deliveries columns catches/stumpings year tenfor bowling country fivefor batting image name lasttestyear column international testdebutdate source date runs testdebutyear wickets lasttestdate s/s matches article_title
462 56917 2 4 / - 230 / - 1933 - 24 right-arm fast english - 101 right-hand bat 1193364 bill hitch.jpg bill hitch 1935 tests first-class true 15 december http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/14222.html 15 december 103 7643 1933 7 1387 13 july - / 1 3/32 7 350 bill hitch

bill hitch

john william `` bill '' hitch , born radcliffe , lancashire , on 7 may 1886 , and died at cardiff on 7 july 1965 , was a cricketer who played for surrey and england .
a lancastrian , hitch was bowling for a club in cambridgeshire when he was spotted by surrey 's batsman tom hayward and recommended to the oval .
from his debut in 1907 , he quickly established himself as one of the fastest bowlers in first-class cricket , and his rumbustious lower-order batting and general enthusiasm made him a favourite with the crowds .
in 1908 he took 58 wickets including 13 in a remarkably heavy win against kent at the oval , but it was not until the latter part of 1910 that hitch entered the public eye .
his aggressive hitting brought him such innings as 74 against middlesex on a difficult wicket , whilst at northampton he made 54 and took 9 for 101 - bowling unchanged with razor smith throughout both innings apart from one over .
however , it was hitch 's brilliant close catching that garnered the critics ' attention and helped smith to a bag of wickets unrivalled for surrey except by tom richardson in his great days between 1893 and 1897 .
in the abnormally dry summer of 1911 , hitch was the third-highest wicket-taker in england -lrb- with 151 -rrb- but it was generally felt he should have done better and was not as accurate as a top-class bowler should be .
nonetheless , hitch toured australia in 1911-12 and played for england both then and during the 1912 triangular tournament .
he also played tests against warwick armstrong 's all-conquering australian cricket team both home and away in 1920-21 and 1921 .
but in seven matches hitch took only 11 wickets , and his most notable achievement was an innings of 51 in just 40 minutes at the oval in 1921 .
1912 - a summer in which fast bowlers generally had an impossible task just to get a foothold - saw hitch against essex at leyton produce some of the fastest and most difficult bowling in the history of the game - probably at a speed of around .
in 1913 , hitch improved his accuracy enough to take 174 wickets , including seven hauls of ten in a match , and be a wisden cricketer of the year for 1914 .
he maintain this form in 1914 and 1919 but fell off as a bowler afterwards as he lost some of his terrific speed , but compensated in 1921 by scoring over a thousand runs at an average over thirty .
his batting feats included 74 in 35 minutes against nottinghamshire and his highest score of 107 against somerset at bath in 1922 was made in just 70 minutes .
after retiring in 1925 , hitch played lancashire league cricket for four years before becoming coach at glamorgan .
he also served as a first-class umpire during this period .
