Joseph Hardstaff (9 November 1882 – 2 April 1947) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er who played for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

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 ...

. He was born in

Kirkby-in-Ashfield Kirkby-in-Ashfield is a market town in the Ashfield District of Nottinghamshire, England. With a population of 25,265 (according to the 2001 National Census), it is a part of the wider Mansfield Urban Area. The Head Offices of Ashfield Distr ...

. With the rise to cricket prominence of his son, also called Joseph (Joe), he is generally referred to as "Joe Hardstaff senior" or "Joe Hardstaff Sr". Hardstaff made his debut during 1902, playing one match against Lancashire scoring 2. He was a central figure in the Notts side until he retired at the end of the 1924 season. He was primarily a middle-order batsman, though he occasionally bowled medium, especially after the war. Having helped his county to its first

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 ...

in 1907, he was picked for the tour to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1907/08, captained by the Nottinghamshire county captain Arthur Jones. Hardstaff was a big success on the tour, scoring more runs in first-class matches than any other batsman, and coming third, behind George Gunn and

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 ...

, in the

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

. His subsequent form precluded further selection for although he passed 1000 runs seven times in England, and once on his sole overseas tour. Apart from 1911, he rarely featured amongst the leading batsmen in the averages. He was selected, surprisingly, in 1910, for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lords. He appeared three times in this fixture at the Oval. He was on the MCC staff during the early part of his career and after he retired. After retirement, he played occasional matches for MCC and became a first-class

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

, standing in 21 Test matches. His appearances at International level were limited because of the inclusion of his son Joe Hardstaff Jr in the England team from the mid-1930s.

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* 1882 births 1947 deaths English Test cricket umpires English cricketers England Test cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Players cricketers North v South cricketers People from Kirkby-in-Ashfield Cricketers from Nottinghamshire Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers {{England-Test-cricket-bio-stub