 As evidenced by the manner in which Hewett left Somerset and walked off during the Scarborough Festival of 1895, he possessed a short fuse. Team-mate Frederic John Poynton characterised his captain as a player who suffered "from a deep, difficult nature, which once upset, took long to recover". He was a strong leader who was both respected and feared by his colleagues. In 1885, Somerset County Cricket Club had failed to field eleven players for some of their first-class contests, and in most of their other matches were a poor side. Hewett took on the county captaincy in 1889, and in his second year led his side unbeaten against fellow county opposition to win the 'Second-class County Championship', and gain re-admission to the first-class game. Hewett's batting and captaincy were aided by the emergence of Woods and Palairet, both of whom were named as Wisden Cricketers of the Year between 1889 and 1893. In 1891, Somerset finished joint fifth among the nine first-class counties, while the subsequent year they rose to third. Hewett's final season at Somerset was the county's least successful under his captaincy, winning just four of their sixteen matches to finish in eighth.
