Herbert Sutcliffe

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Lore & Background

Herbert Sutcliffe was born in Summerbridge, Nidderdale, West Riding of Yorkshire on 24 November 1894. His father Willie, a keen club cricketer, died in 1898 from an injury sustained during a rugby match. After his mother Jane died in January 1904, Sutcliffe and his brothers were raised by three aunts in Pudsey. He left school in 1908 at age 13, apprenticed as a 'clicker' to a boot and shoe company. In 1911, his cricket earned him clerical employment at a textile mill, where he learnt bookkeeping. Sutcliffe developed his cricket playing for a Wesleyan church team, then Pudsey St Lawrence, and later Pudsey Britannia. He was coached at Headingley by George Herbert Hirst and the club's 2nd XI coach Steve Doughty, who emphasized pad play. His first-class debut was delayed by the First World War until 1919. He served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Sherwood Foresters, and as a Second Lieutenant in the Green Howards, but did not see active service and was not posted to France until after the Armistice. After demobilization in 1919, he worked as a colliery checkweighman at Allerton Bywater until opening a sportswear shop in Leeds in 1924.

Reader's Guide

Herbert Sutcliffe's significance lies in his exceptional Test batting average of 60.73, which as of January 2026 is the highest by any English batsman and the sixth-highest worldwide (of Test batsmen with 20 completed innings) behind only Don Bradman, Kamindu Mendis, Adam Voges, Graeme Pollock and George Headley. He played 54 Test matches for England and toured Australia three times, including the controversial 1932–33 'bodyline' series, where he is perceived to have been one of Douglas Jardine's main supporters, though close friends stated he did not approve of bodyline. Sutcliffe was noted for his concentration and determination, qualities which made him invaluable to his teams in adverse batting conditions, and he is remembered as one of the game's finest 'bad wicket batsmen'. His opening partnership with Jack Hobbs for England between 1924 and 1930 is widely regarded as the greatest partnership of all time. At Yorkshire, he also formed notable opening partnerships with Percy Holmes and, in his last few seasons, the young Len Hutton. Yorkshire won the County Championship 12 times during Sutcliffe's career. After playing, he served on Yorkshire's committee for 21 years and was an England Test selector for three years. Honours include a special set of gates named after him at Headingley and induction into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Did You Know?

• Sutcliffe was the first cricketer to score 16 centuries in Test match cricket.
• His father Willie died in 1898 from an injury sustained during a rugby match.
• Sutcliffe worked as a colliery checkweighman at Allerton Bywater until he opened his sportswear shop in 1924.
• He served as a Second Lieutenant in the Green Howards but did not see active service.
• Sutcliffe was a Sunday School teacher as a young man and a lifelong committed Christian.