Alfred Ernest Hind (7 April 1878 – 21 March 1947) was an English sportsman who played

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 ...

for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

Personal history

Hind was born in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

in 1878. He was educated at

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils 13–18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. ...

before entering

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

in 1897. He gained four sporting Blues in athletics between 1898 and 1901 and ran the 100 yards in 9.8 seconds on two occasions. He gained a further Blue with the rugby team in 1900. On leaving university he became a solicitor.

Cricket career

A right arm medium pace bowler and handy lower order batsman, Hind played most of his cricket for Cambridge but also appeared in a first-class match for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. That match came in the 1901 County Championship, against Leicestershire at Aylestone Road, but in a low scoring encounter but wasn't called on to bowl by his captain Arthur Jones. The previous year he had played a three-day match for Nottinghamshire against the touring West Indians and made what would have been his highest score of 60 except the match wasn't awarded first-class status. Hind's first year at Cambridge University Cricket Club was his best, claiming 35 wickets at 17.91 in 1898. He took his career best figures of 7 for 30 on debut, in a University Match against CI Thornton's England XI and despite him taking a further two wickets in the second innings they still lost the match. Perhaps the biggest name out of his 80 first-class victims was the great

W.G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

, whom Hind dismissed when the England Test cricketer was playing for the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1900.

Rugby career

Hind had a long and distinguished rugby career, first representing

while a student. He played in

the Varsity Match The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England. The event began in 1872 with the first men's match, with interruptions only for the two World Wars and the COVID-19 pandemic ...

of 1900 and on leaving he joined

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

full time having made his Tigers debut on 7 October 1899 against

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. Hind played 127 times for Leicester between 1899 and 1906. He played in 5 consecutive Midland Counties Cup finals, scoring a hat trick in the 1905 final against Nottingham. The high point of his career came in the 1905–1906 season when he faced

The Original All Blacks The Original All Blacks (also known simply as "The Originals") were the first New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand national rugby union team to tour outside Australasia. They toured the British Isles, France and the United State ...

three times in 6 weeks, first for Leicester, then Midlands Counties before making his debut against them on 2 December 1905. His other cap came the same season when he played against in a Home Nations encounter. In 1903 he toured South Africa with the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

. He also played club rugby at

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, mostly as a winger, playing 43 times for the club between 1902 and 1908.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hind, Alfred 1878 births 1947 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Cambridge University cricketers Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Cricketers from Preston, Lancashire England international rugby union players English cricketers English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Nottingham R.F.C. players Nottinghamshire cricketers People educated at Uppingham School Rugby union players from Preston, Lancashire Rugby union wings