Walter Humphreys (cricketer, born 1849)

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Walter Humphreys
Humphreys photographed c. 1897
Personal information
Full name
Walter Alexander Humphreys
Born(1849-10-28)28 October 1849
Southsea, Hampshire, England
Died22 March 1924(1924-03-22) (aged 74)
Brighton, Sussex, England
NicknamePunter[1]
Height5 ft 6[2] in (1.68 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm underarm slow
RelationsWalter Humphreys junior (son)
George Humphreys (brother)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1871–1896Sussex
1900Hampshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 273
Runs scored 6,268
Batting average 16.11
100s/50s 1/17
Top score 117
Balls bowled 23,712
Wickets 718
Bowling average 21.52
5 wickets in innings 51
10 wickets in match 8
Best bowling 8/83
Catches/stumpings 217/–
Source: Cricinfo, 24 January 2010

Walter Alexander Humphreys (28 October 1849 – 22 March 1924) was an English cricketer.[3] Humphreys was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm underarm slow.

Cricket career[edit]

Sussex[edit]

Early years[edit]

Humphreys was born at Southsea in Portsmouth in October 1849, but moved to Brighton three weeks after his birth.[4] Having shown good form for the Queen's Park Club, he was offered a trial by Sussex.[5] Shortly thereafter, he made his debut in first-class cricket for Sussex against Kent at Hove in 1871, with him making four further appearances in his first season.[6] He played irregularly for Sussex during the 1870s,[7] and in his initial years he was utilised as a batsman and a fielder, who could keep wicket in an emergency.[4] Prior to the 1878 season, he had taken no wickets in first-class cricket.[8] Humphreys lost his place in the Sussex team during the 1878 season, and did not play for Sussex in 1879, having seemingly dropped out of the team on a permanent basis.[9]

Reinvention as a lob bowler[edit]

By the 1880 season, Humphreys had reinvented himself as a lob bowler.[4] By 1880, lob bowling was perceived as a lost art, previously exploited by the likes of Edward Drake, Thomas Goodrich, Roger Iddison, Walter Money, William Rose, and V. E. Walker.[7] It wasn't long before his lob bowling bought him success, with Humphreys claiming a five wicket haul (5 for 32) against Surrey in August 1880,[10][7] while later in the season against the touring Australians, he took a hat-trick when he dismissed Tom Groube, Alec Bannerman and Jack Blackham.[4]

Despite this initial success,[4] he had three sedate seasons as a bowler in which he never took more than 28 wickets in a season.[8] In the 1883 season, he was Sussex's highest run scorer, with 497 runs.[5][11] In 1884, he repeated his 1880 hat-trick feat against the touring Australians, this time dismissing Percy McDonnell, George Giffen and Tup Scott.[4] The 1884 season was the first in which he took more than fifty wickets, in addition to claiming his career best figures of 7 for 57 and taking ten-wickets in a match for the first time.[8] The magazine Cricket proffered that Humphreys was amongst the chief contributors to Sussex's marked improvement in the 1884 season.[5] His lob bowling was so effective in 1884, that he was chosen to play for the Players against the Australians at The Oval.[5] He took 47 and 49 wickets in 1885 and 1886 respectively,[8] while in 1886 he 735 runs, which would be his highest career season aggregate.[11] In the seasons which followed, Humphreys played fewer matches for Sussex, but was also less effective with the ball, taking 25 wickets in each season from 1887 to 1889.[8] In 1887, he scored his only first-class century when he made 117 against Cambridge University, sharing in a partnership of 136 for the sixth wicket with Jesse Hide.[12] The following season, Humphreys and Arthur Hide played an important role in bowling Sussex to what remains as of 2024 their only victory against the Australians, with Humphreys taking nine wickets in the match.[4]

Success into the 1890s[edit]

Humphrey's began the 1890s by playing for Lord Sheffield's personal team against the touring Australians at Sheffield Park, and shortly thereafter he played in Sussex's first ever County Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge,[6] and began the decade by taking 31 wickets across the seventeen first-class matches he played in the 1890 season.[8] He was provided with a benefit match by Sussex against Gloucestershire in 1891, in recognition of his twenty years service.[13][14] The early completion of the match was a disappointment for his benefit, as the proceeds from the match were earmarked for Humphreys. Lord Sheffield contributed £100 toward the benefit.[15]

In September 1894, he was selected to tour Australia that winter with an English team captained by Andrew Stoddart, which departed for Australia aboard the RMS Ophir on 21 September.[16] It was hoped that Humphreys bowling would suit the pitches at the Sydney and Melbourne Cricket Ground's, which had traditionally not suited fast bowling.[17] He struggled on the tour, posing little threat to batsmen, and thus did not feature in any of the Test matches;[4] he did, however, play in four first-class matches against South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, and a combined New South Wales and Queensland team,[6] but took just six wickets at an average of 52.33.[8]

Humphreys final season with Sussex was the 1896 County Championship, with his final first-class match for the club coming against Cambridge University. At the end of his Sussex career his figures with both bat and ball were impressive for the time. With the bat 5,806 runs at an average of 16.2, with a top score one century, which came against Cambridge University in 1887 and yielded his highest first-class score of 116. In addition to a single century, Humphreys made sixteen half centuries and took 195 catches. With the ball Humphreys was more impressive, taking 682 wickets at an average of 20.72, with best figures of 8–83. Humphreys took 49 five wicket hauls and took ten wickets in a match eight times.

