Clem Hill
Encyclopedia
Clement "Clem" Hill was an Australian cricket
er 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.
A short and 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 Gabba
in Brisbane 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.
, South Australia
, to Henry John Hill (known as John) and his wife Rebecca, née Saunders. Clem was one of eight sons and eight daughters in a family that was heavily involved in cricket. His father scored a century (102 not out
) 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 1912–1913 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 (cricket team) 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 1894–1895 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
. 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 football
er and played for the South Adelaide Football Club
during the 1890s and early 1900s.
, 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
(143), was partnered by Syd Gregory
(103) 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.
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.
as the best of the Australian batsmen that English summer. He scored 301 runs in three Tests at an average of 60.20, and was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
. His best performance of the series was in the Second Test at Lord's
. Hill scored 135, sharing a partnership of 82 with Victor Trumper
, who was playing only his second Test match. Trumper went on to score 135 not out. Hill, who was dropped by Ranjitsinhji fielding at slip
when he had made 119, batted for 4 hours and hit 17 boundaries
. Australia won the Test, the only one to have a definite result, by 10 wickets and retained the Ashes.
In 1900–01, Hill made a then record Sheffield Shield score for South Australia against New South Wales at the Adelaide Oval. He batted for 8 hours and 35 minutes for 365, including 35 boundaries. The record stood for 27 years until beaten by Bill Ponsford
. Hill averaged more than 100 runs for the season. England returned to contest the Ashes in 1901–02, under the captaincy of Archie MacLaren. The English team was weakened by the unavailability of players such as Ranjitsinhji, Hirst, C.B. Fry and Wilfred Rhodes
. The surprise selection was Sydney Barnes
, who had played most of his cricket in the Lancashire League. Repeating the result of the series three years earlier, Australia lost the First Test but won the next four comfortably to retain the Ashes. Hill was the leading run scorer in the series, with 521 runs including 99, 98 and 97 in successive innings. He is still the only person to achieve this most unusual feat.
Hill was the victim of bad luck during this sequence of scores between 90 and 99. At Melbourne during the New Years Test he scored 99; the first time a batsman was dismissed one run short of a century in Test cricket. In the first innings in the next Test in Adelaide, having scored 98, Hill was caught by Johnny Tyldesley
who was standing on the bicycle track surrounding the oval. Tyldesley attempted to call Hill back but Hill declined, saying the captains had agreed that the fence was the boundary, not the track. Under modern laws
, he would have been not out and the shot would count as six runs, allowing him his century. In the second innings, Hill's poor luck continued. He chopped down on a ball when 97 and then, to his horror, saw the ball rolling back towards his stumps. He attempted to hit the ball away from the stumps but accidentally knocked the leg bail
and was out, bowled. The English writer, Simon Wilde
, has described this sequence as an "unparalleled spell of nonagenarians' neurosis".
Hill visited England for a third time in 1902 with the Australian team
who won their fourth successive Test series. In the process the Australians "beat the records of all their predecessors in the country" by losing only two of 39 matches during the tour. For the second time, Hill scored more than 1,000 runs in an English summer; 1,534 at an average of 31.95 including four centuries. Rain affected the first two Test matches at Edgbaston
and Lord's and both teams moved to Sheffield
without a win.
The Third Test, the only Test match played at Bramall Lane
, saw Hill play one of his finest innings on a poorly prepared pitch that made batting difficult. Australia batted first and could only score 194, Barnes taking 6 wickets for 49 runs. In return Monty Noble
and Jack Saunders
bowled England out for 145 and Australia led by 49 runs on the first innings. When Reggie Duff
was dismissed in the second innings, Hill joined Trumper at the wicket. The pair scored 60 runs in half an hour before Trumper was out, caught by the wicket-keeper
. He was followed quickly by the captain, Darling, out for a duck. Syd Gregory
was the next batsman and with Hill added 107 runs in only 67 minutes. In semi-darkness and facing fast and accurate bowling on a poor pitch, Hill pushed on to reach his century after 115 minutes of batting. He had given two difficult chances, one at slip when 74 and in the outfield at 77 before he was caught by MacLaren from the bowling of Jackson for 119. Australia won the Test by 143 runs. The final two Tests were thrillers. Australia won the Fourth Test at Old Trafford by a mere three runs with Trumble taking ten wickets for the match. England won the Fifth and final Test at The Oval
by one wicket. Chasing 263, England were 5/48 when Gilbert Jessop
began an extraordinary display of hitting, scoring a century in only 75 minutes to help England to victory. Of Hill's form during the tour, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack said "Clement Hill played many fine innings, his best performance being in the Test match at Sheffield, but, even allowing for the soft wickets, I do not think he was so great a batsman as in 1899."
On the return trip to Australia, the touring team stopped in South Africa to play three Tests, the first Tests between the two nations. Hill was the most successful Australian batsman in the series, scoring 327 runs at an average of 81.75. In the First Test he made 145 when Australia was in trouble after following-on
, an innings described in Wisden as "marred by very few mistakes". In the Third Test, Hill batted through much of the Australian first innings to make 91 not out. Australia won the Test by ten wickets and the series two Tests to nil.
For the first time under the auspices of the Marylebone Cricket Club
, an English team travelled to Australia for the 1903–04 season to contest the Ashes. Contrary to expectations before the tour, the English won the series and the Ashes three Tests to two. Hill trailed Trumper and Noble in the series averages, making 276 runs at 27.60 without ever getting to 100 in an innings. In the First Test, Hill was at the centre of what Wisden described as a "very regrettable and indeed disgraceful [crowd] demonstration". Batting with Trumper, Hill had run well past the stumps at the bowler's end for a fourth run. The English return gave the Australian pair an opportunity for an overthrow
. Hill had to run the entire length of the pitch. Albert Relf
at mid-on
gathered and threw to the wicket-keeper, Dick Lilley
who removed the bails
and appeal
ed for the run out
. Umpire
Bob Crockett
gave Hill out. Hill could not believe the decision as the ball had passed behind him when he slid his bat to make his ground. The crowd were also convinced that Hill was not out and began to hoot, chanting "Crock!, Crock!, Crock!" Bottles were thrown onto the surrounding cycle track and the English captain Plum Warner
threatened to take his team from the ground. At the end of the day, Crockett required a police escort when leaving the ground. Hill's best performance of the series was at his home town, Adelaide, in the Third Test. Hill scored 88 before being dismissed by Ted Arnold
, caught by the wicket-keeper. Australia won the Test by 216 runs.
