Louis Hall

Louis Hall was born on November 1, 1852, and played his first match for Yorkshire at Prince"s Ground in 1873. He did well on that occasion, but, failing to sustain his form, he dropped out of first-class cricket, and little more was heard of him till the season of 1878, when for Eighteen of Hunslet against the first Australian eleven, he created a genuine sensation by playing an innings of 79. This performance against the bowling of Spofforth, Garrett, Boyle, and Frank Allan, none of whom he could ever have met before, at once reinstated him in the cricket world, and promptly regained him a place in the Yorkshire eleven. Since then he has been one of the most consistent of players, and has, year after year, been either at the top, or very near the top, of the Yorkshire averages, the county having certainly been able to boast no other batsman so safe, steady, and dependable. Having no grace of style to recommend him, his slow play is at times found very tedious by spectators, but a batsman is bound to adopt the game that suits him best, and as to Hall's immense value on a side there cannot be two opinions. To give an idea of what he has done for Yorkshire, we may mention that in the first-class county matches in 1886 he scored 811 runs, with an average of 30, and in 1887, 997 runs, with the magnificent average of 47.10. In 1888, the most wet and dismal of summers, he was at the top of his county's averages, but his aggregate declined to 473, and his average to 20.13. Hall is personally one of the most deservedly popular of cricketers, and his benefit match in 1890- Yorkshire v. Surrey at Sheffield-should bring him a very substantial reward for his many years of brilliant service to his county.