May 19, 1874
Viv Richards... Adam Gilchrist... Ian Botham... In the history of cricket we remember these names as 'hitter'. But about 146 years ago today, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, he was born, perhaps the greatest 'hitter' of all time in the history of cricket. If cricket is entertainment in this T20 era, then his batting was real entertainment. He went to the wicket means the fielders had to stay alert to pick up the ball from outside the field! Often the ball would fly off the field. Sometimes it would go and fall in the yard of the house next door, sometimes it would break the glass of the car standing on the road outside. From Chris Gayle to Andre Russell they are so popular as destructive batsmen today, but hundred years ago he was the original entertainer, he was much more destructive than anybody else — Gilbert Jessop, known as "The Croucher" for his unusual batting stance.
He was a legend in Gloucestershire. He has scored 26698 runs in 493 matches in his 20-year first-class career with 53 Hundreds and 127 Fifties. He hit his first ball for Gloucestershire for four as he came to bat after two consecutive wickets and to stop the hat-trick.
Great batsmen like Frank Woolley, Victor Trumper averaged 55 runs per hour in that era. Don Bradman, Dennis Compton's average run was around 45. But Jessop made an unbelievable average of 82.7 runs per hour!
He has batted more than three hours only once in his career but has scored a double century five times. At Hove in 1903, he smashed 286 out of 355 against Sussex in under three hours. He also smashed 157 in an hour against West Indies in 1900.
He scored two centuries in both innings of a match against Yorkshire in 1900, both came before lunch. George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes, two of England's leading fast bowlers, used to open the Yorkshire bowling at that time.
He scored 101 runs in 40 minutes against Yorkshire in 1897, his fastest century. It was record at the time. In 1907, he reached another century in 42 minutes. In all, he has scored 12 centuries inside one hour.
Jassop once held the record for the fastest double century. He hit 200 runs in just two hours on his way to a career-best 286 runs. He also scored a double century against Somerset in just 130 minutes in 1905. The double century came in just 135 minutes on his way to 233 against Yorkshire at Lord's in 1901.
He went to the crease after the first four wicket fall for 4 runs against Sussex in 1901. His run was 66 when he was dismissed as the second batsman of the team at 70!
If we Dissect Jessop's 53 centuries, we will discover that 72% of the team's runs came from his bat after he went to the crease!
However, his Test career for England was not very rich. He played Tests from 1899 to 1912. To some he was an automatic choice, to others gambling. He did not play much outside the country as he fell ill on sea voyages. Three times he turned down an offer to play in Australia. Played only once. He managed to score 569 runs at an average of 21.88 with only one century. However, that century can brighten the whole career of Jessop. He played an innings of 104 runs out of 139 (probably most memorable of his centuries) in just 75 minutes against Australia in 1902. Can you imagine!
It was a tricky condition when the team lost 5 wickets for 48 runs while chasing 263 runs in the fourth innings. Batting was very difficult in that poor Oval pitch. But Jessop came and started to counter-attack the Aussies. Jessop smashed the Australian bowling. He made a 109-run partnership with Stanley Jackson for the sixth wicket, where Jackson's contribution was only 18! England won the match by 1 wicket with the help of Jessop's great innings.
But he was basically a bowler. Quite a fast bowler. He was such a good bowler that he got a place in the England Test team with his bowling. He was also great in fielding. He reached to the ball at the speed of a bullet, the throw was intense. Though the history of cricket will always remember him for batting. Here he was far ahead of time!
His fame for batting spread all around. But his bowling and fielding has already been mentioned!
He was a fast bowler with some great pace at the beginning of his career. In one season in 1900, he made a double touch of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets. He was the third cricketer to touch this double.
There are many achievements with the ball. He took 6 wickets in both innings for Cambridge against Oxford. He took his career best of 8 wickets for 29 runs against Essex in 1900. He took 8 for 54 against Lancashire in 1895 and 8 for 57 against Middlesex in 1902. He opened the bowling in Sydney that year and returned the first four Australian batsmen. He bagged 873 wickets in his first class career.
He used to stand a little behind than others on the cover. It was quite risky to take a run when he got close to it. The speed was awesome. He would hardly miss the stumps if he threw. He made 30 run outs in one season.
His shape was small. Height 5 feet 7 inches, weight less than 70 kg. But his batting was pure entertainment. At that time, if the ball crossed the rope of the boundary of the field, 5 runs were scored and the ball had to be thrown outside the stadium to score a Six. He also hit sixes quite easily in that era. No matter what is the situation of the match, no matter who the bowler is in front, Jessop cares little. He was a nightmare for the bowlers. Extreme batting disaster for the team? Jessop would change the picture in just 30 minutes!
Attack, Attack and Attack it was the last word for him while batting. He used to fly the ball all over the ground. He wanted to injure the batsman when he got the ball. His thirsty eyes were always looking for the wickets. He wanted to use every opportunity in fielding. He used to force himself to stop every run. A complete package of the game what today's franchise Cricket wants!
His batting stance was also intriguing. It seemed that he wants to avoid the ball. The picture would change after the delivery of the ball. He used to keep an eye on the ball all the time and could have reached the position very quickly. The wrist was as strong as steel with extraordinary tactical brain.
Seeing his stance, fast bowlers often used to give bouncer to him. But he used to hook and pull them effortlessly with joy in his mind. The footwork was so great that he could even cut the leg stump ball, or pull the ball out of the off stump! He had so many shots in his hand that there was no such thing as a good length in front of him. He always said that he prefers to play good bowlers.
Former Australia captain and legendary commentator Richie Benaud once said that according to him Jessop is the best One Day player of all time. But 16 years before the advent of the One Day Cricket, Jessop left the world!
Incredible, but that's true. Jessop's batting style was such that there was a lot of discussion about how he would do in limited overs cricket.
The impression of Jessop's talent was not only in cricket. He was a Cambridge University Blue in hockey. He also showed skills in billiards, rugby, golf and football. He could have finished 100 meters with a little more than 10 seconds.
Whatever the situation, Jessop always played his natural cricket. He is at the crease means joy for the spectators. At that time, there was nothing more entertaining in cricket than his batting.
This was Jessop. Career, runs, average, stats all this can't define him. He was named after WG Grace before the First World War. In cricket, he is still remembered for his fierce batting style. There is no end to the stories about him in English cricket.
[Picture courtesy: Getty images, Wikimedia]
✍️ Subham Dey
Comments
Post a Comment