A GREAT BATSMAN.

Hokitika Guardian, 21 July 1923, Page 1

A GREAT BATSMAN.

It puts a batsman among the ericke imiii. rials when he scores his hundredtl century ill lir.st-elass matches, and .J B. 11 old s, of Surrey, accomplished tin feat mi Tuesday against Somerset a I Bath by knocking up IMS not out. say.a writer in “Horse and Hound,” ol May 12th. Them arc only three batsmen with ibis feat to their names cud it i- .something nf a leal her in the Surrey can that two of them have played for that club Tern Hayward ami ! Ini,lts. Hayward had 10 ! centuries in his credit. The oilier player was, almost of course. W. G. Grace, the Colossus of cricket, who scored I2(i i ell I u rics; and there i-- still time for Hobbs to pm himself at the top of the lice. He ought easily, ill fact, to surpass Hayward’s total this season. I here is no one to dispute his endeavour to get beyond the recordset up by Grace, for his ncaicst attendant is C. B. Fry, who has ninety-four cenftii'ios to his credit, next coming .1. T. Tyldesley, ol Lancashire, with eighty-six. Hobbs last season scored ton centuries, which number represents his average for the past six years, so that in throe more seasons, if all goes well with him and lie keeps his form, he should beat "W. CL" Cambridgeshire shares in the glory of Hayward and llobbs. for both hailed from that county. Hobbs "as twenty-one when he first played for Surrey iu a county match, and i scored 100 then—u splendid lead-ofT full of promise which has been abundantly justified. He has developed into undoubtedly the greatest batsman of to-day, and but for the war-years he might easily, even by now. have suipassed his great predecessor in the matter of centuries. He is an enormous .asset to Surrey, for lie cannot only bat but he can howl when the team is in a tight corner.