Hugh Trumble
Encyclopedia
Hugh Trumble was an Australian cricket
er who played 32 Test matches
as a bowling all-rounder
between 1890 and 1904. He captained
the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wickets in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average
of 21.78 runs
per wicket. He is one of only three bowlers
to twice take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Observers in Trumble's day, including the authoritative Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
, regarded him as ranking among the great Australian bowlers of the Golden Age of cricket
. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
in 1897 and the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
, established in 1996, inducted him in 2004.
A tall and thin off spin
ner, Trumble delivered the ball at a quicker pace than most spin bowlers, using his height and uncommonly long fingers to his greatest advantage. He was at his best on the softer pitches
of England, but his accuracy and variations in pace enabled him to take wickets on the harder pitches of Australia. He was a dependable lower order
batsman and a fine fielder
in the slips
. He was recognised as a shrewd thinker about the game and was popular with team-mates and opponents, with a penchant for practical jokes.
Trumble made his Test debut during the Australian cricket team's tour of England in 1890
, but was unable to secure a permanent place in the Australian side until the 1896 tour of England
. When the Australian team next toured England in 1899
, Trumble scored 1,183 runs and took 142 wickets; only George Giffen
before him had achieved the "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets as part of a touring team in England. He was appointed captain of Australia
in 1901–02, when Joe Darling
was unavailable due to farming commitments. He retired after the 1902 Australian tour of England but was coaxed back in 1903–04. In his last Test match, Trumble took a hat-trick, his second, in front of his home town supporters in Melbourne.
Off the field, Trumble worked for the National Bank of Australasia
, rising to the position of manager of a local branch despite his cricket commitments interrupting his banking career. In 1911, he was appointed secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club
, overseeing the development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground
(MCG) into a stadium capable of holding over 70,000 spectators. He held this post until his death in 1938 from a heart attack
, aged 71.
neighbourhood of Collingwood, Victoria
in 1867, the son of William, born in Northern Ireland
and superintendent of an insane asylum
, and Scottish
-born Elizabeth (née Clark). His elder brother, John
, also played Test cricket for Australia and his younger brother, Thomas, was a public servant
who served as Secretary for the Department of Defence
from 1918–27, and then official secretary to the High Commissioner
for Australia in London.
Trumble spent part of his early life in the western Victorian town of Ararat
before returning to Melbourne, settling in suburban Camberwell
. He was educated at Hawthorn Grammar School and played his early cricket for Kew Cricket Club. Encouraging his sons' early love of cricket, William Trumble—a keen cricketer who bowled leg break
s for South Melbourne Cricket Club
—set out a cricket pitch
at the family home. He placed a feather on a good length
and urged his sons to aim at it when bowling. Known for his accuracy, Hugh later said, "Of course I couldn't repeatedly hit the feather, but I soon reached the stage when I was always pretty close to it"
Trumble transferred to the Melbourne Cricket Club
for the 1887–88 cricket season and was an immediate success. He took 36 wickets that season, finishing with an average
of 6.77 runs per wicket; the best in the club, beating his teammate and Australian Test bowler Fred Spofforth
. He made his first-class cricket
debut for Victoria
that same season, selected to play against a touring English XI led by Middlesex
batsman George Vernon
. His first match for Victoria against Australian opposition was against New South Wales
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
. Bowling with Spofforth, in the first innings Trumble took seven wickets for 52 runs.
, Trumble enjoyed his first taste and ordered another before re-entering the field of play. Feeling relaxed, although wondering about his steadiness of step, Trumble took a succession of wickets to ensure his selection in the Australian team. Trumble finished the season with 27 wickets at an average of 14.20 per wicket.
The 1890 Australian team touring England was relatively inexperienced. The team missed the all-round
ability of George Giffen
, who had refused to join the squad, thinking it unlikely the tour would be a sporting or financial success. The Australians won 13 matches on tour, losing 16 and drawing 9. Trumble made his Test cricket debut in the First Test against the English team at Lord's Cricket Ground
. He took only one wicket
, dismissing Bobby Peel
caught and bowled for 1. Batting at number eleven in the first innings
he made 1 not out
and in the second, 5 runs batting at number ten. Despite this lack of success, he retained his spot in the team for the Second Test at The Oval
where he failed to take a wicket. He was selected for the Third Test at Old Trafford but continuous rain saw the match abandoned without a ball being bowled. Trumble played 28 first-class matches during the tour, scoring 288 runs at an average of 8.47 and took 52 wickets at an average of 21.75. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
wrote, "Reports from Australia had led us to expect a great deal of ... Trumble" but his "straightness and regular length
[were] insufficient to compensate for an obvious lack of 'devil' and variety".
Trumble was not selected for the Australian team to play Lord Sheffield
's touring English team in 1891–92. He did not return to the Australian team until his selection in the squad to tour England in 1893
. Before the Test matches he took 14 wickets for 116 runs (14/116) against the Players
followed by 12/84 against Kent
at Gravesend
. He played in all three Test matches in 1893, taking 6 wickets at an average of 39.00. Trumble scored 58 runs in the Tests with a highest score of 35 but had more success in the other matches, scoring 774 runs, including one century
in all first-class matches on tour. Wisden noted that "An immense improvement on his form of three years before was shown by Hugh Trumble, who bowled consistently well all through the tour" and "... the reports of Hugh Trumble's improvement in batting were amply borne out, his hitting in many matches being remarkably fine".
When Andrew Stoddart
's English team
visited Australia in 1894–95, Trumble played only one Test, the Second at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
. In the first innings, England scored 75 runs with Trumble taking 3 wickets. England fought back in their second innings, scoring 475 runs to win the Test by 94 runs; Trumble failed to take a wicket.
, despite a poor domestic season in 1895–96 that saw his place in the touring squad seriously questioned by pundits. The leading cricket journalist, Tom Horan
said that as much as he personally liked Trumble, he could not see him as a member of a team for the England tour that season. It was, however, during this tour that Trumble finally established a permanent place in the Australian line up. Wisden said of Trumble when listing him as one of its Cricketers of the Year
, "...it was not until his third visit, during the past season, that Trumble convinced Englishmen he was entitled to rank among the great bowlers of Australia". In that season, Trumble took 148 wickets at an average of 15.81. He was seen as Australia's leading bowler who "was able to inspire [the English] batsmen with a feeling of apprehension". Wisden's summary of the 1896 Australian tour said of Trumble, "His great strength lay in the combination of spin with extreme accuracy" and "he was on all wickets distinctly the best bowler on the [Australian] side".
England won the First Test at Lord's
by 6 wickets, Trumble taking one wicket in each innings. The Second Test at Old Trafford was more closely fought. Despite K. S. Ranjitsinhji scoring a "marvellous" 154 and Tom Richardson
"bowling in his finest form" the Australians managed to hold on for a 3 wicket victory. The Australians required 125 runs to win in their second innings and were expected to make this target easily. Richardson's skilful bowling however saw Trumble and Kelly batting together with only 3 wickets in hand but with 25 runs still to make. Against excellent bowling and in a tense atmosphere, the pair managed to bat Australia home with the last runs taking an hour to score, mainly in singles
. Trumble made 17 not out
to follow his 24 runs in the first innings and his 4 wickets. With the series tied at one Test apiece, the Third and final Test was played at The Oval
in London. On a pitch damaged by rain
, the English batted first and were dismissed for 145. Trumble took 6 wickets for 59 runs, including a 9-over
spell of 5 wickets for 10 runs. England fought back to bowl the Australians out for 119. In turn, the Australians restricted England to 84 runs with Trumble taking 6 wickets for 30, to leave Australia requiring 111 runs in their second innings to win the match. Bobby Peel
and Jack Hearne
combined to bowl Australia out for 44 runs to win the Test by 66 runs and retain the Ashes
for England . In the three Tests, Trumble took 18 wickets at an average of 18.83 runs per wicket.
