Alexander Stuart Kennedy (24 January 1891 – 15 November 1959) was a Scottish
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 ...
er. He played for
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Hamp ...
and in five
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (associa ...
for the
England cricket team
The England men's cricket team represents cricket in England, England and cricket in Wales, Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Maryleb ...
. His career spanned the period between 1907 and 1936 and he is one of the ten highest wicket-takers in
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...
.
Cricket career
Kennedy was a right-arm medium-pace bowler who first played for Hampshire when he was only 16. He played only irregularly up to 1910, but in 1912 became the third highest wicket-taker in county cricket, with 112 wickets at an average of 17. After injury in 1913, Kennedy took 164 wickets, average 20, in 1914. In 1919 he took seven for 47 against Surrey at the Oval – one of only three games Surrey lost at The Oval between the end of World War I and 1927.
Although he began as a tail-end batsman, Kennedy developed his defence so well that by 1921 he often opened the batting. When he scored 101 against
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
in 1923, ''Wisden'' remarked "he was caution itself up to a point, but hit twelve fours". However, his batting was inconsistent and declined during his later career.
With the development of his batting, Kennedy was between 1921 and 1932 one of the most effective all-rounders in the game. Kennedy toured South Africa in 1922–23, where he did well on the matting pitches, taking 31 wickets in his only Test series."Obituary", ''
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 ...
'' 1960, p. 953. He returned to South Africa in 1924–25 with S. B. Joel's XI, taking 21 wickets in the five-match series of matches against South Africa.
Kennedy took his best figures of 10 for 37 for Players against Gentlemen in 1927. He took over 100 wickets every season apart from 1926 until 1932, after which he was selected as one of Wisden's ''
Cricketers of the Year
The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...
''. The dry summers of 1933 and 1934 saw Kennedy's bowling decline, but he still played a vital role as Hampshire's stock bowler. He retired to coach at
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...
at the end of 1934, but returned to the Hampshire team during the school holidays and bowled effectively – aided by the new
leg before wicket
Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a Batting (cricket), batter can be dismissal (cricket), dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an Appeal (cricket), appeal by the Fielding (cricket), fielding side, the umpire (cricket), ...
law – taking seven for 46 against
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...
, and six for 94 against
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. After a few matches in 1936 Kennedy's first-class career ended for good.
He coached cricket in South Africa from 1947 to 1954.