Robert Abel (30 November 1857 – 10 December 1936), nicknamed "The Guv'nor", was a
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
opening
batsman
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...
who was one of the most prolific run-getters in the early years of the
County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
. He was the first England player to "carry his bat" – opening the batting and remaining not out at the end of an innings – through a
Test
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
innings, and the first player to score 2000 runs in consecutive seasons – which he did each season from 1895 to 1902. In 1899 for Surrey against Somerset at The Oval, Abel carried his bat through an innings of 811, the highest total for which this feat has been achieved.
His 357* in that innings remains a Surrey record, and was the highest score made at
The Oval
The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
until
Len Hutton
Sir Leonard Hutton (23 June 1916 – 6 September 1990) was an English cricketer. He played as an opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England in 79 Test matches between 1937 and 1955. '' Wisden Cricke ...
scored 364 in 1938. Abel also played a record number of
first-class matches in a season – 41 in 1902.
Abel was physically small, tall and slimly built. He suffered in the later part of his career from serious vision problems that could have handicapped him against fast bowling; however, his ability to produce eccentric, unorthodox cross-batted strokes – particularly the pull around his legs – complemented with determination and stamina, brought Abel success even on difficult pitches, and made him popular with the public.
Cricket career
![W G Grace and Bobby Abel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/W_G_Grace_and_Bobby_Abel.png)
Abel first played for Surrey in
1881, but did not achieve much until 1883. He scored 1000 runs for the first time in
1886.
In 1888 Abel scored 1323 runs including nine scores over fifty.
In that year he played his first Test matches, scoring 70 in England's victory at The Oval against a side containing the fine bowler
Charles Turner. In March 1889, Abel scored 120 in the Test match at Cape Town before England dismissed South Africa for 47 and 43, thus scoring more than the opposition managed in both of their innings.
For the next fourteen years, except for
1893
Events
January–March
* January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America.
* Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson.
* January 6 – Th ...
when he was handicapped by injury, Abel was always one of the leading run-scorers in England. Despite missing out on Test selection in 1890, Abel returned to his best form in
1891 and played well in Australia the following winter.
In
1895 Abel began to stand out as an exceptional run-getter, when he became only the fourth player ever to reach 2000 runs, including his first double hundred against Essex at
The Oval
The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...
. Although after 1896 his problematic eyesight made the Test selectors unwilling to choose him, Abel's accumulation of runs continued to increase: he was the only player to reach 2000 runs in 1897 and 1898, he scored 2685 runs in
1899, 2592 in
1900
As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...
, and 3309 – the highest aggregate at the time – in
1901, before again scoring 2000 in 1902.
Abel's batting on "sticky wickets" in
1902 resulted in a recall from the national selectors for the Sheffield and Old Trafford Test matches, but he managed only four ordinary scores. Injury in 1903 caused the Surrey selection committee to drop him in early July. Even though he was fit again in 1904, Abel reached 50 only six times in 20 matches, and retired – to be replaced by
Jack Hobbs
Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882– 21 December 1963), always known as Jack Hobbs, was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Mast ...
.
Later life and death
In later life, Abel became completely
blind. He died at the age of 79 in
Stockwell
Stockwell is a district in south west London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell.
History
The na ...
, London, and is buried in
Nunhead Cemetery
Nunhead Cemetery is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London, England. It is perhaps the least famous and celebrated of them. The cemetery is located in Nunhead in the London Borough of Southwark and was originally known as All Saints ...
, along with his wife Sarah (née Reffell).
They had 11 children. Two sons also played cricket for Surrey:
Tom and
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
.
Legacy
A
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
commemorating Abel was unveiled on the art gallery in
Southwark Park
Southwark Park is located in Rotherhithe, in central South East London, England, and is managed by the London Borough of Southwark. It first opened in 1869 by the Metropolitan Board of Works as one of its first parks. It was designed by Alexander ...
in 2005.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Bobby
1857 births
1936 deaths
English cricketers
England Test cricketers
Surrey cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
North v South cricketers
Players cricketers
Married v Single cricketers
Players of the South cricketers
Home Counties cricketers
C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers
Lord Londesborough's XI cricketers
Blind people from England
Burials at Nunhead Cemetery