Alex Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Alexander Stuart "Alec" Kennedy (24 January 1891, Edinburgh
, Scotland
– 15 November 1959, Southampton
, England
) was an Hampshire
cricket
er and one of the ten highest wicket-takers in first-class cricket
(usually ranked seventh after Rhodes
, Freeman
, Parker
, J.T. Hearne, Goddard
, and W.G. Grace).
hindsight has not condemned Kennedy even if one may consider him fortunate in playing during a period when only a single bowler in county cricket was ever no-balled for throwing and that before he had played more than a handful of games. On a sticky wicket
Kennedy could spin the ball very sharply either way and at times was extremely difficult to play, as when he took seven for eight against Warwickshire
at Prtsmouth in 1927.
However, Kennedy never had the pace off the ground needed to be at all difficult against the highest quality opposition on good pitches, as was shown by his complete failure against the Australians in 1921, which was enough to show conclusively that he would have been as ineffective as most English spinners on cast-iron Australian pitches. As with so many bowlers of medium pace or below, his effectiveness even on the best of pitches against appalling batting could mask his limitations, and even when English bowling was at its weakest Kennedy was never in contention for an Ashes tour.
Although he began as a tail-end batsman, Kennedy developed his defence so well that by 1921 he was often opening the batting in addition to bowling well over a thousand overs a season. At times, he could play with great skill, as shown when he made 101 against excellent Kent
bowling in 1923 - Wisden said "he was caution itself up to a point, but hit twelve fours". His batting however was inconsistent and declined several times during his later career.
When Kennedy first played for Hampshire he was only sixteen and at the time the county had not had a top-line professional bowler since Tom Soar and Henry Baldwin declined at the turn of the century. He played only irregularly up to 1910, but in 1912 made a remarkable leap to be the third highest wicket-taker in purely county cricket with 112 wickets for seventeen runs apiece. Despite an injury in 1913, Kennedy rebounded so well in the last season prior to World War I
that he took 164 wickets for twenty apiece. Despite extreme lack of support, Kennedy worked extremely hard when cricket resumed in 1919 and did one of his best-ever bowling feats with seven for 47 against Surrey at the Oval - one of only three games Surrey were to lose there between 1919 and 1927!
With the development of his batting, Kennedy was between 1921 and 1923 one of the best all-rounders in the game. During this period, Kennedy toured South Africa and did exceptionally well on the matting pitches with his biting spin and lift. He took thirty-one wickets in what was to be his only Test series. However, Maurice Tate
and Roy Kilner
were already overtaking Kennedy for the title of best all-rounder in the game, and then Kennedy's batting declined so severely that he did not make a half-century in county cricket between the end of 1923 and the middle of 1926, and even when it recovered well enough for his to reach four-figure aggregates again in 1928 and 1930 and nearly do so in 1927 and 1934 Kennedy was never again considered a leading all-rounder. However, apart from a surprise decline in 1926 when he took only 87 wickets despite a good performance against the Australians, Kennedy took over 100 wickets every season until 1932, when he was as a reward for long service to Hampshire with a Wisden Cricketer of the Year nomination.
The dry summers of 1933 and 1934 saw Kennedy's bowling decline considerably, but he was still playing a vital role and Hampshire's stock bowler. Though he retired to coach at Cheltenham College
at the end of 1934, Kennedy returned to the Hampshire team during the school holidays and bowled, aided by the new leg before wicket
rule, very effectively - taking seven for 46 against an admittedly weak Northamptonshire
team and six for 94 against Essex
. A few matches in 1936 concluded Kennedy's career for good.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
– 15 November 1959, Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) was an Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er and one of the ten highest wicket-takers in first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
(usually ranked seventh after Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
, Freeman
Tich Freeman
Alfred Percy "Tich" Freeman was an English cricketer. A leg spin bowler for Kent and England, he is the only man to take 300 wickets in an English season, and is the second most prolific wicket taker in first class cricket history.-Career:Freeman's common name comes from his extremely short...
, Parker
Charlie Parker (cricketer)
Charles Warrington Leonard "Charlie" Parker was an English cricketer, who stands as the third highest wicket taker in the history of first-class cricket, behind Wilfred Rhodes and Tich Freeman.-Life and career:Parker took no serious attention to cricket in his childhood, preferring to concentrate...
