Alan Hill (1928 – 5 February 2021
) was a prominent English biographer of
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
ers.
Career
Hill grew up in Yorkshire, and worked as a journalist, first in Yorkshire, then in London, where he joined
Hayter's Sports Agency.
[ He won The Cricket Society/MCC Book of the Year award twice: in 1986 for '']Hedley Verity
Hedley Verity (18 May 1905 – 31 July 1943) was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire and England national cricket team, England between 1930 and 1939. A Left-arm orthodox spin, slow left-arm orth ...
: A Portrait of a Cricketer'', and in 1991 for ''Herbert Sutcliffe
Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English Professionalism#Sports, professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Yorkshire and England national cricket team, England as an opening batsman. A ...
: Cricket Maestro''.
Reviewing ''Herbert Sutcliffe'' in ''Wisden
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...
'', John Arlott
Leslie Thomas John Arlott, (25 February 1914 – 14 December 1991) was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's '' Test Match Special''. He was also a poet and wine connoisseur. With his poetic phraseology, he becam ...
called Hill's biographies "distinguished", "right in subject, treatment and content", and added: "Mr Hill's style is both balanced and unfussy; he knows when to state and when to quote ... he constantly leads the reader to think, thus heightening both his concentration and his interest." Reviewing ''Daring Young Men'' for Cricinfo
ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...
, Rob Steen called Hill "a nostalgist of occasional elegance and vast industry". In ''Wisden'' in 2003 Frank Keating
Francis Anthony Keating II (born February 10, 1944, as David Rowland Keating) is an American attorney, politician and a former FBI special agent who served as the 25th governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003.
, Keating is one of only five gover ...
said, "Down the years, the diligent cuttings-librarian Hill has been a productive cottage industry, doing the game proud with a succession of fond and important studies".
Alan Hill lived and worked in the Mid Sussex village of Lindfield for the last 50 years of his life.[
]
Books
* ''The Family Fortune: A Saga of Sussex Cricket'' (1978)
* ''A Chain of Spin Wizards'' (1983)
* ''Hedley Verity: A Portrait of a Cricketer'' (1986)
* ''Johnny Wardle: Cricket Conjuror'' (1988)
* ''Les Ames'' (1990)
* ''Herbert Sutcliffe: Cricket Maestro'' (1991)
* ''Bill Edrich: A Biography'' (1994)
* ''Peter May: The Authorised Biography'' (1996)
* ''Jim Laker: A Biography'' (1998)
* ''The Bedsers: Twinning Triumphs'' (2001)
* ''Brian Close: Cricket's Lionheart'' (2002)
* ''Daring Young Men: The Story of England's Victorious Tour of Australia and New Zealand, 1954-55'' (2005)
* ''Tony Lock: Aggressive Master of Spin'' (2008)
* ''The Valiant Cricketer: The Biography of Trevor Bailey'' (2012)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Alan
1928 births
2021 deaths
Cricket writers
English sportswriters
English biographers
People from Lindfield, West Sussex