Trumble played in every Test of the 1897–98 series against the touring English
, who were again captained by Stoddart. England won the First Test in Sydney by 9 wickets with Trumble's 70 runs the highest score in the Australian first innings. Under the captaincy of Harry Trott
, Australia fought back to win the Second Test in Melbourne by an innings and 55 runs. Trumble took 8 wickets in the match and in partnership with Monty Noble
bowled the English out for 150 runs in the second innings. Australia won the Third Test in Adelaide by an innings and 13 runs; Trumble made 37 runs in the Australian innings and took 1 wicket for the match. In the Fourth Test, Trumble combined with Clem Hill
in a 165 run partnership
for the seventh wicket, described by Wisden as the turning point in the innings. Australia won the match by 8 wickets. Australia won the Fifth Test and the series four Tests to one. For the series overall, Trumble took 19 wickets at an average of 28.15 runs per wicket and scored 170 runs at an average of 36.20.
The 1899 Australian tour
saw Trumble score 1,183 runs and take 142 wickets; he was only the second Australian, after George Giffen
, to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in an English season as part of a touring team. In the Test series, Trumble took 15 wickets at an average of 25.00 and made 232 runs at an average of 38.66. Wisden said of Trumble's batting that season, "[Trumble] played so consistently well as to make it clear that if he had not been a bowler he would have been a great batsman". Dry pitches
saw his bowling average fall off a little from the 1896 tour but Wisden stated that he "bowled quite as well as in 1896" and "[he] never seemed easy to hit, and whenever the ground gave him least advantage ... he was deadly". Australia won the Second Test by 10 wickets and with the other Tests finishing in draws, they retained the Ashes in a one Test to nil series victory. Trumble played particularly well in the Third Test at Headingley
, where he took 5 wickets for 60 runs and was the highest run-scorer in the Australian second innings with 56.
the Australian team against England in 1901–02 when Joe Darling
withdrew to manage his farm in Tasmania after the first three Tests. Australia won the two remaining Tests—the only occasions that Trumble would captain his country in Test cricket—to win the series four Tests to one. Earlier, in the Second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, Trumble took a "hat-trick"; only five hat-tricks had been taken in the previous 24 years of Test cricket. He dismissed Arthur Jones
, John Gunn
and Sydney Barnes
in successive balls to complete an Australian victory by 229 runs. In the Third Test in Adelaide, Trumble captured 6 wickets for 74 runs in the England second innings and made 62 not out
to help the Australians win the match by 4 wickets. After this success with the bat, Trumble—in his new role as captain—promoted himself to open the batting alongside Victor Trumper
. He made only 6 runs, handing the opening batsman role to Reggie Duff
for the second innings. Australia won the Test by 7 wickets with Trumble not required to bat a second time. In the Fifth Test, again in Melbourne, Trumble took 5 wickets for 62 runs to help restrict England to a lead of 45 runs after the first innings. In the second innings Trumble took another 3 wickets and, combined with Noble's 6 wickets, helped Australia win by 32 runs. Trumble and Noble were the most successful Australian bowlers during the series. Together they took 60 wickets in the Tests: Noble 32 at an average of 19.00 and Trumble 28 at an average of 20.03.
Trumble's last cricketing tour of England was in 1902
, with Darling returning to captain the Australian team. Early in the tour, Trumble broke his thumb at practice, causing him to miss the first month of the English season. Despite this, when he returned for the final three Tests he took 26 wickets. In the Fourth Test at Old Trafford, Trumble took 10 wickets. This included 6 wickets in the second innings when he combined with Jack Saunders
to bowl England out for 120; securing an Australian victory by 3 runs. Trumble, recalling his final over
of the match, said "With the ball greasy [wet] and my boots unable to get a proper foothold on slippery turf, it was the most trying over I ever bowled." In the Fifth Test at The Oval, Trumble made 64 runs in the first innings and followed this with 8 wickets for 65 runs in the English first innings. He took another 4 wickets in the English second innings, but this was not sufficient to prevent an English victory by one wicket. Darling bowled Trumble unchanged from the Pavilion end throughout both innings of the match. Wisden praised Trumble's bowling saying "Trumble, paying us his fifth visit, bowled perhaps better than ever", but remarked that "it must be said that the wet weather and soft wickets were all in his favour"
After playing in one Test match against the South African team on a stopover when returning from England to Australia, Trumble retired from Test cricket, aged 35. When Australia lost to the English tourists in the First Test in Sydney in 1903–04, Trumble was persuaded to return for the Second Test under the captaincy of Noble. He was immediately successful taking 4 wickets for 107 runs in the first innings and 5 for 34 in the second, but was unable to prevent England from winning the Test by 185 runs Selected for the remaining four Tests, his 24 wickets in four Tests made Trumble the most successful Australian bowler in the series. The writer Roland Perry
described Trumble's final Test match as "the most dramatic and memorable farewell performance ever by a bowler". In front of his home town supporters in Melbourne, he took 7 wickets for 28 runs, including a hat-trick
, to bowl Australia to victory; Wisden describing his bowling in the second innings as "practically unplayable". The hat-trick, his second in Test cricket, consisted of the dismissals of Bernard Bosanquet
, Plum Warner
and Dick Lilley
on 7 March. He went on to take the wicket of Ted Arnold
, ending the match and his career in international cricket.
said of Trumble: "El Greco
, with his lengthening touch would have liked to draw Trumble. Hugh's lantern shaped head set on a column of a neck would have given the Spaniard a halfway start." English cricketer and author Plum Warner
called him "That great camel, Hughie Trumble."
When bowling, Trumble made the most of his height, bringing the ball over the full extent of his right arm. His action was described by his team-mate and bowling partner, Monty Noble
, as "sidelong and insinuating, with his neck craned like a gigantic bird". He bowled off spin
ners with an impeccable length
at medium pace and was able to swing
the new ball. He had a well-disguised slower ball, hoodwinking batsmen such as Stanley Jackson
, who said, "You old devil. You get me caught-and-bowled whenever you like but I'll pick that slow one sooner or later." He preferred English pitches, saying he hardly saw one on which he could not get some turn and the temperate weather allowed him to bowl all day. In Australia, Trumble had to work harder for his wickets on firmer pitches, relying on his change of pace and consistent accuracy; he claimed he could land the ball on a saucer 17 metres (19 yd) away five times out of six. Johnnie Moyes
named him as an "immortal of the art" who succeeded by "attacking the batsman's strength". W. G. Grace
called him "the best bowler Australia has sent us". While Trumble was able to score 1,183 runs during the 1899 tour of England, the demands of bowling did not allow him to consistently score heavily. His long, prehensile fingers helped him make a reputation as a fine slips
fieldsman and he was the first to take 20 catches in an Australian season. English cricketer Johnny Douglas
said, "Trumble should not be allowed on the cricket field—his natural place would be up trees in the bush." He practised slip fielding by catching a tennis ball thrown against a brick wall; he believed this practise trained him not to "snatch" at the ball but allow it to fall into his safe hands.
