Lindsay Hassett
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 Australia (AUS) |
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| Batting style | Right-hand bat | |
| Bowling type | Right-arm medium | |
| Tests | First-class | |
| Matches | 43 | 216 |
| Runs scored | 3073 | 16890 |
| Batting average | 46.56 | 58.24 |
| 100s/50s | 10/11 | 59/75 |
| Top score | 198* | 232 |
| Balls bowled | 111 | 1316 |
| Wickets | 0 | 18 |
| Bowling average | - | 39.05 |
| 5 wickets in innings | 0 | 0 |
| 10 wickets in match | 0 | 0 |
| Best bowling | - | 2/10 |
| Catches/stumpings | 30/0 | 170/0 |
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Test debut: 10 June 1938 |
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Arthur Lindsay Hassett (born August 28, 1913, Geelong, Victoria, died June 16, 1993, Batehaven, New South Wales) was an Australian cricketer who played in 43 Tests from 1938 to 1953.
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[edit] Early years
Hassett, the son of a real-estate agent, was educated at Geelong College. He made his debut for Victoria in the summer of 1932/33, scoring 4 and 9 at the MCG, but was unable to hold his place in the Victorian side until 1936/37. Hassett's 503 runs (average 71.85) in that summer, followed by 693 runs (average 53.3) the following season, was rewarded with selection in the 1938 Australian team to tour England under Don Bradman's captaincy. The tour began well for Hassett, scoring 148 against Leicestershire and an undefeated 220 against Cambridge University in the following match. Hassett's performances in the following four Tests (the Third Test at Old Trafford was washed out without a ball being bowled) were average, scoring only 199 runs at 24.88, highest score 56 at Lord's. The 1938 Ashes series ended in a tie, 1–1, after England's mammoth innings and 579 run victory over Australia at the Oval in the Fifth Test.
The 1938 Ashes tour would be Australia's last Test series before the outbreak of war. Hassett enlisted as a gunner in the Anti-Aircraft Regiment and was posted to Egypt and Palestine in 1941 before being transferred to Port Moresby in 1944. The following year, with the cessation of hostilities in Europe, Hassett was selected to lead an Australian Services XI on a tour of England - the "Victory Tests". In the six matches played, Hassett made 296 runs at 26.9. Hassett enjoyed greater success on the Services tour of India, hitting a century in Calcutta.
Hassett toured New Zealand in early 1946 under the captaincy of Bill Brown, playing in the one-off Test in Wellington. The match ended in two days as New Zealand were bowled out for 42 and 54. The following summer, England returned to Australia for the first Ashes contest after the war. Hassett opened his account with a century (128, his first century in Test cricket), sharing a 276-run partnership with captain Bradman. He ended the series with 332 runs at 47.43.
India embarked on its first tour of Australia in the summer of 1947/48. The visitors lost 4–0, the rain-affected Second Test at Sydney ending in a draw. In the Fourth Test at Adelaide, Hassett hit his highest Test score - 198 not out - finishing the series with 332 runs (average 110.67).
Ten years after his first tour of England, Lindsay Hassett was included in the 1948 team under Bradman's captaincy. Considered one of the strongest Australia teams to tour England, the team became known as "the Invincibles". Australia won the series convincingly - 4–0 - Hassett finishing the series with 310 runs at 44.29, highest score 137 at Trent Bridge. The Fifth Test at the Oval marked the final appearance of captain Don Bradman.
[edit] Captaincy
Following Bradman's retirement in 1948, Hassett - as Bradman's vice-captain - was appointed to the top job. Despite being praised as tactically sound by Bradman himself, Hassett won the captaincy over the inexperienced Arthur Morris by only one vote. Hassett celebrated by leading Australia to a 4–0 victory over South Africa in the summer of 1949/50, the first Test-series of the post-Bradman era. Hassett performed strongly in the series, hitting two centuries (112 in Johannesburg and 167 in Port Elizabeth) finishing with 402 runs at 67.
England returned to Australia in 1950/51; the home side won 4–1. Hassett enjoyed strong starts in a number of Tests - 52 in the Second Test, 70 in the Third, 92 and 48 in the Fifth - but failed to bring up a century. Nevertheless, he was the second-highest run-scorer of the series, hitting 366 runs at 40.67. Only England's Len Hutton (533 runs at 88.83) was better.
Hassett returned to form in the following home series against the West Indies - 402 runs at 57.43, the leading run-scorer of the series. This was despite missing the Third Test in Adelaide (which Australia lost) through injury - the first time in his career Hassett was out injured. Australia won the series 4–1. The following year, South Africa embarked on its first tour of Australia since 1931/32. Hassett hit a century (163) in the Fourth Test at Adelaide, but it was Neil Harvey (834 runs at 92.67) that was the dominant player of the series. Hassett finished the 1952/53 series against the South Africans with 346 runs at 43.25.
Hassett's final tour was to England in 1953. In the first Test at Trent Bridge, he hit 115 - his highest Test score of the tour. The rain-affected Test ended in a draw - as did the next three. England won the final Test at the Oval to claim a 1–0 victory, thus winning the Ashes for the first time since the infamous "Bodyline" tour of 1932/33. Lindsay Hassett, aged 40, promptly announced his retirement from cricket.
[edit] Career highlights
- First Test: First Test v. England at Trent Bridge (Nottingham), 10-14 June 1938
- Last Test: Fifth Test v. England at The Oval (London), 15-19 August 1953
- Highest score: 198 not out, Fourth Test v. India at Adelaide Oval (Adelaide), 23-28 January 1948
- Captaincy record: 24 Tests, 14 wins, 4 losses, 6 drawn; win ratio 58.33%
[edit] Personal
After his retirement, Hassett operated a sports store in suburban Melbourne. He later joined the ABC as a radio commentator, retiring from that position in 1981.
Hassett was known for his sense of humour. According to author Roland Perry, "Hassett tended to be a clown, even an up-market larrikin, while never losing the respect of his players ... [he] never allowed anyone – particularly himself – to be depressed on the teams travels" (pp.178-9).
In 1942, Hassett married Tessie Davis, a Geelong accountant.
| Preceded by Donald Bradman |
Australian Test cricket captains 1949/50-1953 |
Succeeded by Ian Johnson |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Cricinfo profile, Lindsay Hassett. Accessed 05-01-2007.
- Harte, Chris 2003, The Penguin History of Australian Cricket. Penguin. Melbourne. ISBN 0-670-04133-5.
- Perry, Roland 2000, Captain Australia. Random House. Sydney. ISBN 1-74051-174-3.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Hassett, Arthur Lindsay |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Cricketer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 28, 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Geelong, Victoria |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 16, 1993 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Batehaven, New South Wales |