In addition to representing Sussex and Hampshire, Humphreys also played first-class matches for AE Stoddart's XI; CI Thornton's XI, an England XI; GN Wyatt's XI; Lord March's XI; Lord Sheffield's XI; Players; Players of the South; South of England and United South of England XI. With AE Stoddart's XI he toured Australia in 1894/95.

Overall, in first-class cricket Humphrey's scored 6,268 runs at an average of 16.11, with a top score of 117, which was his solitary century; Humphreys in addition made seventeen fifties. With the ball Humphreys took 718 wickets at a bowling average of 21.52, with best figures of 8–83. Humphreys took 51 five wicket hauls and took ten wickets in a match 8 times. Humphreys strike rate was an impressive wicket every 33.02 balls. An able fielder, Humphreys took 217 catches in all.

While playing for Sussex, he was recorded by Arthur Haygarth in Scores and Biographies as a shoemaker by trade.[2] Alongside his first-class cricket, Humphreys was engaged as the professional for the Brighton Brunswick club, topping their batting and bowling averages, and was associated with Lord Sheffield's team at Sheffield Park.[5]

Hampshire and umpiring[edit]

Humphrey's later made two first-class appearances for Hampshire in the 1900 County Championship against Kent and Leicestershire.[6] However, despite taking a five wicket haul against Kent,[18] it was apparent that his best days were behind him, with Humphreys retiring from first-class cricket.[4] With his second retirement, he was succeeded by Digby Jephson and George Simpson-Hayward as the leading English lob bowlers; The Times noted that despite the fame and success of his lob bowling, this did not inspire more cricketers to take up that bowling style, and by the mid-1920s, it was a dead art.[7] Prior to playing for Hampshire, he had stood as an umpire in four first-class matches in 1896, officiating in three County Championship matches and the match between the North of England and the Australians.[19]

Death[edit]

After retiring, Humphreys disappeared from public life.[4] He died at his Brighton residence in March 1924, following a long illness.[20][21] His son, Walter junior, and brother George, were both first-class cricketers.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The late Walter Humphreys". The Times. No. 43616. London. 2 April 1924. p. 10. Retrieved 24 May 2024 – via Gale.
  2. ^ a b Haygarth 1879, p. 269.
  3. ^ "Player profile: Walter Humphreys". CricketArchive. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Walter Humphreys". ESPNcricinfo. 8 February 2006. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Walter Humphreys". Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. Vol. 3, no. 72. London. 28 August 1884. pp. 373–374. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d "First-Class Matches played by Walter Humphreys". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d "A great lob bowler". The Times. No. 43609. London. 25 March 1924. p. 6. Retrieved 23 May 2024 – via Gale.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "First-Class Bowling in Each Season by Walter Humphreys". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  9. ^ Sengupta, Arunabha (27 October 2019). "Walter Humphreys: The last of the professional lobsters". www.cricmash.com. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Sussex v Surrey, County Match 1880". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  11. ^ a b "First-Class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Walter Humphreys". CricketArchive. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Sussex v. Cambridge University". Sporting Life. Leeds. 17 June 1887. p. 7. Retrieved 24 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "Sussex v. Gloucestershire: Walter Humphreys benefit match". Eastbourne Chronicle. 13 June 1891. p. 7. Retrieved 23 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ "Cricket chirps". Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. Vol. 10, no. 263. London. 16 April 1891. p. 53. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Sussex v. Gloucestershire". Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. Vol. 10, no. 271. London. 11 June 1891. p. 173. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Sports and pastimes". Henley Advertiser. 1 September 1894. p. 2. Retrieved 24 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ^ "Current sport". East & South Devon Advertiser. Newton Abbot. 1 September 1894. p. 7. Retrieved 24 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. ^ "Kent v Hampshire, County Championship 1900". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  19. ^ "Walter Humphreys as Umpire in First-Class Matches". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  20. ^ "Famous cricketers death". Langport & Somerton Herald. Langport. 29 March 1924. p. 2. Retrieved 23 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. ^ "Deaths". The Sportsman. London. 29 March 1924. p. 7. Retrieved 23 May 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Works cited[edit]

External links[edit]

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