Trumble was known for his cleverness on the field. C. B. Fry said of him, "He is the most long-headed, observant and acute judge of the game, a perfect master of the whole art of placing fieldsmen and changing bowlers." On one occasion when captaining his state side, Victoria, he deliberately bowled two wides that his fieldsmen allowed to roll to the boundary
to score four runs for his opponents. This was done in order to save his tired bowlers from having to bowl again immediately, as his opponents would have been required to follow-on
(bat twice in a row), at the time compulsory. When questioned by an onlooker about the dubious sportsmanship
of the action, he replied, "I had to do it, old chap, but I wonder what my father will think of it?" Trumble was respected by his teammates and opponents; New Zealand
cricketer, Dan Reese
, who played against and alongside Trumble said, "His subtle humour, his fund of cricket stories, his kindness, and, above all, his judgment, made him a man of exceptional character."
He was popular with team-mates and opponents alike, with a weakness for practical jokes. On board a ship travelling to England, Trumble offered to coach unsuspecting fellow travellers in various deck sports such as quoits
. Accepting Trumble's advice, they were made to contort themselves into a number of ludicrous positions to the amusement of his team-mates and other onlookers in the know. To prolong the joke, in his own games Trumble would adopt the same peculiar stance and method he advocated.
"The first of the great off spinners of the Test-match age", in 32 Tests, Trumble took 141 wickets at an average
of just over 20 runs per wicket. He took 5 wickets in an innings on nine occasions and 10 wickets in a match three times. On retirement, he had taken more wickets in Test cricket than any other player; a record he held for nearly 10 years until surpassed by Sydney Barnes
. It wasn't until Dennis Lillee
75 years later that anyone was able to better Trumble's 141 wickets against England. While mainly a bowler, Trumble batted well enough to make 851 runs in Test cricket at an average of 19.79 with a highest score of 70. Trumble was also prolific at first-class level. He took 929 wickets, including 5 wickets in an innings on 69 occasions, and as a batsman, he made 5,395 runs with three centuries
and a highest score of 107. For Melbourne Cricket Club
, he took just under 400 wickets and scored more than 3,000 runs; winning the club best bowling average on six occasions and the best batting average once.
Trumble was particularly effective in England. After taking 52 wickets on his first tour of England in 1890, his other four visits to England—in 1893, 1896, 1899 and 1902—saw him take over 100 wickets in first-class matches. In 1899, he scored 1,183 runs making him one of only four Australians, with George Giffen
, Warwick Armstrong
(both three times) and Jack Gregory, to take over 100 wickets and make over 1,000 runs on a tour of England.
The ICC player rankings have been applied retrospectively to cricket history and Trumble achieved the top ranking as a bowler. By June 1896, he was ranked fifth in the world and never again slipped lower; from 1899 until his retirement he was the first or second best bowler in the world according to the ratings. As a batsman, Trumble's ranking peaked at twelfth in the world after the Third Test in Adelaide in 1901–02.
Trumble was the first player to take two hat-tricks in Test cricket. Both hat-tricks were taken against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, where Trumble played his club cricket. Hat-tricks are extremely rare; in over 131 years of Test cricket to March 2008, there had only been 37 Test hat-tricks
and only Jimmy Matthews
and Wasim Akram
been able to repeat Trumble's feat of taking a second.
Trumble joined the National Bank of Australasia
in 1887 to begin a career in banking. While the bank often allowed him time to practice, his frequent absences with cricket meant his career progression was slow; after each of his five tours of England he returned to find junior bank officers promoted over him. Nevertheless, he was appointed accountant
at the Richmond
branch in 1903 and after his retirement from cricket in 1908, manager of the Kew
branch.
A loyal clubman, Trumble served on the committee of the Melbourne Cricket Club
(MCC) from 1900–01 to 1910–11 and was made a life member in 1904. In 1911 he resigned from the bank to become MCC club secretary; a position he held for 27 years until his death. In this role, he played a leading part in reconciling the club and the Victorian Cricket Association
after a period of some friction between the two bodies. He was instrumental in attracting quality cricketers to the club including Bert Ironmonger
, whom Trumble saw play on a visit to Queensland
. During his term as secretary, the Melbourne Cricket Ground
was expanded to a capacity of over 70,000 spectators.
Trumble was a prominent writer about and elder statesman of the game and was conspicuous in his support for journalists calling at any hour. From time to time, Trumble acted as a selector
of the Victorian cricket team
. In 2001, Trumble was selected in the Melbourne Cricket Club Team of the Century
, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
for his contribution to the sport in Australia.
In 1899, aged 31, Trumble met and fell in love with Florence Christian, aged 19 from Queensland. The couple were married in 1902, with the wedding timed to allow a honeymoon trip accompanying the Australian cricket tour of England. An injury to his thumb freed Trumble from cricket commitments for a while, to his new wife's delight. Together, the couple had eight children; six sons and two daughters. One son, Robert
, a renowned musician and writer, dedicated his first book, The Golden Age of Cricket, to his father. Trumble died aged 71, from a heart attack in his home in the Melbourne eastern suburb of Hawthorn
.
er who played 32 Test matches
as a bowling all-rounder
between 1890 and 1904. He captained
the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wickets in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average
of 21.78 runs
per wicket. He is one of only three bowlers
to twice take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Observers in Trumble's day, including the authoritative Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
, regarded him as ranking among the great Australian bowlers of the Golden Age of cricket
. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
in 1897 and the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
, established in 1996, inducted him in 2004.
A tall and thin off spin
ner, Trumble delivered the ball at a quicker pace than most spin bowlers, using his height and uncommonly long fingers to his greatest advantage. He was at his best on the softer pitches
of England, but his accuracy and variations in pace enabled him to take wickets on the harder pitches of Australia. He was a dependable lower order
batsman and a fine fielder
in the slips
. He was recognised as a shrewd thinker about the game and was popular with team-mates and opponents, with a penchant for practical jokes.
Trumble made his Test debut during the Australian cricket team's tour of England in 1890
, but was unable to secure a permanent place in the Australian side until the 1896 tour of England
. When the Australian team next toured England in 1899
, Trumble scored 1,183 runs and took 142 wickets; only George Giffen
before him had achieved the "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets as part of a touring team in England. He was appointed captain of Australia
in 1901–02, when Joe Darling
was unavailable due to farming commitments. He retired after the 1902 Australian tour of England but was coaxed back in 1903–04. In his last Test match, Trumble took a hat-trick, his second, in front of his home town supporters in Melbourne.
Off the field, Trumble worked for the National Bank of Australasia
, rising to the position of manager of a local branch despite his cricket commitments interrupting his banking career. In 1911, he was appointed secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club
, overseeing the development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground
(MCG) into a stadium capable of holding over 70,000 spectators. He held this post until his death in 1938 from a heart attack
, aged 71.
neighbourhood of Collingwood, Victoria
in 1867, the son of William, born in Northern Ireland
and superintendent of an insane asylum
, and Scottish
-born Elizabeth (née Clark). His elder brother, John
, also played Test cricket for Australia and his younger brother, Thomas, was a public servant
who served as Secretary for the Department of Defence
from 1918–27, and then official secretary to the High Commissioner
for Australia in London.
