South Australian left-hander Clem Hill, in 1902, scored 1,061 Test runs across the Ashes series in England and the immediately following series in South Africa — becoming the first batsman to make 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year. The record was not equalled until Don Bradman's 1948.
Hill came from Adelaide cricketing stock — his father had played for South Australia, and his elder brothers had played first-grade. He scored 360 for Prince Alfred College against St Peter's at age 16 in 1893 (a schoolboy record that would stand for decades). He made his Test debut in 1896 at age 19.
By 1902 he had played 21 Tests and was firmly established as Australia's number three or four. The 1902 calendar year, with England and South Africa back to back, gave him an exceptional volume of Test cricket.
Hill had averaged 41 in the 1901-02 home Ashes; the 1902 English summer began with the spectacular Edgbaston disaster (Australia 36 all out) and continued through five Tests, with the urn retained at Old Trafford.
Clement 'Clem' Hill, a stocky left-handed Adelaide batsman with a low grip and a very strong bottom hand, had been in the Australian Test side since 1896. By 1902 he was 25 and Australia's senior batsman alongside Trumper. The 1902 calendar year saw Australia tour England (5 Tests) and then South Africa (3 Tests) on the way home, an unusual combined series schedule.
In the 1902 Ashes Hill scored 268 runs at 33.50, including a century stand at Manchester. His first-innings 65 at Old Trafford was important to the eventual three-run win. He then averaged over 70 in the South African series, scoring two further centuries, finishing the calendar year with 1,061 runs in Tests.
It was the first time any batsman had passed 1,000 Test runs in a single calendar year. The record stood for 45 years — Don Bradman finally equalled and surpassed it in 1947. Hill went on to play 49 Tests, scoring 3,412 runs at 39.21 — a Test record on his retirement in 1912 — and to captain Australia ten times. He was one of the Big Six who refused to tour England in 1912 over the board's tour-manager dispute, and never played another Test.
1901-02 home Ashes: 521 runs in 5 Tests.
May-Aug 1902 Ashes: 268 runs at 33.50.
Sep-Oct 1902 South Africa Tests: scores two centuries.
End of 1902: 1,061 Test runs — first batsman to 1,000 in a calendar year.
Record stood 45 years until Bradman in 1947.
Career: 49 Tests, 3,412 runs at 39.21.
1912: Big Six dispute ends his Test career.
18 March 1877
Hill born in Adelaide.
1893
Schoolboy 360 for Prince Alfred College.
1896
Test debut for Australia.
1900-01
Sheffield Shield 365* v NSW — record for 27 years.
1902
1,061 Test runs in calendar year — first to 1,000.
1910-11
Captains Australia.
1912
Big Six dispute; last Test.
5 Sep 1945
Dies in Melbourne aged 68.
“Hill's left-handed batting was a model of power.”
Hill remained Australia's senior batsman through the 1907-08 and 1909 Ashes series. He was appointed captain in 1910-11 and led Australia in 10 Tests. The 1912 Big Six dispute (Trumper, Hill, Armstrong, Cotter, Carter and Ransford refused to tour England) ended his Test career.
He became a respected administrator and selector for South Australia and worked for the Adelaide tote during the inter-war years. He died in 1945 aged 68.
A pioneering record from one of Australia's first great left-handed batsmen. Hill's place in cricket history is partly statistical (1,000 runs in a calendar year, then a Test record) and partly stylistic (the powerful left-handed batsmanship that became Australia's trademark over the next century).
Hill's calendar-year record of 1,061 Test runs stood for 45 years, finally surpassed by Don Bradman in 1947. The Test aggregate record (3,412) stood until the 1920s.
He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985 and the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009. The Clem Hill Stand at the Adelaide Oval was named for him.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.