William Hyman (7 March 1875 – 11 February 1959), known as "Bill" or "Billy", played
first-class cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
for
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
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, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
from 1900 to 1914. He was born at
Radstock
Radstock is a town and civil parish on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, about south-west of Bath and north-west of Frome. It is within the area of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset. The Radstoc ...
, Somerset and died at Mount Charles,
St Austell, Cornwall.
Cricket career
Hyman was a right-handed middle order batsman who was renowned in club cricket as a hitter. He played for the first few years of his first-class cricket career as an occasional amateur player, but in the final years, from 1912 to 1914, he turned professional and played for Somerset much more frequently.
Hyman made his debut for Somerset in the same 1900 match against
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
at
Dewsbury that saw the debut of
A. E. Bailey, but after that every other match of the small number that he played for the county up to August 1912 was held at
Bath, where he also played his club cricket. In none of these first-class matches did Hyman make much impact: until 1912, his highest score was less than 20.
His renown rested much more firmly on his club cricket career and on one particular match between
Bath and Thornbury Cricket Club at the
Thornbury ground in 1902. In that match, Hyman made an unbeaten 359 out of a Bath total of 466 for six wickets, with 32 sixes off the
lob
Lob may refer to:
Sports
* Lob (pickleball)
* Lob (tennis)
* Lob (association football), a lofted pass or shot in association football
* Lob bowling, an archaic bowling style in cricket
People
* Lob Brown, American college football player
* L ...
bowling of
E. M. Grace
Edward Mills Grace (28 November 1841 – 20 May 1911) was an English first-class cricketer in the second half of the 19th century who was an all-rounder, batting right-handed and bowling slow right arm underarm. He played for Gloucestershire C ...
, the elder brother of
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...
and himself a
Test
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
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* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
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player (though by now 60 years of age).
He hit 62 runs from two consecutive overs of bowling from Grace.
Other Thornbury bowlers that day included
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
first-class players
Edward Spry and
Arthur Paish
Arthur Paish (5 April 1874 – 16 August 1948) was an English cricketer. He played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire for five seasons, as well as playing professionally for smaller clubs. Paish worked as groundsman and coach for Wagon ...
. "Some say that it took him 110 minutes, others that it was a good deal less," says the account in Somerset's history.
Hyman was not able to reproduce this form in first-class cricket but from August 1912 and through the next two first-class seasons, he played pretty regularly as a professional batsman for Somerset, though the move had limited success. In 1913, he played an innings of 110 in the match against
Sussex at Bath, and shared in a second-wicket partnership of 159 with
Peter Randall Johnson
Peter Randall Johnson (5 August 1880 – 1 July 1959) was a cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Somerset and several amateur sides in a long first-class cricket career that stretched from 1900 to 1927. During his career, he appears to ...
. But this was his only score above 50 in the season and his batting average was just 17.
The following season, 1914, was no more successful and Hyman had only one good match, a game against
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
in August 1914 in which he scored 60 and 34, the first of these innings being his only score of 50 or more in the season. When cricket was suspended for the First World War at the end of the 1914 season, Hyman's cricket career came to an end.
Outside cricket
Hyman was also a football player and appeared alongside three of his brothers for the local
Radstock Town F.C. team, as well as playing for
Bath City F.C.
Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...
and the Somerset county soccer side.
His cousin
Ernest Hyman was a footballer who died from injuries sustained while playing for
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyman, Bill
1875 births
1959 deaths
English cricketers
Somerset cricketers
People from Radstock