Trumble spent part of his early life in the western Victorian town of Ararat
before returning to Melbourne, settling in suburban Camberwell
. He was educated at Hawthorn Grammar School and played his early cricket for Kew Cricket Club. Encouraging his sons' early love of cricket, William Trumble—a keen cricketer who bowled leg break
s for South Melbourne Cricket Club
—set out a cricket pitch
at the family home. He placed a feather on a good length
and urged his sons to aim at it when bowling. Known for his accuracy, Hugh later said, "Of course I couldn't repeatedly hit the feather, but I soon reached the stage when I was always pretty close to it"
Trumble transferred to the Melbourne Cricket Club
for the 1887–88 cricket season and was an immediate success. He took 36 wickets that season, finishing with an average
of 6.77 runs per wicket; the best in the club, beating his teammate and Australian Test bowler Fred Spofforth
. He made his first-class cricket
debut for Victoria
that same season, selected to play against a touring English XI led by Middlesex
batsman George Vernon
. His first match for Victoria against Australian opposition was against New South Wales
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
. Bowling with Spofforth, in the first innings Trumble took seven wickets for 52 runs.
, Trumble enjoyed his first taste and ordered another before re-entering the field of play. Feeling relaxed, although wondering about his steadiness of step, Trumble took a succession of wickets to ensure his selection in the Australian team. Trumble finished the season with 27 wickets at an average of 14.20 per wicket.
The 1890 Australian team touring England was relatively inexperienced. The team missed the all-round
ability of George Giffen
, who had refused to join the squad, thinking it unlikely the tour would be a sporting or financial success. The Australians won 13 matches on tour, losing 16 and drawing 9. Trumble made his Test cricket debut in the First Test against the English team at Lord's Cricket Ground
. He took only one wicket
, dismissing Bobby Peel
caught and bowled for 1. Batting at number eleven in the first innings
he made 1 not out
and in the second, 5 runs batting at number ten. Despite this lack of success, he retained his spot in the team for the Second Test at The Oval
where he failed to take a wicket. He was selected for the Third Test at Old Trafford but continuous rain saw the match abandoned without a ball being bowled. Trumble played 28 first-class matches during the tour, scoring 288 runs at an average of 8.47 and took 52 wickets at an average of 21.75. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
wrote, "Reports from Australia had led us to expect a great deal of ... Trumble" but his "straightness and regular length
[were] insufficient to compensate for an obvious lack of 'devil' and variety".
Trumble was not selected for the Australian team to play Lord Sheffield
's touring English team in 1891–92. He did not return to the Australian team until his selection in the squad to tour England in 1893
. Before the Test matches he took 14 wickets for 116 runs (14/116) against the Players
followed by 12/84 against Kent
at Gravesend
. He played in all three Test matches in 1893, taking 6 wickets at an average of 39.00. Trumble scored 58 runs in the Tests with a highest score of 35 but had more success in the other matches, scoring 774 runs, including one century
in all first-class matches on tour. Wisden noted that "An immense improvement on his form of three years before was shown by Hugh Trumble, who bowled consistently well all through the tour" and "... the reports of Hugh Trumble's improvement in batting were amply borne out, his hitting in many matches being remarkably fine".
When Andrew Stoddart
's English team
visited Australia in 1894–95, Trumble played only one Test, the Second at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
. In the first innings, England scored 75 runs with Trumble taking 3 wickets. England fought back in their second innings, scoring 475 runs to win the Test by 94 runs; Trumble failed to take a wicket.
, despite a poor domestic season in 1895–96 that saw his place in the touring squad seriously questioned by pundits. The leading cricket journalist, Tom Horan
said that as much as he personally liked Trumble, he could not see him as a member of a team for the England tour that season. It was, however, during this tour that Trumble finally established a permanent place in the Australian line up. Wisden said of Trumble when listing him as one of its Cricketers of the Year
, "...it was not until his third visit, during the past season, that Trumble convinced Englishmen he was entitled to rank among the great bowlers of Australia". In that season, Trumble took 148 wickets at an average of 15.81. He was seen as Australia's leading bowler who "was able to inspire [the English] batsmen with a feeling of apprehension". Wisden's summary of the 1896 Australian tour said of Trumble, "His great strength lay in the combination of spin with extreme accuracy" and "he was on all wickets distinctly the best bowler on the [Australian] side".
England won the First Test at Lord's
by 6 wickets, Trumble taking one wicket in each innings. The Second Test at Old Trafford was more closely fought. Despite K. S. Ranjitsinhji scoring a "marvellous" 154 and Tom Richardson
"bowling in his finest form" the Australians managed to hold on for a 3 wicket victory. The Australians required 125 runs to win in their second innings and were expected to make this target easily. Richardson's skilful bowling however saw Trumble and Kelly batting together with only 3 wickets in hand but with 25 runs still to make. Against excellent bowling and in a tense atmosphere, the pair managed to bat Australia home with the last runs taking an hour to score, mainly in singles
. Trumble made 17 not out
to follow his 24 runs in the first innings and his 4 wickets. With the series tied at one Test apiece, the Third and final Test was played at The Oval
in London. On a pitch damaged by rain
, the English batted first and were dismissed for 145. Trumble took 6 wickets for 59 runs, including a 9-over
spell of 5 wickets for 10 runs. England fought back to bowl the Australians out for 119. In turn, the Australians restricted England to 84 runs with Trumble taking 6 wickets for 30, to leave Australia requiring 111 runs in their second innings to win the match. Bobby Peel
and Jack Hearne
combined to bowl Australia out for 44 runs to win the Test by 66 runs and retain the Ashes
for England . In the three Tests, Trumble took 18 wickets at an average of 18.83 runs per wicket.
Trumble played in every Test of the 1897–98 series against the touring English
, who were again captained by Stoddart. England won the First Test in Sydney by 9 wickets with Trumble's 70 runs the highest score in the Australian first innings. Under the captaincy of Harry Trott
, Australia fought back to win the Second Test in Melbourne by an innings and 55 runs. Trumble took 8 wickets in the match and in partnership with Monty Noble
bowled the English out for 150 runs in the second innings. Australia won the Third Test in Adelaide by an innings and 13 runs; Trumble made 37 runs in the Australian innings and took 1 wicket for the match. In the Fourth Test, Trumble combined with Clem Hill
in a 165 run partnership
for the seventh wicket, described by Wisden as the turning point in the innings. Australia won the match by 8 wickets. Australia won the Fifth Test and the series four Tests to one. For the series overall, Trumble took 19 wickets at an average of 28.15 runs per wicket and scored 170 runs at an average of 36.20.
