Wally Hammond inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

Former England batsman Wally Hammond was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in front of a large and appreciative Gloucestershire crowd during the innings break of the second ODI between England and Bangladesh at the County Ground, Bristol today.

Wally Hammond

The late Hammond’s commemorative cap was received by the Gloucestershire CCC Chairman Tony Brown and President Rex Body from ICC Director and the England and Wales Cricket Board Chairman Giles Clarke for his induction into the Hall of Fame*, a joint initiative between the ICC and the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA).

Hammond was born in 1903 and is regarded as one of the best batsmen in the history of the game, in addition to being a fine medium-fast bowler and a great slip fielder (he took 110 catches in during his England career). He passed away 1 July 1965.

Born in Kent, Hammond played for Gloucestershire throughout his career as well as representing England 85 times in Test matches, captaining his country for 20 of those Tests and averaging 58.45 with the bat, scoring 22 Test centuries.

Hammond set a world record when he struck what was then the highest score in Test cricket, making 336 not out against New Zealand in Auckland in 1933, an innings that included a then-record 10 sixes.

Another of his finest Test innings occurred when he made 240 against Australia at Lord’s in 1938. It was a knock that included 32 boundaries. During the 1928-29 Test series in Australia he scored 905 runs at a remarkable average of 113.12 across the five Test matches.

The statistics paint a clear picture of just how good Hammond was in his day. Between 1920 and 1951 he scored 50,493 first-class runs at an average of 56.10, including 167 centuries. Among those runs were 7,249 at Test level. As a bowler, he claimed 732 first-class wickets (at an average of 30.58) including 83 in Tests and he held 819 catches in total.

Mr Brown said: “Wally Hammond was, and will remain, a legend of Gloucestershire and he is regarded not only as one of our finest ever batsmen but also as one of England’s finest performers with the bat.

“He scored a phenomenal amount of runs for the county and we are proud to be accepting this cap on his behalf. We will display it with great pride at the County Ground for all fans of the game to appreciate.”

Mr Body added: “Wally Hammond made a huge contribution to England and Gloucestershire with his cricketing skills. He was a fine batsman, bowler and superb fielder. The county is proud to be associated with such a great of the game.”

*ICC Cricket Hall of Fame – initial inductees (55):

Sydney Barnes, Bishan Bedi, Alec Bedser, Richie Benaud, Allan Border, Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Denis Compton, Colin Cowdrey, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Lance Gibbs, Graham Gooch, David Gower, WG Grace, Tom Graveney, Gordon Greenidge, Richard Hadlee, Walter Hammond, Neil Harvey, George Headley, Jack Hobbs, Michael Holding, Leonard Hutton, Rohan Kanhai, Imran Khan, Alan Knott, Jim Laker, Harold Larwood, Dennis Lillee, Ray Lindwall, Clive Lloyd, Hanif Mohammad, Rodney Marsh, Malcolm Marshall, Peter May, Javed Miandad, Keith Miller, Bill O’Reilly, Graeme Pollock, Wilfred Rhodes, Barry Richards, Vivian Richards, Andy Roberts, Garfield Sobers, Brian Statham, Fred Trueman, Derek Underwood, Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes, Frank Woolley, Frank Worrell.

2009 Inductees:Herbert Sutcliffe, Steve Waugh, Wasim Akram, Victor Trumper, Clarrie Grimmett.