Hill toured England for the last time with the 1905 Australian team
. The Test series was dominated by what was seen as uninspired cricket with England retaining the Ashes two Tests to nil. The Australian batting suffered from a lack of steadiness and Hill was one of the Australians criticised by Wisden that season; "[Hill] would certainly have met with more consistent success if he had retained his old self-control. He was somewhat indiscriminate in hitting at the off-ball, and many a time his impatience cost him his wicket." However Wisden praised his fielding, saying "Trumper, Hill, and Hopkins did any amount of fine work in the deep field".
The Australians recovered the Ashes from the 1907–08 English team, winning the series four Tests to one. England were hit by the loss of their captain, Arthur Jones
who contracted an illness that threatened to develop into pneumonia
, causing him to miss the first three Tests. Hill, batting with team-mate Roger Hartigan
playing his first Test match, set a record in the Third Test in Adelaide. Suffering from influenza
and unable to field in the English first innings, Hill joined Hartigan at the fall of the seventh wicket
. During his innings, Hill vomited beside the pitch and had to quickly leave the field several times. The pair managed to bat on and take the match into a fourth day. Hartigan, whose leave from work had expired, was relieved to receive a telegram from his employer: "Stay as long as you are making runs." When Hartigan was dismissed for 116, the pair had together made 243 for the eighth wicket—still an Australian Test record. With Sammy Carter
, Hill continued before finally dismissed by Jack Crawford
for 160, after 5 hours and 19 minutes of batting. At the end of his innings Hill was close to collapse but his efforts assisted his team defeat the English by 245 runs.
. Hill by now was a team selector and strongly opposed the selection in the team of 40-year-old Peter McAlister
, who Hill claimed "was past his best" and "not suited to English conditions". McAlister was also a member of the selection panel and was able to secure a majority for his selection. Hill accused his fellow selectors of conspiracy and said he had "decided to wash his hands of the affair" and that "he did not consider that the best men had been chosen". Hill's relationship with McAlister would remain fractious. Hill was also a delegate on the Board of Control, representing the South Australian Cricket Association
(SACA). At the Board meeting in February 1909 to set the terms to be offered to the players selected for the tour, the SACA delegates were outvoted on every point. Hill declined to accept the terms offered. Since his marriage in 1905, Hill had spent considerable time away from his wife with his commitments during two Test series against England and this may have also influenced his decision not to tour.
When Hill returned to the Test team it was as captain for a series against the visiting South Africa national cricket team in 1910–11. The South Africans, led by Aubrey Faulkner
, had a novel bowling attack consisting of several googly
bowlers, such as Bert Vogler
, Reggie Schwarz
and Faulkner himself and the chinaman bowler Charlie "Buck" Llewellyn. The South Africans started the tour well, defeating a South Australian team unable to handle the unusual bowling approach. Hill, after consulting with other players, settled on a strategy of hitting the bowlers off their length
with aggressive batting. Hill showed the way in the First Test at Sydney, scoring his first 100 runs in 98 minutes. In a partnership with Warren Bardsley
, the pair scored 224 runs in only two hours. After just 3 hours and 20 minutes at the crease, he was dismissed for 191; his highest Test score. Australia won the Test by an innings and 114 runs. Australia won the Second Test in Melbourne after bowling the South Africans out for 80 in their second innings, but the South Africans fought back to win the Third Test in Adelaide by 38 runs.
Australia won the Fourth Test by 508 runs after being sent in to bat by South Africa, who hoped to trap them on a rain-affected wicket
. The Australians managed to end the first day's play at 8/317 to avoid the trap and win the Test. In the second innings, Hill hit another century (100) in only 100 minutes, with Wisden noting that he "play[ed] especially well". Australia won the final Test and the series four Tests to one.
captained by Johnny Douglas
in 1911–12. The English team included bowlers of the calibre of Barnes and Frank Foster and, after losing the first Test in Sydney, won all four remaining Tests to secure the Ashes. Hill had a lean season with the bat, managing 274 runs at an average of 27.40. The England bowlers were clearly superior to the Australian batsmen; Trumper was the only Australian to score a century during the Tests. While this series took place, the Board of Control made plans to usurp the commonly accepted right of the players to appoint the team manager when touring England. In response, a group of senior players, including Hill, threatened to withdraw from the next tour, to take place in 1912, unless their choice, Frank Laver
, was appointed.
Matters came to a head when Hill sent a telegram to fellow selector, Peter McAlister, urging the inclusion of the New South Wales all-rounder
Charlie Macartney in the team for the Fourth Test in Melbourne. The reply from McAlister—a member of the Board of Control who still bore some animosity towards Hill from past comments—to Hill's request was "... Still opposed to Macartney's inclusion. If Iredale
(another selector) agrees with you as to Macartney's inclusion, I favour yourself standing down not Minnett
." Hill saw the offer to remove himself from the team as sore provocation and his team-mates scorned the suggestion. Australia lost the Third Test by seven wickets. Macartney wrote later, "Persistent ill-feeling seriously affected the morale of the side." At a meeting held after the Test, the Board of Control rejected the players' petition and declared that the manager would be appointed by the Board alone. At a "special meeting" two weeks later, the Board appointed George Crouch from Queensland to the position of tour manager.
The following day, 3 February 1912, the selection committee met in Sydney to decide the team for the Fourth Test. It was the first time Hill and McAlister had met since the exchange of telegrams. The pair exchanged insults with McAlister sharply criticising Hill's captaincy. Hill retorted, "In England, Armstrong wouldn't play under you. Did you ever win any except second rate games?"
McAlister replied, "I am a better captain than Trumper, Armstrong and yourself put together. You are the worst captain I have ever seen." Hill then warned McAlister to stop insulting him but McAlister repeated the remark. Losing control, Hill struck McAlister a blow across the face. The two then grappled for around ten minutes. Blood was drawn, staining their clothes and splashing on the other men present, Iredale and secretary Sydney Smith. At one stage, fearing that one or both combatants would fall through the window and onto the street, Smith grabbed hold of Hill's coat-tails. The fight ended with a bloody McAlister lying on the floor and Hill, unmarked, standing over him. Hill told Smith he could no longer work with McAlister. Smith then asked Hill to put his resignation in writing and the Board accepted it that evening.
The crowds at the Melbourne and Sydney Tests gave Hill three cheers when he arrived at the wicket. When Hill reached the batting crease in his last Test at Sydney, the umpire Bob Crockett said "there were tears in his eyes". An in camera
investigation into the fracas took place; the Board's only comment on the meeting was to report that it had been "satisfactorily settled". Hill was then offered an invitation to take part in the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England. Hill declined the invitation, along with Warwick Armstrong
, Trumper, Carter, Noble and Vernon Ransford
, who collectively became known as the "Big Six". He never played Test cricket again.