The 1899 Australian tour
saw Trumble score 1,183 runs and take 142 wickets; he was only the second Australian, after George Giffen
, to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in an English season as part of a touring team. In the Test series, Trumble took 15 wickets at an average of 25.00 and made 232 runs at an average of 38.66. Wisden said of Trumble's batting that season, "[Trumble] played so consistently well as to make it clear that if he had not been a bowler he would have been a great batsman". Dry pitches
saw his bowling average fall off a little from the 1896 tour but Wisden stated that he "bowled quite as well as in 1896" and "[he] never seemed easy to hit, and whenever the ground gave him least advantage ... he was deadly". Australia won the Second Test by 10 wickets and with the other Tests finishing in draws, they retained the Ashes in a one Test to nil series victory. Trumble played particularly well in the Third Test at Headingley
, where he took 5 wickets for 60 runs and was the highest run-scorer in the Australian second innings with 56.
the Australian team against England in 1901–02 when Joe Darling
withdrew to manage his farm in Tasmania after the first three Tests. Australia won the two remaining Tests—the only occasions that Trumble would captain his country in Test cricket—to win the series four Tests to one. Earlier, in the Second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, Trumble took a "hat-trick"; only five hat-tricks had been taken in the previous 24 years of Test cricket. He dismissed Arthur Jones
, John Gunn
and Sydney Barnes
in successive balls to complete an Australian victory by 229 runs. In the Third Test in Adelaide, Trumble captured 6 wickets for 74 runs in the England second innings and made 62 not out
to help the Australians win the match by 4 wickets. After this success with the bat, Trumble—in his new role as captain—promoted himself to open the batting alongside Victor Trumper
. He made only 6 runs, handing the opening batsman role to Reggie Duff
for the second innings. Australia won the Test by 7 wickets with Trumble not required to bat a second time. In the Fifth Test, again in Melbourne, Trumble took 5 wickets for 62 runs to help restrict England to a lead of 45 runs after the first innings. In the second innings Trumble took another 3 wickets and, combined with Noble's 6 wickets, helped Australia win by 32 runs. Trumble and Noble were the most successful Australian bowlers during the series. Together they took 60 wickets in the Tests: Noble 32 at an average of 19.00 and Trumble 28 at an average of 20.03.
Trumble's last cricketing tour of England was in 1902
, with Darling returning to captain the Australian team. Early in the tour, Trumble broke his thumb at practice, causing him to miss the first month of the English season. Despite this, when he returned for the final three Tests he took 26 wickets. In the Fourth Test at Old Trafford, Trumble took 10 wickets. This included 6 wickets in the second innings when he combined with Jack Saunders
to bowl England out for 120; securing an Australian victory by 3 runs. Trumble, recalling his final over
of the match, said "With the ball greasy [wet] and my boots unable to get a proper foothold on slippery turf, it was the most trying over I ever bowled." In the Fifth Test at The Oval, Trumble made 64 runs in the first innings and followed this with 8 wickets for 65 runs in the English first innings. He took another 4 wickets in the English second innings, but this was not sufficient to prevent an English victory by one wicket. Darling bowled Trumble unchanged from the Pavilion end throughout both innings of the match. Wisden praised Trumble's bowling saying "Trumble, paying us his fifth visit, bowled perhaps better than ever", but remarked that "it must be said that the wet weather and soft wickets were all in his favour"
After playing in one Test match against the South African team on a stopover when returning from England to Australia, Trumble retired from Test cricket, aged 35. When Australia lost to the English tourists in the First Test in Sydney in 1903–04, Trumble was persuaded to return for the Second Test under the captaincy of Noble. He was immediately successful taking 4 wickets for 107 runs in the first innings and 5 for 34 in the second, but was unable to prevent England from winning the Test by 185 runs Selected for the remaining four Tests, his 24 wickets in four Tests made Trumble the most successful Australian bowler in the series. The writer Roland Perry
described Trumble's final Test match as "the most dramatic and memorable farewell performance ever by a bowler". In front of his home town supporters in Melbourne, he took 7 wickets for 28 runs, including a hat-trick
, to bowl Australia to victory; Wisden describing his bowling in the second innings as "practically unplayable". The hat-trick, his second in Test cricket, consisted of the dismissals of Bernard Bosanquet
, Plum Warner
and Dick Lilley
on 7 March. He went on to take the wicket of Ted Arnold
, ending the match and his career in international cricket.
said of Trumble: "El Greco
, with his lengthening touch would have liked to draw Trumble. Hugh's lantern shaped head set on a column of a neck would have given the Spaniard a halfway start." English cricketer and author Plum Warner
called him "That great camel, Hughie Trumble."
When bowling, Trumble made the most of his height, bringing the ball over the full extent of his right arm. His action was described by his team-mate and bowling partner, Monty Noble
, as "sidelong and insinuating, with his neck craned like a gigantic bird". He bowled off spin
ners with an impeccable length
at medium pace and was able to swing
the new ball. He had a well-disguised slower ball, hoodwinking batsmen such as Stanley Jackson
, who said, "You old devil. You get me caught-and-bowled whenever you like but I'll pick that slow one sooner or later." He preferred English pitches, saying he hardly saw one on which he could not get some turn and the temperate weather allowed him to bowl all day. In Australia, Trumble had to work harder for his wickets on firmer pitches, relying on his change of pace and consistent accuracy; he claimed he could land the ball on a saucer 17 metres (19 yd) away five times out of six. Johnnie Moyes
named him as an "immortal of the art" who succeeded by "attacking the batsman's strength". W. G. Grace
called him "the best bowler Australia has sent us". While Trumble was able to score 1,183 runs during the 1899 tour of England, the demands of bowling did not allow him to consistently score heavily. His long, prehensile fingers helped him make a reputation as a fine slips
fieldsman and he was the first to take 20 catches in an Australian season. English cricketer Johnny Douglas
said, "Trumble should not be allowed on the cricket field—his natural place would be up trees in the bush." He practised slip fielding by catching a tennis ball thrown against a brick wall; he believed this practise trained him not to "snatch" at the ball but allow it to fall into his safe hands.
Trumble was known for his cleverness on the field. C. B. Fry said of him, "He is the most long-headed, observant and acute judge of the game, a perfect master of the whole art of placing fieldsmen and changing bowlers." On one occasion when captaining his state side, Victoria, he deliberately bowled two wides that his fieldsmen allowed to roll to the boundary
to score four runs for his opponents. This was done in order to save his tired bowlers from having to bowl again immediately, as his opponents would have been required to follow-on
(bat twice in a row), at the time compulsory. When questioned by an onlooker about the dubious sportsmanship
of the action, he replied, "I had to do it, old chap, but I wonder what my father will think of it?" Trumble was respected by his teammates and opponents; New Zealand
cricketer, Dan Reese
, who played against and alongside Trumble said, "His subtle humour, his fund of cricket stories, his kindness, and, above all, his judgment, made him a man of exceptional character."
He was popular with team-mates and opponents alike, with a weakness for practical jokes. On board a ship travelling to England, Trumble offered to coach unsuspecting fellow travellers in various deck sports such as quoits
. Accepting Trumble's advice, they were made to contort themselves into a number of ludicrous positions to the amusement of his team-mates and other onlookers in the know. To prolong the joke, in his own games Trumble would adopt the same peculiar stance and method he advocated.
