorrow, but looks highly unlikely. Still at least we’re not in a flood emergency, like Jo in the ‘sunny’ Caribbean.

I’m grateful to Jeremy for the alert about today’s article in The Times and for all the comments below. Also on the back page of the paper today is the headline, “Second ECB board director quits in protest” with the following opening:

“The Chairman of Surrey, Richard Thompson, has resigned as a director on the ECB board with immediate effect over a £2.5 million compensation payment made to Glamorgan and his broader concerns about the lack of transparency in decision-making and failings of corporate governance”.

Andy Nash Chairman of Somerset resigned last month.

PS: Tonight on BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/43567968

There was play today. A Tweet says, Sussex 356-8, Hampshire second innings, 127-0 – the openers were Adams and McManus. Play didn’t start until after lunch because of rain.