At the age of 43, Hill returned to first-class cricket for one match to assist in its re-establishment in Australia after the Great War
. In support of the benefit
s of some former colleagues, he played in a further two first-class matches with his best score of 66 coming in a game against Victoria. His last match was for an Australian XI against New South Wales played to support Bill Howell's benefit.
In all Tests, Hill scored 3,412 runs at an average just under 40 runs per innings and including seven centuries. When he retired he had scored more runs in Test cricket than any other player; a record he held for 12 years until surpassed by Jack Hobbs
. In 1902 Hill was the first to score 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year; the next to do so was Denis Compton
45 years later in 1947. Prolific in Australian state cricket as well, he headed the South Australian first-class averages on ten occasions between 1895–96 and 1910–11. In successive innings in 1909–10 he scored 175 against Victoria in Adelaide, 205 against New South Wales and 185 against Victoria in Melbourne. He was the only Australian to score more than 17,000 runs in the period before pitches were protected from rain. In club cricket
he averaged more than 100 runs for the season on three occasions.
In 2003, the South Australian Cricket Association
named the new southern grandstand
at the Adelaide Oval the "Clem Hill Stand" in recognition of his contribution to South Australian cricket. Hill was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2005.
. On retirement from cricket, however, Hill began a career in horse racing administration. He was employed as a stipendiary steward with the South Australian Jockey Club
and the Adelaide Racing Club and in 1937 he was appointed handicapper
for the Victoria Amateur Turf Club
(VATC) in Melbourne. At the VATC he was responsible for setting the weights for the Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's richest and most prestigious horse races. He served in this role for six years before poor health saw him take a less demanding role at the Geelong Racing Club.
Hill married Florence Hart in Tasmania
in 1905. The couple settled in Adelaide and raised two daughters, Lesley and Brenda. When he took up his role with the VATC, Hill and his family moved to Toorak
, an eastern suburb of Melbourne. In 1945, Hill was thrown from a tram
in a traffic accident on busy Collins Street
in inner Melbourne. He was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital
and died there soon after aged 68. His body was returned for burial at North Road Cemetery
in the Adelaide suburb of Nailsworth
.
Short and stocky, Hill was a gifted batsman who could score quickly when required. Wisden described Hill as a "specially brilliant batsman on hard pitches". He had an awkward crouched stance, gripping the bat low on the handle. This limited his forward reach and power and reduced his effectiveness when driving but he compensated for this with quick footwork. Hill's strong bottom hand and his keen eye allowed him to play the cut shot cleanly and with confidence and to hit powerfully on the leg side
. He preferred batting against fast bowling
rather than slow and medium pace bowlers and he was a fearless exponent of the hook shot. Hill had a tendency to get out in the "nervous nineties
", being dismissed six times between 90 and 99 in Test matches. This included a sequence in the 1901–02 series against England of 99, 98 and 97 in successive innings.
An excellent fielder in the deep, Hill had a powerful throwing arm. During a match at Leeds
during the 1902 tour of England, he threw a ball from near the boundary, knocking down the stumps at one end and rebounding to hit the stumps the other end. During the same tour at Old Trafford, Hill made a catch that Wisden claimed "will never be forgotten by [those present]". A Dick Lilley hit to square leg looked likely to clear the boundary. Hill himself said he raced 25 yards (22.9 m) for it with a view simply to save a boundary. In the event, he ran round 'close to the boundary' from his position at long on, aided by the wind seemingly holding up the ball to take the catch low down in front of the pavilion in his outstretched hands; one that Wisden said "few fieldsmen would have thought worth attempting".
Hill was a man of high ideals and was popular with his fellow players. Pelham Warner
commented on his pleasant nature and Robert Trumble
, an author and son of Hugh Trumble
, recalled him as honest, direct and without guile. An anecdote told about Hill had him hitting a low shot into shadows where Warren Bardsley
was fielding. He completed one run and then asked the umpire if the ball had been caught. The shadow made it impossible for the umpire to see, so Hill then asked Bardsley, "Did you catch it?" When Bardsley replied in the affirmative, Hill immediately walked to the pavilion. When England won four Tests in a row in 1911–12, Hill managed to retain the confidence of his players. Frank Iredale
wrote that Hill was a cheery skipper whose men were happy under his leadership. Despite breaking many records, Hill showed little awareness of them. When watching Jack Hobbs
break his record for the most runs in Test cricket at Headingley
in 1926, it was Hobbs' wife sitting nearby who had to remind Hill that the record was previously his.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played 49 Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five. A prolific run
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
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
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
. In 1902, Hill was the first batsman to make 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year
Calendar year
Generally speaking, a calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day. By convention, a calendar year consists of a natural number of days. To reconcile the calendar year with an astronomical cycle , certain years...
, a feat that would not be repeated for 45 years. His innings of 365 scored against New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
for South Australia
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
in 1900–01 was a Sheffield Shield record for 27 years. The South Australian Cricket Association
South Australian Cricket Association
The South Australian Cricket Association is the peak body for the sport of cricket in South Australia. The association runs Adelaide Oval and the Southern Redbacks based in Adelaide, South Australia. SACA is the controlling body for the South Australian Grade Cricket League...
named a grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
at the Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
in his honour in 2003 and he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in the National Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This Hall of Fame commemorates the greatest Australian cricketers of all time....
in 2005.
A short and 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
Leg side
The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...
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
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
and, along with his contemporary Victor Trumper
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
, 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
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
two years later, Hill scored 188; his maiden Test century and still the highest score in Ashes Tests
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
by a player under 21. He was named one of Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
in 1899, despite missing half the English season due to illness. In the 1901–02 season, Hill was dismissed
Dismissal (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a dismissal occurs when the batsman is out . Colloquially, the fielding team is also said to have snared, bagged or captured a wicket. At this point a batsman must discontinue batting and leave the field permanently for the innings...
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
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
after he was adjudged run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
in a Test match against England. With Roger Hartigan
Roger Hartigan
Michael Joseph 'Roger' Hartigan was an Australian Test cricketer and Administrator....
he still holds the Australian Test record partnership for the eighth wicket
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
—243, made against England at the Gabba
Brisbane Cricket Ground
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located....
in Brisbane 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
Peter McAlister
Peter Alexander McAlister was an Australian cricketer who played in 8 Tests from 1904 to 1909....
in 1912. He was one of the "Big Six
Big Six cricket dispute of 1912
The Big Six cricket dispute that occurred in 1912 was a confrontation between the administrators and players of the sport of cricket in Australia. Six of Australia's leading cricketers refused an invitation to tour England for the 1912 Triangular Tournament. The six players were Warwick Armstrong,...