"The first of the great off spinners of the Test-match age", in 32 Tests, Trumble took 141 wickets at an average
of just over 20 runs per wicket. He took 5 wickets in an innings on nine occasions and 10 wickets in a match three times. On retirement, he had taken more wickets in Test cricket than any other player; a record he held for nearly 10 years until surpassed by Sydney Barnes
. It wasn't until Dennis Lillee
75 years later that anyone was able to better Trumble's 141 wickets against England. While mainly a bowler, Trumble batted well enough to make 851 runs in Test cricket at an average of 19.79 with a highest score of 70. Trumble was also prolific at first-class level. He took 929 wickets, including 5 wickets in an innings on 69 occasions, and as a batsman, he made 5,395 runs with three centuries
and a highest score of 107. For Melbourne Cricket Club
, he took just under 400 wickets and scored more than 3,000 runs; winning the club best bowling average on six occasions and the best batting average once.
Trumble was particularly effective in England. After taking 52 wickets on his first tour of England in 1890, his other four visits to England—in 1893, 1896, 1899 and 1902—saw him take over 100 wickets in first-class matches. In 1899, he scored 1,183 runs making him one of only four Australians, with George Giffen
, Warwick Armstrong
(both three times) and Jack Gregory, to take over 100 wickets and make over 1,000 runs on a tour of England.
The ICC player rankings have been applied retrospectively to cricket history and Trumble achieved the top ranking as a bowler. By June 1896, he was ranked fifth in the world and never again slipped lower; from 1899 until his retirement he was the first or second best bowler in the world according to the ratings. As a batsman, Trumble's ranking peaked at twelfth in the world after the Third Test in Adelaide in 1901–02.
Trumble was the first player to take two hat-tricks in Test cricket. Both hat-tricks were taken against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, where Trumble played his club cricket. Hat-tricks are extremely rare; in over 131 years of Test cricket to March 2008, there had only been 37 Test hat-tricks
and only Jimmy Matthews
and Wasim Akram
been able to repeat Trumble's feat of taking a second.
Trumble joined the National Bank of Australasia
in 1887 to begin a career in banking. While the bank often allowed him time to practice, his frequent absences with cricket meant his career progression was slow; after each of his five tours of England he returned to find junior bank officers promoted over him. Nevertheless, he was appointed accountant
at the Richmond
branch in 1903 and after his retirement from cricket in 1908, manager of the Kew
branch.
A loyal clubman, Trumble served on the committee of the Melbourne Cricket Club
(MCC) from 1900–01 to 1910–11 and was made a life member in 1904. In 1911 he resigned from the bank to become MCC club secretary; a position he held for 27 years until his death. In this role, he played a leading part in reconciling the club and the Victorian Cricket Association
after a period of some friction between the two bodies. He was instrumental in attracting quality cricketers to the club including Bert Ironmonger
, whom Trumble saw play on a visit to Queensland
. During his term as secretary, the Melbourne Cricket Ground
was expanded to a capacity of over 70,000 spectators.
Trumble was a prominent writer about and elder statesman of the game and was conspicuous in his support for journalists calling at any hour. From time to time, Trumble acted as a selector
of the Victorian cricket team
. In 2001, Trumble was selected in the Melbourne Cricket Club Team of the Century
, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
for his contribution to the sport in Australia.
In 1899, aged 31, Trumble met and fell in love with Florence Christian, aged 19 from Queensland. The couple were married in 1902, with the wedding timed to allow a honeymoon trip accompanying the Australian cricket tour of England. An injury to his thumb freed Trumble from cricket commitments for a while, to his new wife's delight. Together, the couple had eight children; six sons and two daughters. One son, Robert
, a renowned musician and writer, dedicated his first book, The Golden Age of Cricket, to his father. Trumble died aged 71, from a heart attack in his home in the Melbourne eastern suburb of Hawthorn
.
er who played 32 Test matches
as a bowling all-rounder
between 1890 and 1904. He captained
the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wickets in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average
of 21.78 runs
per wicket. He is one of only three bowlers
to twice take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Observers in Trumble's day, including the authoritative Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
, regarded him as ranking among the great Australian bowlers of the Golden Age of cricket
. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
in 1897 and the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
, established in 1996, inducted him in 2004.
A tall and thin off spin
ner, Trumble delivered the ball at a quicker pace than most spin bowlers, using his height and uncommonly long fingers to his greatest advantage. He was at his best on the softer pitches
of England, but his accuracy and variations in pace enabled him to take wickets on the harder pitches of Australia. He was a dependable lower order
batsman and a fine fielder
in the slips
. He was recognised as a shrewd thinker about the game and was popular with team-mates and opponents, with a penchant for practical jokes.
Trumble made his Test debut during the Australian cricket team's tour of England in 1890
, but was unable to secure a permanent place in the Australian side until the 1896 tour of England
. When the Australian team next toured England in 1899
, Trumble scored 1,183 runs and took 142 wickets; only George Giffen
before him had achieved the "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets as part of a touring team in England. He was appointed captain of Australia
in 1901–02, when Joe Darling
was unavailable due to farming commitments. He retired after the 1902 Australian tour of England but was coaxed back in 1903–04. In his last Test match, Trumble took a hat-trick, his second, in front of his home town supporters in Melbourne.
Off the field, Trumble worked for the National Bank of Australasia
, rising to the position of manager of a local branch despite his cricket commitments interrupting his banking career. In 1911, he was appointed secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club
, overseeing the development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground
(MCG) into a stadium capable of holding over 70,000 spectators. He held this post until his death in 1938 from a heart attack
, aged 71.
neighbourhood of Collingwood, Victoria
in 1867, the son of William, born in Northern Ireland
and superintendent of an insane asylum
, and Scottish
-born Elizabeth (née Clark). His elder brother, John
, also played Test cricket for Australia and his younger brother, Thomas, was a public servant
who served as Secretary for the Department of Defence
from 1918–27, and then official secretary to the High Commissioner
for Australia in London.
Trumble spent part of his early life in the western Victorian town of Ararat
before returning to Melbourne, settling in suburban Camberwell
. He was educated at Hawthorn Grammar School and played his early cricket for Kew Cricket Club. Encouraging his sons' early love of cricket, William Trumble—a keen cricketer who bowled leg break
s for South Melbourne Cricket Club
—set out a cricket pitch
at the family home. He placed a feather on a good length
and urged his sons to aim at it when bowling. Known for his accuracy, Hugh later said, "Of course I couldn't repeatedly hit the feather, but I soon reached the stage when I was always pretty close to it"
Trumble transferred to the Melbourne Cricket Club
for the 1887–88 cricket season and was an immediate success. He took 36 wickets that season, finishing with an average
of 6.77 runs per wicket; the best in the club, beating his teammate and Australian Test bowler Fred Spofforth
. He made his first-class cricket
debut for Victoria
that same season, selected to play against a touring English XI led by Middlesex
batsman George Vernon
. His first match for Victoria against Australian opposition was against New South Wales
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
. Bowling with Spofforth, in the first innings Trumble took seven wickets for 52 runs.
, Trumble enjoyed his first taste and ordered another before re-entering the field of play. Feeling relaxed, although wondering about his steadiness of step, Trumble took a succession of wickets to ensure his selection in the Australian team. Trumble finished the season with 27 wickets at an average of 14.20 per wicket.
