Clem Hill
Clement Hill was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five. A prolific run scorer, Hill scored 3,412 runs in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average of 39.21 per innings, including seven centuries. In 1902, Hill was the first batsman to make 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year, a feat that would not be repeated for 45 years. His innings of 365*, scored against New South Wales for South Australia in 1900–01, was a Sheffield Shield record for 27 years. The South Australian Cricket Association named a grandstand at the Adelaide Oval in his honour in 2003 and he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2005. Hill is regarded as one of the best batsman of his era.
A stocky left-handed batsman, Hill had a crouched, somewhat awkward stance: he gripped the bat low on the handle, playing with a strong bottom hand. His batting style was nonetheless attractive and effective and he was especially strong on the leg side and when cutting. Able to score quickly when required, he was also recognised for his patience and strong defence. Hill normally batted at No. 3 and, along with his contemporary Victor Trumper, he was a mainstay of the Australian batting line-up in the early years of the 20th century. Hill had a strong throwing arm and was an excellent outfielder. He was a popular team-mate and captain, respected for his directness, honesty and cheerfulness.
He played his first first-class cricket match for South Australia while still a schoolboy, aged 16. By the time he was 19, he had been included in the Australian team touring England in 1896, where he made his Test match début. At the Melbourne Cricket Ground two years later, Hill scored 188; his maiden Test century and still the highest score in Ashes Tests by a player under 21. He was named one of Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1899, despite missing half the English season due to illness. In the 1901–02 season, Hill was dismissed in consecutive innings for 99, 98 and 97. In total he was dismissed between 90 and 99 five times in Test cricket. In 1903–04, Hill was at the centre of a riot at the Sydney Cricket Ground after he was adjudged run out in a Test match against England. With Roger Hartigan he still holds the Australian Test record partnership for the eighth wicket—243, made against England at the Adelaide Oval in 1907–08.
Hill had a strained relationship with Australian cricket authorities. He turned down an invitation to tour England in 1909 due to his unhappiness with the contract terms offered. Despite this, he was appointed Test captain in 1910–11 for the series against South Africa. His Test cricket career ended in controversy after he was involved in a brawl with cricket administrator and fellow Test selector Peter McAlister in 1912. He was one of the "Big Six", a group of leading Australian cricketers who boycotted the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England when the players were stripped of the right to appoint the tour manager. The boycott effectively ended his Test career. After retiring from cricket, Hill worked in the horse racing industry as a stipendiary steward and later as a handicapper for races including the Caulfield Cup. Hill died in 1945 aged 68 when thrown from a tram in Melbourne in a traffic accident.
Early life
Hill was born on 18 March 1877 in Adelaide, South Australia, to Henry John Hill and his wife Rebecca, née Saunders, and grandson of Henry Hill MHA. Clem was one of eight sons and eight daughters in a family that was heavily involved in cricket. His father scored a century for North Adelaide against the touring Kent County Cricket Club, reportedly the first century scored at the Adelaide Oval. Six other brothers played for South Australia and in 1912–13 there were several instances of three Hill brothers in the same representative team.Clem's father was prominent in the Methodist Church and sent Clem to be educated at Prince Alfred College, the local Methodist school. "Inter-collegiate" matches, the annual fixtures against rivals St Peter's College, were fiercely contested. Hill played his first inter-collegiate match at the age of 13, keeping wicket and batting at number ten. His hands suffered from keeping wicket to the fast bowling of future Test team-mate Ernie Jones, leading to a decision to concentrate on batting. At 16, he scored 360 in the inter-collegiate match, a schoolboy record, bettering the mark made earlier by Joe Darling. Despite this, a school sportsmaster threatened to leave him out of the School XI if he continued to play the risky hook shot.
Hill made his first-class cricket début in March 1893 while still a schoolboy, just nine days past his 16th birthday. Included in the South Australian team to play Western Australia at the Adelaide Oval, he failed to score a run; he was dismissed for a duck in the first innings and was 0 not out in the second as South Australia won by 10 wickets. In the 1894–95 season, at 17 years of age, he played the touring English team led by A.E. Stoddart, scoring 20 in his only innings in the match.