", a group of leading Australian cricketers who boycotted the 1912 Triangular Tournament
1912 Triangular Tournament
The 1912 Triangular Tournament was a Test cricket competition played between Australia, England and South Africa, the only Test-playing nations at the time....
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
Handicapping
Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which the advantage is calculated...
for races including the Caulfield Cup
Caulfield Cup
The Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's richest Thoroughbred horse races and the richest of its type in the world is held annually by the Melbourne Racing Club. The race is a handicap like the Melbourne Cup, which means that horses that compete in the Caulfield Cup are capable of running on the...
. Hill died in 1945 aged 68 when thrown from a tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in a traffic accident.
Early life
Hill was born in 1877 in AdelaideAdelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, to Henry John Hill (known as John) and his wife Rebecca, née Saunders. Clem was one of eight sons and eight daughters in a family that was heavily involved in cricket. His father scored a century (102 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
) for North Adelaide against the touring Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
, reportedly the first century scored at the Adelaide Oval. Six other brothers played for South Australia
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
and in 1912–1913 there were several instances of three Hill brothers in the same representative team.
Clem's father was prominent in the Methodist Church
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
and sent Clem to be educated at Prince Alfred College
Prince Alfred College
Prince Alfred College is an independent, day and boarding school for boys, located on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town, near the centre of Adelaide, South Australia...
, the local Methodist school. "Inter-collegiate" matches, the annual fixtures against rivals St Peter's College
St Peter's College, Adelaide
St Peter's College, , is an independent boy's school in the South Australian capital of Adelaide...
, were fiercely contested. Hill played his first inter-collegiate match at the age of 13, keeping wicket
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
and batting at number ten. His hands suffered from keeping wicket to the fast bowling of future Test team-mate Ernie Jones
Ernie Jones
Ernest Jones was an Australian sportsman, playing Test cricket and Australian rules football....
, 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
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
. Despite this, a school sportsmaster threatened to leave him out of the School XI (cricket team) 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
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
at the Adelaide Oval, he failed to score a run; he was dismissed for a duck
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
in the first innings and was 0 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
in the second as South Australia won by 10 wickets. In the 1894–1895 season, at 17 years of age, he played the touring English team led by A.E. Stoddart
Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English cricketer and rugby union player. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.-Cricket career:...
, 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
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
. Batting at number nine, he scored only 21 but the manner in which he made them saw the Australian Test wicket-keeper Jack Blackham
Jack Blackham
John McCarthy Blackham was a Test cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia.A specialist wicket-keeper, Blackham played in the first Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877 and the famous Ashes Test match of 1882...
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
Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back , a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled...
and Bobby Peel
Bobby Peel
Robert "Bobby" Peel was a Yorkshire and England cricketer: a left-arm spinner who ranks as one of the finest bowlers of the 1890s. He was also a capable batsman, who once hit 210 not out...
. 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 football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
er and played for the South Adelaide Football Club
South Adelaide Football Club
South Adelaide Football Club competes in the South Australian National Football League . Known as the Panthers, their home ground is Hickinbotham Oval , located in Noarlunga Downs in the southern suburbs of Adelaide....
during the 1890s and early 1900s.
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 WalesNew South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
, who were captained by an Australian selector, Tom Garrett
Tom Garrett
Thomas William Garrett was an early Australian Test cricketer and, later, a distinguished public servant.-Early life:...
. 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
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
, Frank Iredale
Frank Iredale
Francis Adams Iredale was an Australian Test cricketer who played 14 Tests between 1888 and 1902...
and Harry Donnan
Harry Donnan
Henry "Harry" Donnan was an Australian cricketer who played in 5 Tests between 1892 and 1896....
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
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, 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
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
. Australia collapsed in the first innings to be all out for 53 with Hill bowled
Bowled
Bowled is a method of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is covered by Law 30 of the Laws of cricket.A batsman is out bowled if his wicket is put down by a ball delivered by the bowler...
by George Lohmann
George Lohmann
George Alfred Lohmann is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time...
for one. England made 292 runs in reply but the second innings saw an Australian fightback. The captain, Harry Trott
Harry Trott
George Henry Stevens "Harry" Trott was an Australian Test cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, "... it is as a captain that he is best remembered, an understanding judge of...
(143), was partnered by Syd Gregory
Syd Gregory
Sydney Edward Gregory , sometimes known as Edward Sydney Gregory, was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. At the time of his retirement, he had played a world-record 58 Test matches during a career spanning 1890 to 1912...
(103) 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
Jack Hearne (John Thomas Hearne)
John Thomas Hearne was a Middlesex and England medium-fast bowler...
. 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
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
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
George Herbert Hirst
George Herbert Hirst was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1891 and 1921, with a further appearance in 1929. He played in 24 Test matches for England between 1897 and 1909, touring Australia twice...
. 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
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
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.
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
that assisted the bowlers. Hill, aged just 20, was watching at the non-striker's end as the wickets fell. Hugh Trumble
Hugh Trumble
Hugh Trumble was an Australian cricketer who played 32 Test matches as a bowling all-rounder between 1890 and 1904. He captained the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wickets in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average of...
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
Stump (cricket)
Stump is a term used in the sport of cricket where it has three different meanings:# part of the wicket# a manner of dismissing a batsman# the end of the day's play .-Part of the wicket:...
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
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
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
Tom Horan
Thomas Patrick Horan was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia, and later became an esteemed cricket journalist under the pen name "Felix". The first of only two Irish-born players to play Test cricket for Australia, Horan was the leading batsman in the colony of Victoria...
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.
Consolidation
During the Australian team's tour of England in 1899, Hill required surgery to remove a growth in his nose. The after-effects of the operation were more serious than expected; Hill lost an alarming amount of weight and strength and missed around half of the tour. Before this, Hill was recognised by Wisden Cricketers' AlmanackWisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
as the best of the Australian batsmen that English summer. He scored 301 runs in three Tests at an average of 60.20, and was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
. His best performance of the series was in the Second Test at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
. Hill scored 135, sharing a partnership of 82 with Victor Trumper
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
, who was playing only his second Test match. Trumper went on to score 135 not out. Hill, who was dropped by Ranjitsinhji fielding at slip
Slip (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many teams employ two or three slips...
when he had made 119, batted for 4 hours and hit 17 boundaries
Boundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
. Australia won the Test, the only one to have a definite result, by 10 wickets and retained the Ashes.
Bill Ponsford
William Harold "Bill" Ponsford MBE was an Australian cricketer. Usually playing as an opening batsman, he formed a successful and long-lived partnership opening the batting for Victoria and Australia with Bill Woodfull, his friend and state and national captain...