The 1890 Australian team touring England was relatively inexperienced. The team missed the all-round
ability of George Giffen
, who had refused to join the squad, thinking it unlikely the tour would be a sporting or financial success. The Australians won 13 matches on tour, losing 16 and drawing 9. Trumble made his Test cricket debut in the First Test against the English team at Lord's Cricket Ground
. He took only one wicket
, dismissing Bobby Peel
caught and bowled for 1. Batting at number eleven in the first innings
he made 1 not out
and in the second, 5 runs batting at number ten. Despite this lack of success, he retained his spot in the team for the Second Test at The Oval
where he failed to take a wicket. He was selected for the Third Test at Old Trafford but continuous rain saw the match abandoned without a ball being bowled. Trumble played 28 first-class matches during the tour, scoring 288 runs at an average of 8.47 and took 52 wickets at an average of 21.75. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
wrote, "Reports from Australia had led us to expect a great deal of ... Trumble" but his "straightness and regular length
[were] insufficient to compensate for an obvious lack of 'devil' and variety".
Trumble was not selected for the Australian team to play Lord Sheffield
's touring English team in 1891–92. He did not return to the Australian team until his selection in the squad to tour England in 1893
. Before the Test matches he took 14 wickets for 116 runs (14/116) against the Players
followed by 12/84 against Kent
at Gravesend
. He played in all three Test matches in 1893, taking 6 wickets at an average of 39.00. Trumble scored 58 runs in the Tests with a highest score of 35 but had more success in the other matches, scoring 774 runs, including one century
in all first-class matches on tour. Wisden noted that "An immense improvement on his form of three years before was shown by Hugh Trumble, who bowled consistently well all through the tour" and "... the reports of Hugh Trumble's improvement in batting were amply borne out, his hitting in many matches being remarkably fine".
When Andrew Stoddart
's English team
visited Australia in 1894–95, Trumble played only one Test, the Second at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
. In the first innings, England scored 75 runs with Trumble taking 3 wickets. England fought back in their second innings, scoring 475 runs to win the Test by 94 runs; Trumble failed to take a wicket.
, despite a poor domestic season in 1895–96 that saw his place in the touring squad seriously questioned by pundits. The leading cricket journalist, Tom Horan
said that as much as he personally liked Trumble, he could not see him as a member of a team for the England tour that season. It was, however, during this tour that Trumble finally established a permanent place in the Australian line up. Wisden said of Trumble when listing him as one of its Cricketers of the Year
, "...it was not until his third visit, during the past season, that Trumble convinced Englishmen he was entitled to rank among the great bowlers of Australia". In that season, Trumble took 148 wickets at an average of 15.81. He was seen as Australia's leading bowler who "was able to inspire [the English] batsmen with a feeling of apprehension". Wisden's summary of the 1896 Australian tour said of Trumble, "His great strength lay in the combination of spin with extreme accuracy" and "he was on all wickets distinctly the best bowler on the [Australian] side".
England won the First Test at Lord's
by 6 wickets, Trumble taking one wicket in each innings. The Second Test at Old Trafford was more closely fought. Despite K. S. Ranjitsinhji scoring a "marvellous" 154 and Tom Richardson
"bowling in his finest form" the Australians managed to hold on for a 3 wicket victory. The Australians required 125 runs to win in their second innings and were expected to make this target easily. Richardson's skilful bowling however saw Trumble and Kelly batting together with only 3 wickets in hand but with 25 runs still to make. Against excellent bowling and in a tense atmosphere, the pair managed to bat Australia home with the last runs taking an hour to score, mainly in singles
. Trumble made 17 not out
to follow his 24 runs in the first innings and his 4 wickets. With the series tied at one Test apiece, the Third and final Test was played at The Oval
in London. On a pitch damaged by rain
, the English batted first and were dismissed for 145. Trumble took 6 wickets for 59 runs, including a 9-over
spell of 5 wickets for 10 runs. England fought back to bowl the Australians out for 119. In turn, the Australians restricted England to 84 runs with Trumble taking 6 wickets for 30, to leave Australia requiring 111 runs in their second innings to win the match. Bobby Peel
and Jack Hearne
combined to bowl Australia out for 44 runs to win the Test by 66 runs and retain the Ashes
for England . In the three Tests, Trumble took 18 wickets at an average of 18.83 runs per wicket.
Trumble played in every Test of the 1897–98 series against the touring English
, who were again captained by Stoddart. England won the First Test in Sydney by 9 wickets with Trumble's 70 runs the highest score in the Australian first innings. Under the captaincy of Harry Trott
, Australia fought back to win the Second Test in Melbourne by an innings and 55 runs. Trumble took 8 wickets in the match and in partnership with Monty Noble
bowled the English out for 150 runs in the second innings. Australia won the Third Test in Adelaide by an innings and 13 runs; Trumble made 37 runs in the Australian innings and took 1 wicket for the match. In the Fourth Test, Trumble combined with Clem Hill
in a 165 run partnership
for the seventh wicket, described by Wisden as the turning point in the innings. Australia won the match by 8 wickets. Australia won the Fifth Test and the series four Tests to one. For the series overall, Trumble took 19 wickets at an average of 28.15 runs per wicket and scored 170 runs at an average of 36.20.
The 1899 Australian tour
saw Trumble score 1,183 runs and take 142 wickets; he was only the second Australian, after George Giffen
, to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in an English season as part of a touring team. In the Test series, Trumble took 15 wickets at an average of 25.00 and made 232 runs at an average of 38.66. Wisden said of Trumble's batting that season, "[Trumble] played so consistently well as to make it clear that if he had not been a bowler he would have been a great batsman". Dry pitches
saw his bowling average fall off a little from the 1896 tour but Wisden stated that he "bowled quite as well as in 1896" and "[he] never seemed easy to hit, and whenever the ground gave him least advantage ... he was deadly". Australia won the Second Test by 10 wickets and with the other Tests finishing in draws, they retained the Ashes in a one Test to nil series victory. Trumble played particularly well in the Third Test at Headingley
, where he took 5 wickets for 60 runs and was the highest run-scorer in the Australian second innings with 56.
the Australian team against England in 1901–02 when Joe Darling
withdrew to manage his farm in Tasmania after the first three Tests. Australia won the two remaining Tests—the only occasions that Trumble would captain his country in Test cricket—to win the series four Tests to one. Earlier, in the Second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, Trumble took a "hat-trick"; only five hat-tricks had been taken in the previous 24 years of Test cricket. He dismissed Arthur Jones
, John Gunn
and Sydney Barnes
in successive balls to complete an Australian victory by 229 runs. In the Third Test in Adelaide, Trumble captured 6 wickets for 74 runs in the England second innings and made 62 not out
to help the Australians win the match by 4 wickets. After this success with the bat, Trumble—in his new role as captain—promoted himself to open the batting alongside Victor Trumper
. He made only 6 runs, handing the opening batsman role to Reggie Duff
for the second innings. Australia won the Test by 7 wickets with Trumble not required to bat a second time. In the Fifth Test, again in Melbourne, Trumble took 5 wickets for 62 runs to help restrict England to a lead of 45 runs after the first innings. In the second innings Trumble took another 3 wickets and, combined with Noble's 6 wickets, helped Australia win by 32 runs. Trumble and Noble were the most successful Australian bowlers during the series. Together they took 60 wickets in the Tests: Noble 32 at an average of 19.00 and Trumble 28 at an average of 20.03.
