J. T. Hearne

Born in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, Jack Hearne first played for Middlesex in 1888 against the Australians. He was not qualified until 1890, and when he played his first County Championship match, Hearne did not know he was playing until the last minute. Yet, he took six for 62, though his performances for the rest of the year were only moderate given the primitiveness of pitches at the time – something that was changing at a rate unprecedented in cricket history during Hearne's prime. In 1891, however, Hearne advanced in a remarkable way, taking 118 wickets in county cricket for only 10.33 runs apiece. This included two amazing bowling feats – 9 for 32 versus Nottinghamshire at Nottingham and 8 for 22 against Lancashire at Lord's. So much of a sensation did Hearne cause that year that Wisden named him as a Cricketer of the Year for 1892 and he toured South Africa with a party led by W.W. Read to play in his first Test. He made a surprising 40, but had almost no bowling to do.

England team v. Australia, Trent Bridge 1899. Back row: Dick Barlow (umpire), Tom Hayward, George Hirst, Billy Gunn, J T Hearne (12th man), Bill Storer (wkt kpr), Bill Brockwell, V A Titchmarsh (umpire). Middle row: C B Fry, K S Ranjitsinhji, W G Grace (captain), Stanley Jackson. Front row: Wilfred Rhodes, Johnny Tyldesley.

From 1892, Hearne was the stock bowler not only for Middlesex, but also for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which at the time played against the counties Middlesex did not arrange County Championship fixtures with. In 1893, Hearne surpassed his previous form by taking over 200 wickets in a dry summer and his persistence and skill on hard pitches (notably in the two games with Nottinghamshire) was wonderful. In 1894, a very wet summer, Hearne just failed to reach 200, yet his omission from the 1894/1895 tour of Australia remains puzzling given his persistence and pace from the ground might have been well-suited to the hard pitches then evolving in Australia.

In 1895, Hearne had a temporary setback, taking only 133 wickets and at times appearing stale. However, despite the driest summer he had yet played through, 1896 proved to be Hearne's great year: his 257 wickets included an amazing haul of 56 for just over 13 each against the Australians: a feat bettered only by Jim Laker in 1956 under more helpful weather conditions. Though a few very badly broken wickets at Lord's in a very dry May helped him, his work on the hard and true pitches earned respect, even fear, from most batsmen, and when the weather finally broke up in August, he took 10 for 60 on a difficult Oval wicket to ensure England the Ashes. Earlier in the year he had taken all nine wickets that fell for MCC against the Australians (George Giffen was absent). In 1897, though his feats were less staggering than the previous year because the wickets at Lord's in dry weather had become quite unhelpful to bowlers, Hearne was clearly the best bowler apart from the incomparable Tom Richardson, and he was chosen to tour Australia for the only time. He did not disappoint despite the very hard pitches: with Richardson only once at his best Hearne had to shoulder a very heavy burden and did so very well, taking 20 wickets including 6 for 98 at the MCG. In 1898, Hearne was again magnificent, taking 222 wickets at a slightly lower cost than in 1896. Whilst, on difficult pitches without support, his excellent bowling did not reward Middlesex early on, in August, aided by Albert Trott, Middlesex won their last seven games to come second.

In 1920, Hearne became the first professional cricketer to be elected to the Middlesex committee, a place he held until the end of the decade. During this period, he went on a number of tours to India and coached cricket at Oxford University until the middle 1930s, after which he retired. Jack Hearne died in his birthplace of Chalfont St Giles on 17 April 1944.

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