Louis Hall

Louis Hall (born Batley, Yorkshire, 1 November, 1852 - died Morecambe, Lancashire, 19 November, 1915) was a cricket batsman from Yorkshire, England.

Hall made his debut in 1873 and came of age with an innings of 78 for a local Eighteen against the Australian XI in 1878. Thereafter, till 1892, he was a mainstay of Yorkshire.

With George Ulyett, he formed a successful opening partnership, the first of many such for Yorkshire. They had 11 opening stands of over 100 and against Sussex in 1885, they added 128 and 108 in the two innings. Against Middlesex in 1884, Hall scored 96 and 135. His finest season was 1887 when he scored 1544 at an average of 41, 1240 of them in first class matches.

Hall carried his bat seventeen times in first class cricket, a feat matched only by WG Grace and CJB WoodFact|date=April 2008. He played for the Players against Gentlemen five times and captained Yorkshire a few times in the absence of the regular captain Lord Hawke.

Very defensive by nature, Hall was by no means an attractive batsman. His primary shot was the front foot defence. But in a side filled with stroke players, it was an acceptable and effective option.

He was awarded a benefit match against Surrey in 1890, but he deferred it so that the injured Billy Bates could have his that year. Hall's benefit match against the same team at Sheffield in 1891 earned him 570 pounds. After his active career, he served as a coach in Uppingham school.

References

* [http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/154818.html Wisden Cricketer of the year article]
* "Wisden" obituary

External links

* [http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/14465.html Louis Hall] at Cricinfo
* [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29894/29894.html Louis Hall] at Cricket Archive
* [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Articles/0/865.html Profile] at Cricket Archive