. Hill averaged more than 100 runs for the season. England returned to contest the Ashes in 1901–02, under the captaincy of Archie MacLaren. The English team was weakened by the unavailability of players such as Ranjitsinhji, Hirst, C.B. Fry and Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
. The surprise selection was Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
, who had played most of his cricket in the Lancashire League. Repeating the result of the series three years earlier, Australia lost the First Test but won the next four comfortably to retain the Ashes. Hill was the leading run scorer in the series, with 521 runs including 99, 98 and 97 in successive innings. He is still the only person to achieve this most unusual feat.
Hill was the victim of bad luck during this sequence of scores between 90 and 99. At Melbourne during the New Years Test he scored 99; the first time a batsman was dismissed one run short of a century in Test cricket. In the first innings in the next Test in Adelaide, having scored 98, Hill was caught by Johnny Tyldesley
Johnny Tyldesley
Johnny Tyldesley was a Lancashire and England cricketer and for many years the finest professional batsman in county cricket.-Life and career:...
who was standing on the bicycle track surrounding the oval. Tyldesley attempted to call Hill back but Hill declined, saying the captains had agreed that the fence was the boundary, not the track. Under modern laws
Laws of cricket
The laws of cricket are a set of rules established by the Marylebone Cricket Club which describe the laws of cricket worldwide, to ensure uniformity and fairness. There are currently 42 laws, which outline all aspects of how the game is played from how a team wins a game, how a batsman is...
, he would have been not out and the shot would count as six runs, allowing him his century. In the second innings, Hill's poor luck continued. He chopped down on a ball when 97 and then, to his horror, saw the ball rolling back towards his stumps. He attempted to hit the ball away from the stumps but accidentally knocked the leg bail
Bail (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bail is one of the two smaller sticks placed on top of the three stumps to form a wicket. The bails are used to determine when the wicket is broken, which in turn is one of the critical factors in determining whether a batsman is out bowled, stumped, run out or hit wicket...
and was out, bowled. The English writer, Simon Wilde
Simon Wilde
Simon Wilde is an English cricket journalist and author. He has written for The Times and The Sunday Times since 1998, and is currently the latter's cricket correspondent...
, has described this sequence as an "unparalleled spell of nonagenarians' neurosis".
Hill visited England for a third time in 1902 with the Australian team
Australian cricket team in England in 1902
The Australian cricket team toured England during the 1902 English cricket season. The five-Test series between the two countries has been fondly remembered; in 1967 the cricket writer A.A. Thomson described the series as "a rubber more exciting than any in history except the Australia v West...
who won their fourth successive Test series. In the process the Australians "beat the records of all their predecessors in the country" by losing only two of 39 matches during the tour. For the second time, Hill scored more than 1,000 runs in an English summer; 1,534 at an average of 31.95 including four centuries. Rain affected the first two Test matches at Edgbaston
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
and Lord's and both teams moved to Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
without a win.
The Third Test, the only Test match played at Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane
-Cricket at the Lane:Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70. The site was then away from the town's industrial area, and relatively free from smoke. It was built to host the matches of local cricket...
, saw Hill play one of his finest innings on a poorly prepared pitch that made batting difficult. Australia batted first and could only score 194, Barnes taking 6 wickets for 49 runs. In return Monty Noble
Monty Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian...
and Jack Saunders
Jack Saunders
John Victor Saunders was an Australian cricketer who played in 14 Tests from 1902 to 1908....
bowled England out for 145 and Australia led by 49 runs on the first innings. When Reggie Duff
Reggie Duff
Reginald Alexander Duff was an Australian cricketer who played in 22 Tests between 1902 and 1905....
was dismissed in the second innings, Hill joined Trumper at the wicket. The pair scored 60 runs in half an hour before Trumper was out, caught by the wicket-keeper
Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...
. He was followed quickly by the captain, Darling, out for a duck. Syd Gregory
Syd Gregory
Sydney Edward Gregory , sometimes known as Edward Sydney Gregory, was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. At the time of his retirement, he had played a world-record 58 Test matches during a career spanning 1890 to 1912...
was the next batsman and with Hill added 107 runs in only 67 minutes. In semi-darkness and facing fast and accurate bowling on a poor pitch, Hill pushed on to reach his century after 115 minutes of batting. He had given two difficult chances, one at slip when 74 and in the outfield at 77 before he was caught by MacLaren from the bowling of Jackson for 119. Australia won the Test by 143 runs. The final two Tests were thrillers. Australia won the Fourth Test at Old Trafford by a mere three runs with Trumble taking ten wickets for the match. England won the Fifth and final Test at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
by one wicket. Chasing 263, England were 5/48 when Gilbert Jessop
Gilbert Jessop
Gilbert Laird Jessop was an English cricket player, often reckoned to have been the fastest run-scorer cricket has ever known, he was Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1898.Relations...
began an extraordinary display of hitting, scoring a century in only 75 minutes to help England to victory. Of Hill's form during the tour, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack said "Clement Hill played many fine innings, his best performance being in the Test match at Sheffield, but, even allowing for the soft wickets, I do not think he was so great a batsman as in 1899."
On the return trip to Australia, the touring team stopped in South Africa to play three Tests, the first Tests between the two nations. Hill was the most successful Australian batsman in the series, scoring 327 runs at an average of 81.75. In the First Test he made 145 when Australia was in trouble after following-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
, an innings described in Wisden as "marred by very few mistakes". In the Third Test, Hill batted through much of the Australian first innings to make 91 not out. Australia won the Test by ten wickets and the series two Tests to nil.
Establishment
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
, an English team travelled to Australia for the 1903–04 season to contest the Ashes. Contrary to expectations before the tour, the English won the series and the Ashes three Tests to two. Hill trailed Trumper and Noble in the series averages, making 276 runs at 27.60 without ever getting to 100 in an innings. In the First Test, Hill was at the centre of what Wisden described as a "very regrettable and indeed disgraceful [crowd] demonstration". Batting with Trumper, Hill had run well past the stumps at the bowler's end for a fourth run. The English return gave the Australian pair an opportunity for an overthrow
Overthrow (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an overthrow is an extra run scored by a batsman as a result of the ball not being collected by a fielder in the centre, having been thrown in from the outfield...
