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England were in trouble when John Hampshire came to the crease in his
first Test. As a Yorkshireman, steeped in cricket tradition, he ought to
have battled it out. Instead, he went on a thrilling counter-attack,
blasting the ball all around Lord's. He scored 107 and kept spectators
in their seats. Test cricket had not been played like this for a long
time. Hampshire became the first England batsman to make a century on
debut at Lord's, but within a few Tests he had been dropped. What had
looked to be a glorious Test career in the making became a few
afterthought comebacks. He toured Australia with Ray Illingworth's side
in 1970-71 when none of the middle-order batsmen were consistent. His
selection would have been partly due to a series of big innings played
for Tasmania against overseas touring sides, as he played regularly on
the island in the days before it entered the Sheffield Shield.
He was
recalled in 1975 to face Lillee and Thomson after more fashionable
players had failed. He was made captain of Yorkshire in 1979 and scored
over 1000 runs for the county in 13 seasons. His brother Alan also made
occasional appearances for Yorkshire. Despite not being able to claim a
regular England place Hampshire was a popular member of a number of
minor tours, including a Commonwealth XI that went to the sub-continent
under the captaincy of Richie Benaud. Former England captain Tony Lewis
was a teammate: "We lived on egg and chips until Hampshire decided curry
for breakfast might be a good idea, " he recalled. "He bent down to
field a ball in the gully, kept on running and returned ten days later
and two stone lighter." (Bob Harragan)
John Hampshire died at the age of 76 on 1st. March 2017, after a long illness.
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