Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs (16 December 1882 – 21 December 1963) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Having established himself as the best batsman in the world before the First World War, Hobbs resumed cricket in 1919 and was immediately successful in County Cricket. He successfully toured Australia with the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1920–21 but sustained an injury which affected his batting on that tour and in the subsequent English season. Also in that 1921 season, he fell seriously ill with appendicitis; the effects of the illness and subsequent operation affected his batting for several seasons and his stamina never fully recovered. When he returned from the illness, Hobbs was a far less attacking batsman than he had been in his earlier career, but was much more secure and assured. As a result, his performances were statistically better than before 1914 and his reputation among the public grew. Adulation for Hobbs reached its peak in 1925 when he broke W. G. Grace's record for most first-class centuries, and the following season he made a century in extremely difficult batting conditions which was instrumental in England winning the Ashes. At this time, he also established extremely effective opening partnerships—with Herbert Sutcliffe for England and Andy Sandham for Surrey.

Hobbs continued to play Test matches until 1930; another assured performance on a rain-affected pitch in 1928–29 was followed by his final Test century. However, the last years of his career were affected by injury, and he missed a lot of cricket. He announced his retirement from Tests in 1930 but continued for Surrey until 1934 and took his total of centuries to 199—although two of these were not recognised as first-class during his career.

Career after the war

Resumption of County Cricket When first-class cricket resumed in 1919, county matches were reduced to two days in a short-lived experiment that many players, including Hobbs, disliked.McKinstry, pp. 176–77. Hobbs, awarded a five-year contract worth £400 per year,McKinstry, p. 184. made runs in pre-season trial games and made a good start in first-class games. However, he initially tried to be too aggressive and, according to Wisden, "he had a brief spell of comparative failure, due to a little overeagerness and overconfidence".Arlott, pp. 86–87. After this, he batted consistently throughout the season, scoring a double century for Surrey against a touring Australian Imperial Forces cricket team, centuries in each of the three Gentlemen v Players matches—the only player ever to do so in one season—and 101 for the "Rest of England" against Yorkshire, the County Champions, at the end of the season.McKinstry, p. 178.Arlott, p. 88. Hobbs' rescheduled benefit match, played against Kent, raised £1,670. The match ended when Hobbs and Jack Crawford scored the 95 runs required for victory in the final innings in 30 minutes; 45 minutes had been available and in most circumstances such a required rate of scoring made a draw almost inevitable. Hobbs scored 47 not out.McKinstry, pp. 183–84. All of the benefit money, supplemented by a £100 grant from Surrey, was given directly to Hobbs. Usually, the committee invested part of the sum on the player's behalf but they waived this practice for Hobbs. He used it to open a sports shop in London which he ran for the rest of his life.McKinstry, pp. 184–85.Arlott, p. 77. Also during the season, Hobbs first opened the batting with Andy Sandham, who succeeded to Hayward's position as Hobbs' partner. Sandham was initially unsuccessful, and Hobbs' partner later in the season was Donald Knight, but the pair later established an extremely effective opening partnership.McKinstry, pp. 179–80. In total that year, Hobbs scored 2,594 runs in first-class matches, more than anyone else, at an average of 60.32.Arlott, p. 87.

After a winter working in his shop, Hobbs' good form continued into 1920, when county matches reverted to three days' duration.McKinstry, p. 186. He scored a century in the opening game and 215 against Middlesex, the County Champions, at the end of the season. In June, he scored four centuries in consecutive innings, followed by 70 in the next.McKinstry, p. 187. In total, he scored 2,827 runs at 58.89. Hobbs also took five wickets for 21 runs against Warwickshire, and his 17 wickets at an average of 11.82 meant that, according to his biographer John Arlott, "to his amusement ... he was top, not only of Surrey's, but also of the national, bowling averages".Arlott, p. 91. After some initial hesitation owing to his concerns for his business, Hobbs accepted an invitation to tour Australia with the MCC that winter.McKinstry, p. 190.

Whitewash in Australia Australia dominated the five-Test series, beating England 5–0. The England players, led by Johnny Douglas, faced a strong bowling attack, featuring pace bowlers Jack Gregory and Ted McDonald, and the spinner Arthur Mailey. In addition, the bowlers proved ineffective on hard pitches and struggled to dismiss a strong Australian batting line-up.McKinstry, p. 193. After defeat in the second Test, Frederick Toone the MCC manager, suggested Douglas should be replaced as captain by Percy Fender. Hobbs supported such a move, but other professionals in the team were less certain. Although Fender was included in the team for the remainder of the series, Douglas retained the captaincy.McKinstry, p. 196.