. Hill had to run the entire length of the pitch. Albert Relf
Albert Relf
Albert Edward Relf, born at Burwash, East Sussex on 26 June 1874, and died at Wellington College, Berkshire on 26 March 1937, was a cricketer who played for Sussex and England....
at mid-on
Fielding (cricket)
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...
gathered and threw to the wicket-keeper, Dick Lilley
Dick Lilley
Arthur Frederick Augustus Lilley was an English cricketer who played in 35 Tests from 1896 to 1909, more than any other England wicket-keeper in the first sixty years of Test cricket.The conservative cricket establishment of the time was not effusive in its appreciation of this great keeper...
who removed the bails
Stump (cricket)
Stump is a term used in the sport of cricket where it has three different meanings:# part of the wicket# a manner of dismissing a batsman# the end of the day's play .-Part of the wicket:...
and appeal
Appeal (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an appeal is the act of a player on the fielding team asking an umpire for a decision regarding whether a batsman is out or not. According to the Laws of Cricket, an umpire may not rule a batsman out unless the fielding side appeals...
ed for the run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
. Umpire
Umpire (cricket)
In cricket, an umpire is a person who has the authority to make judgements on the cricket field, according to the Laws of Cricket...
Bob Crockett
Bob Crockett
Robert Maxwell Crockett , was an Australian Test match umpire.Crockett umpired a total of 32 Test matches, the highest number by an Australian umpire until passed by Tony Crafter in his last match in 1992...
gave Hill out. Hill could not believe the decision as the ball had passed behind him when he slid his bat to make his ground. The crowd were also convinced that Hill was not out and began to hoot, chanting "Crock!, Crock!, Crock!" Bottles were thrown onto the surrounding cycle track and the English captain Plum Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
threatened to take his team from the ground. At the end of the day, Crockett required a police escort when leaving the ground. Hill's best performance of the series was at his home town, Adelaide, in the Third Test. Hill scored 88 before being dismissed by Ted Arnold
Ted Arnold
Edward George Arnold was an English cricketer who played in ten Test Matches from 1903 to 1907, and most of his 343 first-class matches for Worcestershire between 1899 and 1913...
, caught by the wicket-keeper. Australia won the Test by 216 runs.
Hill toured England for the last time with the 1905 Australian team
Australian cricket team in England in 1905
The Australian cricket team in England in 1905 played 35 first-class matches including 5 Tests. Australia was captained by Joe Darling. The England captain in all five Tests was Stanley Jackson.England won the Test series 2-0 with 3 Tests drawn:...
. The Test series was dominated by what was seen as uninspired cricket with England retaining the Ashes two Tests to nil. The Australian batting suffered from a lack of steadiness and Hill was one of the Australians criticised by Wisden that season; "[Hill] would certainly have met with more consistent success if he had retained his old self-control. He was somewhat indiscriminate in hitting at the off-ball, and many a time his impatience cost him his wicket." However Wisden praised his fielding, saying "Trumper, Hill, and Hopkins did any amount of fine work in the deep field".
The Australians recovered the Ashes from the 1907–08 English team, winning the series four Tests to one. England were hit by the loss of their captain, Arthur Jones
Arthur Jones (cricketer)
Arthur Owen Jones , was a cricketer, noted as an all-rounder.He was born in Shelton, Nottinghamshire, and educated at Bedford Modern School and Jesus College, Cambridge. He played for Cambridge University, Nottinghamshire, London County and England...
who contracted an illness that threatened to develop into pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, causing him to miss the first three Tests. Hill, batting with team-mate Roger Hartigan
Roger Hartigan
Michael Joseph 'Roger' Hartigan was an Australian Test cricketer and Administrator....
playing his first Test match, set a record in the Third Test in Adelaide. Suffering from influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
and unable to field in the English first innings, Hill joined Hartigan at the fall of the seventh wicket
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
. During his innings, Hill vomited beside the pitch and had to quickly leave the field several times. The pair managed to bat on and take the match into a fourth day. Hartigan, whose leave from work had expired, was relieved to receive a telegram from his employer: "Stay as long as you are making runs." When Hartigan was dismissed for 116, the pair had together made 243 for the eighth wicket—still an Australian Test record. With Sammy Carter
Sammy Carter
Hanson Carter was a cricketer who played for Australia and New South Wales.-Career:...
, Hill continued before finally dismissed by Jack Crawford
Jack Crawford (cricketer)
John Neville Crawford was an English first-class cricketer who played mainly for Surrey. An amateur, he played as an all-rounder and was highly regarded from an unusually early age before a disagreement with his county curtailed his career. A right-handed batsman, Crawford had a reputation for...
for 160, after 5 hours and 19 minutes of batting. At the end of his innings Hill was close to collapse but his efforts assisted his team defeat the English by 245 runs.
Captain
Australia were due to tour England to contest the Ashes in 1909. Hill, along with other senior players, was fighting against a proposal to move the management of international tours away from the players to the new Australian Board of Control for International Cricket MatchesCricket Australia
Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket...
. Hill by now was a team selector and strongly opposed the selection in the team of 40-year-old Peter McAlister
Peter McAlister
Peter Alexander McAlister was an Australian cricketer who played in 8 Tests from 1904 to 1909....
, who Hill claimed "was past his best" and "not suited to English conditions". McAlister was also a member of the selection panel and was able to secure a majority for his selection. Hill accused his fellow selectors of conspiracy and said he had "decided to wash his hands of the affair" and that "he did not consider that the best men had been chosen". Hill's relationship with McAlister would remain fractious. Hill was also a delegate on the Board of Control, representing the South Australian Cricket Association
South Australian Cricket Association
The South Australian Cricket Association is the peak body for the sport of cricket in South Australia. The association runs Adelaide Oval and the Southern Redbacks based in Adelaide, South Australia. SACA is the controlling body for the South Australian Grade Cricket League...
(SACA). At the Board meeting in February 1909 to set the terms to be offered to the players selected for the tour, the SACA delegates were outvoted on every point. Hill declined to accept the terms offered. Since his marriage in 1905, Hill had spent considerable time away from his wife with his commitments during two Test series against England and this may have also influenced his decision not to tour.
Aubrey Faulkner
George Aubrey Faulkner was a leading cricketer for South Africa for two decades.-Early life:...
, had a novel bowling attack consisting of several googly
Googly
In cricket, a googly is a type of delivery bowled by a right-arm leg spin bowler. It is occasionally referred to as a Bosie , an eponym in honour of its inventor Bernard Bosanquet.- Explanation :...
bowlers, such as Bert Vogler
Bert Vogler
Albert Edward Ernest Vogler was a South African cricketer.Vogler was born in Swartwater, Queenstown, Eastern Cape. He began his cricket career for Natal as an attacking lower order right-handed batsman and fast medium bowler before acquiring the googly from Reggie Schwarz on that player’s return...