, J.T. Hearne, Goddard
Tom Goddard
Tom Goddard was the fifth highest wicket taker in first-class cricket....
, and W.G. Grace).
Career
He was a right-arm medium-pace bowler with an unusually long run-up for his time but a body action that allowed for remarkable efficiency and ease and was considered a classic for aspiring young cricketers for quite some time. His arm action was viewed suspicious by many observers, but unlike Arthur MoldArthur Mold
Arthur Webb Mold was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club between 1889 and 1901. He played three Test matches for England in 1893 and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1892. A fast bowler, he was one of the most effective bowlers...
hindsight has not condemned Kennedy even if one may consider him fortunate in playing during a period when only a single bowler in county cricket was ever no-balled for throwing and that before he had played more than a handful of games. On a sticky wicket
Sticky wicket
Sticky wicket is a metaphor used to describe a difficult circumstance; it originates from difficult circumstances in the sport of cricket.-Origins:...
Kennedy could spin the ball very sharply either way and at times was extremely difficult to play, as when he took seven for eight against Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
at Prtsmouth in 1927.
However, Kennedy never had the pace off the ground needed to be at all difficult against the highest quality opposition on good pitches, as was shown by his complete failure against the Australians in 1921, which was enough to show conclusively that he would have been as ineffective as most English spinners on cast-iron Australian pitches. As with so many bowlers of medium pace or below, his effectiveness even on the best of pitches against appalling batting could mask his limitations, and even when English bowling was at its weakest Kennedy was never in contention for an Ashes tour.
Although he began as a tail-end batsman, Kennedy developed his defence so well that by 1921 he was often opening the batting in addition to bowling well over a thousand overs a season. At times, he could play with great skill, as shown when he made 101 against excellent Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
bowling in 1923 - Wisden said "he was caution itself up to a point, but hit twelve fours". His batting however was inconsistent and declined several times during his later career.
When Kennedy first played for Hampshire he was only sixteen and at the time the county had not had a top-line professional bowler since Tom Soar and Henry Baldwin declined at the turn of the century. He played only irregularly up to 1910, but in 1912 made a remarkable leap to be the third highest wicket-taker in purely county cricket with 112 wickets for seventeen runs apiece. Despite an injury in 1913, Kennedy rebounded so well in the last season prior to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
that he took 164 wickets for twenty apiece. Despite extreme lack of support, Kennedy worked extremely hard when cricket resumed in 1919 and did one of his best-ever bowling feats with seven for 47 against Surrey at the Oval - one of only three games Surrey were to lose there between 1919 and 1927!
With the development of his batting, Kennedy was between 1921 and 1923 one of the best all-rounders in the game. During this period, Kennedy toured South Africa and did exceptionally well on the matting pitches with his biting spin and lift. He took thirty-one wickets in what was to be his only Test series. However, Maurice Tate
Maurice Tate
Maurice William Tate was a Sussex and England cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s and the leader of England's Test bowling attack for a long time during this period...
and Roy Kilner
Roy Kilner
Roy Kilner was an English professional cricketer who played nine Test matches for England between 1924 and 1926. An all-rounder, he played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1911 and 1927. In all first-class matches, he scored 14,707 runs at an average of 30.01 and took 1,003 wickets at an...
were already overtaking Kennedy for the title of best all-rounder in the game, and then Kennedy's batting declined so severely that he did not make a half-century in county cricket between the end of 1923 and the middle of 1926, and even when it recovered well enough for his to reach four-figure aggregates again in 1928 and 1930 and nearly do so in 1927 and 1934 Kennedy was never again considered a leading all-rounder. However, apart from a surprise decline in 1926 when he took only 87 wickets despite a good performance against the Australians, Kennedy took over 100 wickets every season until 1932, when he was as a reward for long service to Hampshire with a Wisden Cricketer of the Year nomination.
The dry summers of 1933 and 1934 saw Kennedy's bowling decline considerably, but he was still playing a vital role and Hampshire's stock bowler. Though he retired to coach at Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
at the end of 1934, Kennedy returned to the Hampshire team during the school holidays and bowled, aided by the new leg before wicket
Leg before wicket
In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...
rule, very effectively - taking seven for 46 against an admittedly weak Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...
team and six for 94 against Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
. A few matches in 1936 concluded Kennedy's career for good.