HAS LEFT GRACE’S RECORD BEHIND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18208, 15 July 1927, Page 12

HAS LEFT GRACE’S RECORD BEHIND.

(Written for the Star.’*) IT is rather interesting to speculate how many centuries Jack Hobbs would have bad to his credit now if the war had not interfered with cricket in England for four years. The other day lie made his hundredth century in first-class cricket for Surrey, and his total of centuries in" all first-class matches is now 142. He has left Grace’s record of 126 centuries in first-class cricket well behind, and these two great batsmen arc well ahead of anyone else as century makers, the next on the list being T. Hayward, who for many years was opening batsman with Ilobbs for Surrey, and who made a total of 101 centuries in firstclass cricket. Hobbs first played lor Surrey in 1905, when he was 23 years of age. He was not long in establishing a name for himself, and in the season 1907-08 he was a member of the English team that visited Australia under the captaincy of A. O. Jones. He scored two centuries during that tour, but not in test matches. The first century he made for England was against South Africa at Gape Town in the 1909-10 season. Ilobbs scored his first century for England against Australia in the 191112 season, when he made 126 not out at Melbourne. In all Ilobbs has scored eleven centuries for England against Australia. This is a record, and he also holds the record for the greatest number of runs scored by any batsman in tests between the two countries. Hobbs’s total stands at 2884, Avith an average of 58.85 runs a wicket. Ilis nearest ri\-al is Clem Hill, who in ail made a total of 2660 runs for Australia against England, with an average of 35.46.

Some men may be too old for firstclass cricket at forty, but Ilobbs is certainly not one of that type, for one of Iris most successful seasons was in 1925, when ho made no fewer than sixteen centuries in first-class cricket. He was then 43 years of age. It was in this season that he beat W. G. Grace’s record of 126 centuries, a feat which caused tremendous excitement in England. Sixteen centuries in firstclass matches in a season is a record for English cricket, the previous record being 13, made by C. B. Fry in 1901, and equalled by Tom Hayward in 1906 and bv E. Hendren in 1923. Further, in 1925 Hobbs, for the first time in his career scored over 3000 runs during the season, his total amounting to 3024 at an average of 70.32. Last season Hobbs and Sutcliffe were again the mainstay of England’s batting in the tests with Australia. Hobbs scored a couple of centuries in these tests and his batting average for the five tests was SI. Last year he made the highest score of his career. 316 not out, v. Middlesex, at Lords' This season Hobbs does not seem to be doing quite so well as usual, though early in May he made a century in each innings for Surrey against Hampshire, a feat that he had performed on three previous occasions for his county, and the other day he made a century, Avhich brought his total oT three-figure scores for Surrey to three figures. Hobbs will be 45 years of age next December, so that his career as a firstclass cricketer may not last for a great many more years, but, whatever happens in the future, he will go down in history as one of the greatest batsmen