Frederick James Hyland (16 December 1893 — 27 February 1964) was an English first-class

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 known for having the shortest first-class career ever, lasting just 12 balls.

Life and cricket

The seventh child of George and Frances Annie Hyland, he was born in December 1893 at Sedlescombe, Sussex. As a child, his family moved regularly around England as his father, an agricultural labourer, sought jobs at different estates. In 1917, he married Ada Flucke at Holy Trinity Church,

East Finchley East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill, it straddles the London Boroughs of London Borough of Barnet, Barnet and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey, with most of East F ...

. Around this time, he was resident at

Addlestone Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Runnymede (borough), Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement. Geography Addlesto ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, where he was employed as a gardener. By 1921, he had moved south to Ringwood. There he was in business with his brother-in-law as a florist, fruiterer and gardener, with their business partnership being dissolved in October 1923. In Ringwood, Hyland played

club cricket Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obse ...

for Ringwood Cricket Club as a bowler. Following a strong season in 1923, coupled with gaining of his Hampshire residential qualification, Hyland came to the attention of

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 was invited to play in a trial match at the start of the 1924 season, in which it is recorded 'he did quite well'. A month later, with

Ronnie Aird Ronald Aird (4 May 1902 – 16 August 1986) was an English first-class cricketer, cricket administrator and British Army officer. Aird began his first-class cricket career with Hampshire County Cricket Club in 1920, making over 100 appearances ...

, Alex Bowell and Geoffrey Lowndes unavailable for their

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

match 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 ...

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, he was selected by

Lionel Tennyson Lionel Hallam Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson (7 November 1889 – 6 June 1951) was known principally as a first-class cricketer who captained Hampshire and England. He was the grandson of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Early life and family The ...

to play in the match as a

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

. Only two overs were bowled across the three days of the match due to rain, therefore Hyland was not able to bat or bowl; his is the shortest first-class career of all time, by some 47 balls. Hyland travelled with the Hampshire team to their next fixture which followed immediately after at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test cricket, Test, One-day cricket, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nott ...

against

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 ...

, but with batsman Aird becoming available for selection once again, he was replaced in the Hampshire squad and did not play for the county again. Following the 1924 season, he moved on from Hampshire to Norfolk, where he appeared as a

substitute fielder A substitute in the sport of cricket is a replacement player that the umpires allow when a player has been injured or become ill, after the nomination of the players at the start of the game. The rules for substitutes appear in Law 24 of the ''L ...

for

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

in a

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

match in 1926. He later settled in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, where he became a nurseryman of some repute. In Cheshire he played club cricket for Winnington Park and was groundsman for

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British Chemical industry, chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was listed on the London Stock Exchange ...

cricket ground at their Winnington Works, in addition to looking after two other grounds in the area. From 1945 to 1959, he ran a pet store in

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

High Street, which he transferred to his son in 1960. Hyland died in Cheshire at

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

in February 1964, with his cause of death being recorded as

mitral stenosis Mitral stenosis is a valvular heart disease characterized by the Stenosis, narrowing of the opening of the mitral valve of the heart. It is almost always caused by Rheumatic Heart Disease, rheumatic valvular heart disease. Normally, the mitral va ...

. He was survived by wife, their daughter and two sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hyland, Frederick 1893 births 1964 deaths People from Sedlescombe English cricketers Hampshire cricketers English horticulturists Groundskeepers English businesspeople Cricketers from East Sussex 20th-century English sportsmen