Born On This Day: 16th December

There are four Hampshire birthdays today, none significant in a cricketing sense but each in their way representative of different times mostly a century and more ago.

Old-Etonian Geoffrey Chance played in one first-class match for the county, v MCC at Lord’s in 1913, age 19, scoring 0 & 0* and taking 0-42, Brigadier-General Edwin Hazleton played in three pre-Championship first-class matches for Hampshire in 1883, scoring one half century on debut v Sussex at the Antelope Ground, and averaging 16.60. He played one match in India in 1888 which is where he died.

Henry Misslebrook played in many of the more prominent non-first-class matches in Hampshire In the 1850s and 1860s and after the County Cricket Club was formed in 1864, he played in one first-class game for the county v MCC at the Antelope in 1869. In a thrilling match, he took 4-18 & 2-21, but opening the batting scored just 3 & 0, as Hampshire failed by three runs to score the 71 needed to win the game.

The most recent of our quartet is the sad cricketing tale of Frederick Hyland, who was born in Sussex in 1893. Hyland is one of Hampshire’s ‘one match wonders’ who was selected for his only match, at Northampton in 1924. Because of rain, the game lasted just two overs, and since Hampshire were in the field, with Kennedy and Newman bowling the two overs, it is entirely possible that Hyland never touched the ball.

The first day ended with Northamptonshire 1-0, there was no further play, and Hyland never played again in first-class cricket. We know that in local club cricket he had outstanding seasons for Ringwood CC in 1923 & 1924 and in non-first-class cricket he played for Hampshire Hogs at Northlands Road, and on the Isle of Wight for a full Hampshire side against the Islanders.

He moved to Norfolk and also played for Broughty Ferry CC in Scotland, before settling in Cheshire and working as a groundsman and in horticulture. He died in Cheshire in 1964.