Mervyn Hill
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mervyn Llewellyn Hill (23 June 1902 – 27 February 1948) was a Welsh 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 ...
wicketkeeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a catch, stump the batsman out, or run out a batsman when occasion arises. The wicket-ke ...
and batsman for
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
between 1921 and 1932, and also appeared in matches for
Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...
and
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 ...
. He was also a member of the
Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...
(MCC) team that toured India in 1926–27 and helped lay the foundation for India's entry into
Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...
. Hill was born at
Llandaff Llandaff (; ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of the Bisho ...
,
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
,
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
and died in
Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
, London.


Family and background

Mervyn Hill's father was the Somerset and
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
cricketer Vernon Hill, who had moved back to south Wales to practise as a lawyer in the late 1890s. Vernon Hill's own father, Sir Edward Stock Hill, had a career that similarly straddled the
Severn Estuary The Severn Estuary () is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England (from North Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire) and South Wales (from Cardiff, Newport to Monmouthshire). Its very h ...
, with business interests and his home in Cardiff, but acting as Member of Parliament for
Bristol South Bristol South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Karin Smyth of the Labour Party. Constituency profile Bristol South is a traditional white working class seat. Residents' wealth is around a ...
from 1886 to 1900. Mervyn's brother, Evelyn Hill, played cricket for Somerset in 13 matches between 1926 and 1929.


Cricket career

Hill was educated at
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
and played in the 1920 and 1921 Eton v Harrow cricket matches at
Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...
as a lower-order right-handed batsman and wicketkeeper. In August 1920 he made his first-class cricket debut playing for a side called the "Gentlemen of England" against the Combined Services also at Lord's: he was not out 0 at the end of the first innings having batted at No 11 and out for 0 when he batted at No 1 in the second innings. He made his county debut for Somerset in a single match against
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
in August 1921, scoring 1 and 0, and played another single match for Somerset in 1922, making 0 in his only innings against
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
. By this stage, in five first-class innings he had made only one run. Lack of batting prowess was evident in his cricket career at Cambridge too: he went up to
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 ...
in the autumn of 1921, studying at Pembroke College, and played in the Freshmen's trial match at the start of the 1922 cricket season, but made just one run in two innings. In 1923, he played in two trial matches and failed to score in all four innings (one of them not out). But he was given a single first-class match by Cambridge in 1923 and, after scoring his customary 0 (not out) in the first innings against
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, he proceeded to unprecedented heights in the second innings by making 2. In the middle of the 1923 season, he turned out in three matches for Glamorgan and though he continued to bat at No 10 or No 11, he made runs: 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 ...
he made 35, including 30 runs off two overs of bowling by fast bowler Frank Matthews. In 1924, he played in four matches for Cambridge University without success, and also returned for two games to Somerset. Hill played fairly regular first-class cricket for Somerset in only two seasons, 1925 and 1926. In 1925, he played in 18 matches for the county and was also picked for the
Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of cricket matches that began in July 1806 and was abolished in January 1963. It was a match between a team consisting of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and a team consisting of professionals (the Players ...
game at
The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...
, sharing a last-wicket partnership of 48 with
Gubby Allen Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen CBE (31 July 190229 November 1989) was a cricketer who captained England in eleven Test matches. In first-class matches, he played for Middlesex and Cambridge University. A fast bowler and hard-hit ...
after Allen and Nigel Haig had put on 193 for the ninth wicket. For much of the 1925 season, Hill batted at No 11 for Somerset, but elevation to No 10 in the match against Cambridge University at
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
brought him a personal best score of 46 and a share in a ninth wicket partnership of 103 that more than doubled Somerset's total. Hill was the wicketkeeper for the match between Somerset and
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 ...
in August 1925 when
Jack Hobbs Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882 – 21 December 1963) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Master", he is widely regarded ...
first equalled and then beat
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 ...
's record of 126 first-class centuries. An article on the website www.cricinfo.com in 2008 says that Hill had the opportunity to stump Hobbs when the Surrey batsman had reached 97 in pursuit of his second century of the match: "He danced down the pitch, missed the ball but Mervyn Hill failed – or chose not to – complete the stumping." The 1926 season was Hill's best with the bat and against
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
at
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...
, batting at No 10, he hit 60 in "just over half an hour", with two sixes and 10 fours and including 18 off a single over from Charles Parker. In the next match, against
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
at
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
, he did it again, making exactly 50 from the exalted position of No 9. And later in the 1926 season, though Hill had by then resumed his usual position at the end of the Somerset batting line-up, there was a third score of more than 50 – an innings of 53 that formed the bulk of a last-wicket partnership of 76 with George Hunt in the match against
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
at Bath. The three 50s in 1926 were the only innings of more than 50 in Hill's career.


MCC tour of India

Apart from the single Gentlemen v Players appearance, Hill's only taste of representative cricket came on an arduous tour of India made by the
Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...
from October 1926 to February 1927. The tour was billed as a visit to India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), but matches were also played in the territories now inside the borders of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar (Burma). The team was led by the former
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 ...
captain Arthur Gilligan and contained a mixture of Test and county standard players, both amateur and professional. Hill was one of two wicketkeepers: the other was
George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * Ge ...
of Hampshire. Both wicketkeepers fell ill on the tour, and Hill played no matches for six weeks in the middle of the tour. Arthur Dolphin of
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
who was coaching in India for the Maharaja of Patiala, was co-opted for some matches when neither Hill nor Brown was fit (as was
Maurice Leyland Maurice Leyland (20 July 1900 – 1 January 1967) was an English international cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938. In first-class cricket, he represented Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1920 and 1946, scoring ove ...
, also working for the Maharaja, to cover other illnesses). Hill played in little more than a third of the 26 first-class matches on the tour – some of them were of only two-days duration but only the single-innings games were not considered first-class – but stayed for the whole tour, which was rated a success by the MCC and was a factor that led to the entry of India into Test cricket.


Later cricket career

The Indian tour marked virtually the end of Hill's cricket career. For the 1927 season, Somerset gave a full-time contract to the professional wicketkeeper, Wally Luckes, and Hill appeared in only three further first-class matches, one each in 1927, 1928 and 1932.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Mervyn 1902 births 1948 deaths People educated at Eton College English cricketers Welsh cricketers Somerset cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 People from Llandaff Cricketers from Cardiff