Percy Hardy

Frederick Percy Hardy (26 June 1880 – 9 March 1916) was a first-class cricketer who played for Somerset.

Percy Hardy
Personal information
Full name
Frederick Percy Hardy
Born(1880-06-26)26 June 1880
Blandford Forum, Dorset, England
Died9 March 1916(1916-03-09) (aged 35)
King's Cross railway station, London, England
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight arm medium
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
19021914Somerset
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 100
Runs scored 2,743
Batting average 16.32
100s/50s 0/7
Top score 91
Balls bowled 5,130
Wickets 91
Bowling average 35.34
5 wickets in innings 2
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 6/82
Catches/stumpings 41/
Source: CricketArchive, 22 December 2009

Career

Hardy was a left-handed batsman who sometimes opened the innings and a right-arm medium-pace bowler. He played for Surrey's colts team, but left to join Somerset. He made his debut in 1902 and in his second match took the slip catch that dismissed Victor Trumper for just five Trumper was dismissed a second time for five by the same bowler, George Gill, later in the match.

Hardy played as a professional in a mainly amateur team and made fairly regular appearances for Somerset right through to 1914. In 1910, when the side lost 15 out of 18 County Championship matches and failed to secure a single point all season, he headed the Somerset batting figures with 700 runs, including his own highest score of 91 against the champions, Kent, at Taunton. His best bowling figures, six for 82, also came in that season, against Middlesex at Bath.

Death

Hardy's death is something of a mystery. He was, in the words of Wisden's 1917 edition, "found dead on the floor of a lavatory at King's Cross station (G.N.R.)... His throat was cut and a blood-stained knife was by his side."[1] Hardy was serving as a private with the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) at the time.[2] The historian David Foot wrote that the knife was Hardy's own and that the death was suicide brought on by distress at being sent back to the World War I battlefield.[3] Hardy, who left a widow, Maud Mary, was buried at St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Green.[2]

References

  1. "Other deaths in 1916". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. John Wisden & Co. December 2005. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  2. "Private Frederick Percy Hardy". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  3. Foot, David (30 October 1986). Sunshine, Sixes and Cider. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8890-8.
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