Later the same season, Hill became a regular member of the South Australian team, making his Sheffield Shield debut against Victoria. Batting at number nine, he scored only 21 but the manner in which he made them saw the Australian Test wicket-keeper Jack Blackham declare the discovery of another great batsman. The English team returned to the Adelaide Oval and this time Hill scored his maiden first-class century, 150 not out, against quality bowlers including Tom Richardson and Bobby Peel. So good was the quality of Hill's batting that when he reached his century a cab driver spectator, sitting on his cab, "cheered end clapped so much fell through the roof of the vehicle".
In his first season of regular first-class cricket, Hill scored 335 runs in nine innings at an average of 47.85.
Hill was also a talented Australian rules footballer and played for the South Adelaide Football Club during the 1890s and early 1900s.
Test cricket
Selection and early career
Hill topped the averages for South Australia in the 1895–96 season, scoring 371 runs in seven innings. An Australian team to tour England in 1896 was selected towards the end of the season and Hill was not included. A disappointed Hill responded by scoring 206 against New South Wales, who were captained by an Australian selector, Tom Garrett. Experienced cricket watchers were impressed with Hill's ability at such a young age to control the strike, scoring 154 from his side's last 197 runs. Following this performance, public demand saw the selectors draft the 19-year-old Hill into the touring squad.Hill was one of four batsmen touring England for the first time; Joe Darling, Frank Iredale and Harry Donnan were the others. All four scored more than 1,000 runs for the tour with Hill scoring 1,196 runs at an average of 27.81. According to Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, Hill "was a brilliant success" and his batting on good wickets during the tour was "first rate". Hill made his Test début in the First Test at Lord's. Australia collapsed in the first innings to be all out for 53 with Hill bowled by George Lohmann for one. England made 292 runs in reply but the second innings saw an Australian fightback. The captain, Harry Trott, was partnered by Syd Gregory to help Australia to a score of 347, setting England 109 runs to win. Hill failed again scoring only five, bowled this time by Jack Hearne. Rain made England's task a little more difficult but they were able to make the runs for the loss of only four wickets. Hill played in the remaining two Tests, but managed to score only 30 runs in the series. Australia lost the series and the Ashes by two Tests to one.
The next Ashes series was held in 1897–98 with Stoddart again assembling an English team to tour Australia. The team included players such as K.S. Ranjitsinhji and George Hirst. The touring team's first match on arrival was against South Australia and Hill batted well, scoring exactly 200. The First Test was played in Sydney and a minor controversy ensued when officials abandoned the first day's play due to earlier heavy rain without consulting the two captains. The delay did not seem to affect the English who batted first and scored 551, including centuries by Ranjitsinhji and Archie MacLaren. The Australians were forced to follow-on after making 237. Batting again, Hill scored 96 but England managed to win the match by nine wickets. The Second Test was played in Melbourne and Australia fought back, winning by an innings and 55 runs with Hill scoring 58. Another innings victory in the Third Test in Adelaide saw Australia leading the series two Tests to one.
Image:Clem Hill c1905.jpg|thumb|left|Hill in the early 1900s
The teams returned to Melbourne for the Fourth Test. England started the match brilliantly, reducing Australia to 6/58 on a pitch that assisted the bowlers. Hill, aged just 20, was watching at the non-striker's end as the wickets fell. Hugh Trumble came to join him and together they began to rescue the Australian innings. When Hill reached his maiden Test century, he had scored all but 42 of his side's runs. Hill played balls pitched outside leg stump particularly well and drove beautifully throughout the innings. At the tea interval, Hill, feeling refreshed, mentioned to Trumble that he thought he would "have a go at them now". The experienced Trumble cautioned Hill, replying "You young devil, you have to stop there. Go along as you have been doing." Hill and Trumble made 165 runs batting together, still a record for a seventh wicket partnership in Ashes Tests. Hill was 182 not out at the end of the day's play, the highest first-day innings against England in Australia, and leaving the ground was greeted by a barrage of photographers. After a rest day, Hill added only six more runs before being dismissed at last by Hearne. His innings remains the highest in Ashes Tests by a player under 21. Batting for 294 minutes he gave only the one chance at dismissal. The journalist and former Test player Tom Horan wrote "Hill's innings will be talked of when the smallest boy who saw it will be white with the snows of time." Australia won the Test by 8 wickets to recover the Ashes. That summer, Hill scored 1,196 runs in 19 innings including five centuries, the first Australian to score 1,000 runs in a home season.