, Reggie Schwarz
Reggie Schwarz
Major Reginald Oscar Schwarz MC, known as Reggie was a South African cricketer and international rugby union footballer.-Early life:...
and Faulkner himself and the chinaman bowler Charlie "Buck" Llewellyn. The South Africans started the tour well, defeating a South Australian team unable to handle the unusual bowling approach. Hill, after consulting with other players, settled on a strategy of hitting the bowlers off their length
Line and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
with aggressive batting. Hill showed the way in the First Test at Sydney, scoring his first 100 runs in 98 minutes. In a partnership with Warren Bardsley
Warren Bardsley
Warren "Curly" Bardsley was an Australian Test cricketer. An opening batsman, Bardsley played 41 Tests between 1909 and 1926 and over 200 first-class games for New South Wales...
, the pair scored 224 runs in only two hours. After just 3 hours and 20 minutes at the crease, he was dismissed for 191; his highest Test score. Australia won the Test by an innings and 114 runs. Australia won the Second Test in Melbourne after bowling the South Africans out for 80 in their second innings, but the South Africans fought back to win the Third Test in Adelaide by 38 runs.
Australia won the Fourth Test by 508 runs after being sent in to bat by South Africa, who hoped to trap them on a rain-affected wicket
Sticky wicket
Sticky wicket is a metaphor used to describe a difficult circumstance; it originates from difficult circumstances in the sport of cricket.-Origins:...
. The Australians managed to end the first day's play at 8/317 to avoid the trap and win the Test. In the second innings, Hill hit another century (100) in only 100 minutes, with Wisden noting that he "play[ed] especially well". Australia won the final Test and the series four Tests to one.
Brawl and boycott
Hill's Test career ended in controversy amid another dispute with the Board of Control. He was once again appointed captain of the Australian team against an English sideEnglish cricket team in Australia in 1911-12
The English cricket team in Australia in 1911–12 was led by Plum Warner, but Johnny Douglas took over the captaincy for all five Test matches when Warner fell ill early in the tour. Despite losing the first Test at Sydney, a side which included Jack Hobbs, Frank Woolley, Sydney Barnes and Wilfred...
captained by Johnny Douglas
Johnny Douglas
John "Johnny" William Henry Tyler Douglas was a cricketer who was captain of the England team and an Olympic boxer.-Early life:...
in 1911–12. The English team included bowlers of the calibre of Barnes and Frank Foster and, after losing the first Test in Sydney, won all four remaining Tests to secure the Ashes. Hill had a lean season with the bat, managing 274 runs at an average of 27.40. The England bowlers were clearly superior to the Australian batsmen; Trumper was the only Australian to score a century during the Tests. While this series took place, the Board of Control made plans to usurp the commonly accepted right of the players to appoint the team manager when touring England. In response, a group of senior players, including Hill, threatened to withdraw from the next tour, to take place in 1912, unless their choice, Frank Laver
Frank Laver
Frank Jonas Laver Frank Jonas Laver Frank Jonas Laver (7 December 1869, Castlemaine, Victoria 24 September 1919, East Melbourne, Victoria was an Australian cricketer who played in 15 Tests from 1899 to 1909....
, was appointed.
Matters came to a head when Hill sent a telegram to fellow selector, Peter McAlister, urging the inclusion of the New South Wales all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
Charlie Macartney in the team for the Fourth Test in Melbourne. The reply from McAlister—a member of the Board of Control who still bore some animosity towards Hill from past comments—to Hill's request was "... Still opposed to Macartney's inclusion. If Iredale
Frank Iredale
Francis Adams Iredale was an Australian Test cricketer who played 14 Tests between 1888 and 1902...
(another selector) agrees with you as to Macartney's inclusion, I favour yourself standing down not Minnett
Roy Minnett
Roy Baldwin Minnett was an Australian cricketer who played in 9 Tests from 1911 to 1912.His two older brothers, Leslie and Rupert, both played for New South Wales....
." Hill saw the offer to remove himself from the team as sore provocation and his team-mates scorned the suggestion. Australia lost the Third Test by seven wickets. Macartney wrote later, "Persistent ill-feeling seriously affected the morale of the side." At a meeting held after the Test, the Board of Control rejected the players' petition and declared that the manager would be appointed by the Board alone. At a "special meeting" two weeks later, the Board appointed George Crouch from Queensland to the position of tour manager.
The following day, 3 February 1912, the selection committee met in Sydney to decide the team for the Fourth Test. It was the first time Hill and McAlister had met since the exchange of telegrams. The pair exchanged insults with McAlister sharply criticising Hill's captaincy. Hill retorted, "In England, Armstrong wouldn't play under you. Did you ever win any except second rate games?"
McAlister replied, "I am a better captain than Trumper, Armstrong and yourself put together. You are the worst captain I have ever seen." Hill then warned McAlister to stop insulting him but McAlister repeated the remark. Losing control, Hill struck McAlister a blow across the face. The two then grappled for around ten minutes. Blood was drawn, staining their clothes and splashing on the other men present, Iredale and secretary Sydney Smith. At one stage, fearing that one or both combatants would fall through the window and onto the street, Smith grabbed hold of Hill's coat-tails. The fight ended with a bloody McAlister lying on the floor and Hill, unmarked, standing over him. Hill told Smith he could no longer work with McAlister. Smith then asked Hill to put his resignation in writing and the Board accepted it that evening.
The crowds at the Melbourne and Sydney Tests gave Hill three cheers when he arrived at the wicket. When Hill reached the batting crease in his last Test at Sydney, the umpire Bob Crockett said "there were tears in his eyes". An in camera
In camera
In camera is a legal term meaning "in private". It is also sometimes termed in chambers or in curia.In camera describes court cases that the public and press are not admitted to...
investigation into the fracas took place; the Board's only comment on the meeting was to report that it had been "satisfactorily settled". Hill was then offered an invitation to take part in the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England. Hill declined the invitation, along with Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921 and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two...
, Trumper, Carter, Noble and Vernon Ransford
Vernon Ransford
Vernon Seymour Ransford was an Australian cricketer who played in 20 Tests between 1907 and 1912. His best series was the 1909 tour of England when he topped the Australian batting averages, helped by a career best score of 143 not out. The following year he was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year...
, who collectively became known as the "Big Six". He never played Test cricket again.
Retirement and legacy
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In support of the benefit
Benefit (sports)
A benefit or testimonial is a match or season of activities granted by a sporting body to a loyal sportsman to boost their income before retirement. Often this is in the form of a match for which all the ticket proceeds are given to the player in question.There have been occasions when a...
s of some former colleagues, he played in a further two first-class matches with his best score of 66 coming in a game against Victoria. His last match was for an Australian XI against New South Wales played to support Bill Howell's benefit.
In all Tests, Hill scored 3,412 runs at an average just under 40 runs per innings and including seven centuries. When he retired he had scored more runs in Test cricket than any other player; a record he held for 12 years until surpassed by Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
. In 1902 Hill was the first to score 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year; the next to do so was Denis Compton
Denis Compton
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches, and a footballer...