Hobbs began with two centuries in the opening three first-class games, and in the first Test, had the highest score in both England innings with 49 and 59. But Australia established their dominance in this match, winning by 377 runs after totalling 581 in their second innings.McKinstry, pp. 194–95. In this game, Hobbs had opened with C. A. G. Russell in place of Rhodes, who was out of form.McKinstry, p. 195. For the remainder of the series, Rhodes was restored to partner Hobbs, but they could not replicate their former successes.McKinstry, p. 197. In the third Test, their partnership was ended by a run out for the only time in Tests,Arlott, p. 92. and they had only one stand worth more than 50. Nevertheless, in the second Test Hobbs scored 122 on a very difficult pitch which had been affected by rain. Wisden commented that this was "from the English point of view, the finest innings of the tour". Even so, England followed on in reply to Australia's total of 499 and lost by an innings.McKinstry, pp. 195–96. Hobbs also scored a century in defeat in the third Test, hitting 123 in the final innings as England failed to score 489 to win the game. Hobbs did not pass 50 again in the series; in the fourth Test, he scored 27 and 13. Then in a match against New South Wales before the final Test, he tore a muscle in his thigh. Persuaded by Douglas to play despite suffering from restricted mobility, Hobbs scored 40 and 34 in the final Test. But after one incident in the field when he struggled to chase the ball, Hobbs was jeered by some of the crowd. Both Fender and another member of the team, Rockley Wilson, wrote scathingly about the incident in their dual role as journalists covering the Tests. Later in the match, the crowd, who gave Wilson a hostile reception following his writing, loudly cheered Hobbs; in Hobbs' view, this was to make amends for the earlier mockery of his hampered fielding.McKinstry, pp. 197–98. Hobbs scored a total of 924 first-class runs on the tour, at an average of 51.33; In Test matches, he scored 505 runs at 50.50. Wisden noted in its review of the tour that many English batsmen failed in the Test series, and that "our batting on the big occasions fell far short of what might reasonably have been expected. Hobbs and Douglas alone were up to their form at home."

Illness and recovery Hobbs played just five first-class matches in 1921. In his opening first-class game, Hobbs played for a team selected by businessman Lionel Robinson against the Australian touring team,McKinstry, pp. 202–03. which had travelled to England on the same boat as the returning MCC team.Arlott, p. 94. After scoring 85, he tore the same thigh muscle injured in Australia and missed the remainder of the match. The injury forced Hobbs to miss the opening two Tests against Australia, but once recovered, he immediately scored 172 against Yorkshire; with England already trailing 2–0 in the five-Test series, the selectors chose him for the third Test.McKinstry, p. 204. In the days approaching the match, played in Leeds, Hobbs suffered from increasing stomach pain but reluctantly played. However, the pain forced him to leave the field on the first day and after a day of rest, it worsened. A prominent surgeon, Sir Berkley Moynihan, was based in Leeds and Hobbs consulted him over the pain. Moynihan diagnosed acute appendicitis and operated the same day; in the opinion of the surgeon, Hobbs would not have lived another five hours without surgery.McKinstry, pp. 199–201. Hobbs missed the rest of the season, and upon recovering from surgery took a family holiday.McKinstry, pp. 204–05.

Hobbs returned to cricket in 1922 and batted very effectively throughout the first months of the season and scored 10 first-class centuries in total.McKinstry, pp. 206–07.Mason, p. 136. One of the centuries came in the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's, in which Hobbs captained the Players team for the first time. But his innings of 140 was slow by his previous standards and he received some criticism in the press for his more laboured approach. Towards the end of the season, his form faded owing to the lingering effects of his illness and operation the previous year. Wisden observed that Hobbs frequently tired during longer innings in 1922 and that he often tried to get out soon after reaching three figures;McKinstry, p. 208. this habit of giving up his innings continued throughout the remainder of his career. Hobbs himself believed that the operation reduced his stamina and that he was never as physically strong afterwards. The season also marked a turning point in his batting approach where he preferred to score more slowly and take fewer risks, in contrast to his adventurous pre-war tactics.McKinstry, p. 207. Even so, Hobbs finished second in the national batting averages, and scored 2,552 runs at an average of 62.24, but declined an invitation to tour South Africa that winter with the MCC. Hobbs was less successful in 1923 during a wet season; he failed with the bat on many occasions and was unsuccessful in both Gentlemen v Players games. He was still struggling with the after-effects of his operation and Wisden noticed he once more tried to score too quickly early in an innings.McKinstry, pp. 211–12. However, against Somerset, Hobbs scored the 100th century of his first-class career, the third man to reach the landmark after Grace and Hayward.Arlott, pp. 95–96. Overall, he scored 2,087 runs at 37.95.

Partnership with Sutcliffe