Jack Hearne (John Thomas Hearne)

J. T. Hearne

Personal information
Full name	John Thomas Hearne
Born	(1867-05-03)3 May 1867 Chalfont St Giles, England
Died	17 April 1944(1944-04-17) (aged 76) Chalfont St Giles, England
Nickname	Old Jack
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm medium
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 78)	19 March 1892 v South Africa
Last Test	19 July 1899 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1888–1923	Middlesex
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class Matches 12 639 Runs scored 126 7,205 Batting average 9.00 11.98 100s/50s 0/0 0/8 Top score 40 71 Balls bowled 2,976 144,470 Wickets 49 3,061 Bowling average 22.08 17.75 5 wickets in innings 4 255 10 wickets in match 1 66 Best bowling 6/41 9/32 Catches/stumpings 4/– 425/–
Source: CricketArchive, 10 July 2013

John Thomas Hearne (3 May 1867 – 17 April 1944) (known either as Jack Hearne or J. T. Hearne to avoid confusion with J. W. Hearne to whom he was distantly related) was a Middlesex and England medium-fast bowler. His aggregate of 3061 first-class wickets is the greatest for any bowler of medium pace or above, and his 257 wickets in 1896 is the tenth highest total on record. In 1891, 1896, 1898, 1904 and 1910 Hearne headed the first-class bowling averages.

In his heyday he was a truly great bowler able to gain vigorous off-break from even the most docile wickets. Hearne was also able to vary his pace and bowl a fast ball that swerved at a time when the skill was not well known. He had a long run for the time and a classic, full-on, high action that gave him higher bounce on hard, very fast wickets than most bowlers of the 1890s. His ability to thrive on hard work was seen in the dry summer of 1896 when he bowled over 10,000 balls – a feat performed previously only by Alfred Shaw, whilst in 1898 Hearne bowled over 9000 balls in a wetter summer.

He was a dependable field near the wicket at a time when catching was the most vital part of fielding, and could occasionally prove a useful batsman in a crisis.

Born in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, Jack Hearne first played for Middlesex in 1888 against the Australians. He was not qualified until 1890, and when he played his first County Championship match, Hearne did not know he was playing until the last minute. Yet, he took six for 62, though his performances for the rest of the year were only moderate given the primitiveness of pitches at the time – something that was changing at a rate unprecedented in cricket history during Hearne's prime. In 1891, however, Hearne advanced in a remarkable way, taking 118 wickets in county cricket for only 10.33 runs apiece. This included two amazing bowling feats – 9 for 32 versus Nottinghamshire at Nottingham and 8 for 22 against Lancashire at Lord's. So much of a sensation did Hearne cause that year that Wisden named him as a Cricketer of the Year for 1892 and he toured South Africa with a party led by W.W. Read to play in his first Test. He made a surprising 40, but had almost no bowling to do.

From 1892, Hearne was the stock bowler not only for Middlesex, but also for the MCC, which at the time played against the counties Middlesex did not arrange County Championship fixtures with. In 1893, Hearne surpassed his previous form by taking over 200 wickets in a dry summer and his persistence and skill on hard pitches (notably in the two games with Nottinghamshire) was wonderful. In 1894, a very wet summer, Hearne just failed to reach 200, yet his omission from the 1894/1895 tour of Australia remains puzzling given his persistence and pace from the ground might have been well-suited to the hard pitches then evolving in Australia.