45 years later in 1947. Prolific in Australian state cricket as well, he headed the South Australian first-class averages on ten occasions between 1895–96 and 1910–11. In successive innings in 1909–10 he scored 175 against Victoria in Adelaide, 205 against New South Wales and 185 against Victoria in Melbourne. He was the only Australian to score more than 17,000 runs in the period before pitches were protected from rain. In club cricket
South Australian Grade Cricket League
South Australian Grade Cricket is the semi-professional State league based in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. It is currently the highest level of cricket played in South Australia outside first class cricket...
he averaged more than 100 runs for the season on three occasions.
In 2003, the South Australian Cricket Association
South Australian Cricket Association
The South Australian Cricket Association is the peak body for the sport of cricket in South Australia. The association runs Adelaide Oval and the Southern Redbacks based in Adelaide, South Australia. SACA is the controlling body for the South Australian Grade Cricket League...
named the new southern grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
at the Adelaide Oval the "Clem Hill Stand" in recognition of his contribution to South Australian cricket. Hill was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2005.
Outside cricket
Hill served an engineering apprenticeship at the government workshops in IslingtonIslington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
. On retirement from cricket, however, Hill began a career in horse racing administration. He was employed as a stipendiary steward with the South Australian Jockey Club
South Australian Jockey Club
South Australian Jockey Club is the principal race club in South Australia, Australia.The first incarnation of the South Australian Jockey Club was in 1850, when it ran a race programme at Brighton on 14 February. Thomas Shayle was the Hon. Sec...
and the Adelaide Racing Club and in 1937 he was appointed handicapper
Handicapping
Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which the advantage is calculated...
for the Victoria Amateur Turf Club
Melbourne Racing Club
The Melbourne Racing Club is one of three metropolitan horse racing clubs in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It began life as the Victoria Amateur Turf Club in 1875 with Mr. E.C. Moore as the Club's first Secretary. The Dowling Forest Racecourse in Ballarat was the location for the first VATC race...
(VATC) in Melbourne. At the VATC he was responsible for setting the weights for the Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's richest and most prestigious horse races. He served in this role for six years before poor health saw him take a less demanding role at the Geelong Racing Club.
Hill married Florence Hart in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
in 1905. The couple settled in Adelaide and raised two daughters, Lesley and Brenda. When he took up his role with the VATC, Hill and his family moved to Toorak
Toorak, Victoria
Toorak is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district located on a rise on the south side of a bend in the Yarra River. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington...
, an eastern suburb of Melbourne. In 1945, Hill was thrown from a tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
in a traffic accident on busy Collins Street
Collins Street, Melbourne
Collins Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district and runs approximately east to west.It is notable as Melbourne's traditional main street and best known street, is often regarded as Australia's premier street, with some of the country's finest Victorian era buildings.The...
in inner Melbourne. He was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital
Royal Melbourne Hospital
The Royal Melbourne Hospital , located in Parkville, Victoria an inner suburb of Melbourne is one of Australia’s leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research...
and died there soon after aged 68. His body was returned for burial at North Road Cemetery
North Road Cemetery
North Road Cemetery is located in the Adelaide suburb of Nailsworth, approximately 5 km north of the central business district. It is 7.3 hectares in size and there have been over 24,000 burials since its foundation in 1853...
in the Adelaide suburb of Nailsworth
Nailsworth, South Australia
Nailsworth is a suburb located four km north of Adelaide, South Australia. The suburb borders Sefton Park, Prospect, Broadview, Medindie Gardens and Collinswood. The North Road Cemetery is located within the suburb and was founded by Bishop Augustus Short in 1853...
.
Style and personality
Leg side
The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...
. He preferred batting against fast bowling
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
rather than slow and medium pace bowlers and he was a fearless exponent of the hook shot. Hill had a tendency to get out in the "nervous nineties
Nervous nineties
The Nervous Nineties is a commonly used term in cricket.The term refers to a specific form of analysis paralysis, when a batsman feels when he has scored more than 90 runs in a test innings, and is nervous because of the pressure and desire to convert this into a century . Therefore this situation...
", being dismissed six times between 90 and 99 in Test matches. This included a sequence in the 1901–02 series against England of 99, 98 and 97 in successive innings.
An excellent fielder in the deep, Hill had a powerful throwing arm. During a match at Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
during the 1902 tour of England, he threw a ball from near the boundary, knocking down the stumps at one end and rebounding to hit the stumps the other end. During the same tour at Old Trafford, Hill made a catch that Wisden claimed "will never be forgotten by [those present]". A Dick Lilley hit to square leg looked likely to clear the boundary. Hill himself said he raced 25 yards (22.9 m) for it with a view simply to save a boundary. In the event, he ran round 'close to the boundary' from his position at long on, aided by the wind seemingly holding up the ball to take the catch low down in front of the pavilion in his outstretched hands; one that Wisden said "few fieldsmen would have thought worth attempting".
Hill was a man of high ideals and was popular with his fellow players. Pelham Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
commented on his pleasant nature and Robert Trumble
Robert Trumble
Robert William Trumble was an Australian musician and author. Son of international cricketer Hugh Trumble, Robert dedicated his first book, The Golden Age of Cricket, to his father. It was published in Melbourne in 1968.Trumble's musical career was also noted by the Australian media...
, an author and son of Hugh Trumble
Hugh Trumble
Hugh Trumble was an Australian cricketer who played 32 Test matches as a bowling all-rounder between 1890 and 1904. He captained the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wickets in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average of...
, recalled him as honest, direct and without guile. An anecdote told about Hill had him hitting a low shot into shadows where Warren Bardsley
Warren Bardsley
Warren "Curly" Bardsley was an Australian Test cricketer. An opening batsman, Bardsley played 41 Tests between 1909 and 1926 and over 200 first-class games for New South Wales...
was fielding. He completed one run and then asked the umpire if the ball had been caught. The shadow made it impossible for the umpire to see, so Hill then asked Bardsley, "Did you catch it?" When Bardsley replied in the affirmative, Hill immediately walked to the pavilion. When England won four Tests in a row in 1911–12, Hill managed to retain the confidence of his players. Frank Iredale
Frank Iredale
Francis Adams Iredale was an Australian Test cricketer who played 14 Tests between 1888 and 1902...
wrote that Hill was a cheery skipper whose men were happy under his leadership. Despite breaking many records, Hill showed little awareness of them. When watching Jack Hobbs
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches from 1908 to 1930....
break his record for the most runs in Test cricket at Headingley
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
in 1926, it was Hobbs' wife sitting nearby who had to remind Hill that the record was previously his.