Trumble's last cricketing tour of England was in 1902
, with Darling returning to captain the Australian team. Early in the tour, Trumble broke his thumb at practice, causing him to miss the first month of the English season. Despite this, when he returned for the final three Tests he took 26 wickets. In the Fourth Test at Old Trafford, Trumble took 10 wickets. This included 6 wickets in the second innings when he combined with Jack Saunders
to bowl England out for 120; securing an Australian victory by 3 runs. Trumble, recalling his final over
of the match, said "With the ball greasy [wet] and my boots unable to get a proper foothold on slippery turf, it was the most trying over I ever bowled." In the Fifth Test at The Oval, Trumble made 64 runs in the first innings and followed this with 8 wickets for 65 runs in the English first innings. He took another 4 wickets in the English second innings, but this was not sufficient to prevent an English victory by one wicket. Darling bowled Trumble unchanged from the Pavilion end throughout both innings of the match. Wisden praised Trumble's bowling saying "Trumble, paying us his fifth visit, bowled perhaps better than ever", but remarked that "it must be said that the wet weather and soft wickets were all in his favour"
After playing in one Test match against the South African team on a stopover when returning from England to Australia, Trumble retired from Test cricket, aged 35. When Australia lost to the English tourists in the First Test in Sydney in 1903–04, Trumble was persuaded to return for the Second Test under the captaincy of Noble. He was immediately successful taking 4 wickets for 107 runs in the first innings and 5 for 34 in the second, but was unable to prevent England from winning the Test by 185 runs Selected for the remaining four Tests, his 24 wickets in four Tests made Trumble the most successful Australian bowler in the series. The writer Roland Perry
described Trumble's final Test match as "the most dramatic and memorable farewell performance ever by a bowler". In front of his home town supporters in Melbourne, he took 7 wickets for 28 runs, including a hat-trick
, to bowl Australia to victory; Wisden describing his bowling in the second innings as "practically unplayable". The hat-trick, his second in Test cricket, consisted of the dismissals of Bernard Bosanquet
, Plum Warner
and Dick Lilley
on 7 March. He went on to take the wicket of Ted Arnold
, ending the match and his career in international cricket.
said of Trumble: "El Greco
, with his lengthening touch would have liked to draw Trumble. Hugh's lantern shaped head set on a column of a neck would have given the Spaniard a halfway start." English cricketer and author Plum Warner
called him "That great camel, Hughie Trumble."
When bowling, Trumble made the most of his height, bringing the ball over the full extent of his right arm. His action was described by his team-mate and bowling partner, Monty Noble
, as "sidelong and insinuating, with his neck craned like a gigantic bird". He bowled off spin
ners with an impeccable length
at medium pace and was able to swing
the new ball. He had a well-disguised slower ball, hoodwinking batsmen such as Stanley Jackson
, who said, "You old devil. You get me caught-and-bowled whenever you like but I'll pick that slow one sooner or later." He preferred English pitches, saying he hardly saw one on which he could not get some turn and the temperate weather allowed him to bowl all day. In Australia, Trumble had to work harder for his wickets on firmer pitches, relying on his change of pace and consistent accuracy; he claimed he could land the ball on a saucer 17 metres (19 yd) away five times out of six. Johnnie Moyes
named him as an "immortal of the art" who succeeded by "attacking the batsman's strength". W. G. Grace
called him "the best bowler Australia has sent us". While Trumble was able to score 1,183 runs during the 1899 tour of England, the demands of bowling did not allow him to consistently score heavily. His long, prehensile fingers helped him make a reputation as a fine slips
fieldsman and he was the first to take 20 catches in an Australian season. English cricketer Johnny Douglas
said, "Trumble should not be allowed on the cricket field—his natural place would be up trees in the bush." He practised slip fielding by catching a tennis ball thrown against a brick wall; he believed this practise trained him not to "snatch" at the ball but allow it to fall into his safe hands.
Trumble was known for his cleverness on the field. C. B. Fry said of him, "He is the most long-headed, observant and acute judge of the game, a perfect master of the whole art of placing fieldsmen and changing bowlers." On one occasion when captaining his state side, Victoria, he deliberately bowled two wides that his fieldsmen allowed to roll to the boundary
to score four runs for his opponents. This was done in order to save his tired bowlers from having to bowl again immediately, as his opponents would have been required to follow-on
(bat twice in a row), at the time compulsory. When questioned by an onlooker about the dubious sportsmanship
of the action, he replied, "I had to do it, old chap, but I wonder what my father will think of it?" Trumble was respected by his teammates and opponents; New Zealand
cricketer, Dan Reese
, who played against and alongside Trumble said, "His subtle humour, his fund of cricket stories, his kindness, and, above all, his judgment, made him a man of exceptional character."
He was popular with team-mates and opponents alike, with a weakness for practical jokes. On board a ship travelling to England, Trumble offered to coach unsuspecting fellow travellers in various deck sports such as quoits
. Accepting Trumble's advice, they were made to contort themselves into a number of ludicrous positions to the amusement of his team-mates and other onlookers in the know. To prolong the joke, in his own games Trumble would adopt the same peculiar stance and method he advocated.
"The first of the great off spinners of the Test-match age", in 32 Tests, Trumble took 141 wickets at an average
of just over 20 runs per wicket. He took 5 wickets in an innings on nine occasions and 10 wickets in a match three times. On retirement, he had taken more wickets in Test cricket than any other player; a record he held for nearly 10 years until surpassed by Sydney Barnes
. It wasn't until Dennis Lillee
75 years later that anyone was able to better Trumble's 141 wickets against England. While mainly a bowler, Trumble batted well enough to make 851 runs in Test cricket at an average of 19.79 with a highest score of 70. Trumble was also prolific at first-class level. He took 929 wickets, including 5 wickets in an innings on 69 occasions, and as a batsman, he made 5,395 runs with three centuries
and a highest score of 107. For Melbourne Cricket Club
, he took just under 400 wickets and scored more than 3,000 runs; winning the club best bowling average on six occasions and the best batting average once.
Trumble was particularly effective in England. After taking 52 wickets on his first tour of England in 1890, his other four visits to England—in 1893, 1896, 1899 and 1902—saw him take over 100 wickets in first-class matches. In 1899, he scored 1,183 runs making him one of only four Australians, with George Giffen
, Warwick Armstrong
(both three times) and Jack Gregory, to take over 100 wickets and make over 1,000 runs on a tour of England.
The ICC player rankings have been applied retrospectively to cricket history and Trumble achieved the top ranking as a bowler. By June 1896, he was ranked fifth in the world and never again slipped lower; from 1899 until his retirement he was the first or second best bowler in the world according to the ratings. As a batsman, Trumble's ranking peaked at twelfth in the world after the Third Test in Adelaide in 1901–02.
Trumble was the first player to take two hat-tricks in Test cricket. Both hat-tricks were taken against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, where Trumble played his club cricket. Hat-tricks are extremely rare; in over 131 years of Test cricket to March 2008, there had only been 37 Test hat-tricks
and only Jimmy Matthews
and Wasim Akram
been able to repeat Trumble's feat of taking a second.
Trumble joined the National Bank of Australasia
in 1887 to begin a career in banking. While the bank often allowed him time to practice, his frequent absences with cricket meant his career progression was slow; after each of his five tours of England he returned to find junior bank officers promoted over him. Nevertheless, he was appointed accountant
at the Richmond
branch in 1903 and after his retirement from cricket in 1908, manager of the Kew
branch.
A loyal clubman, Trumble served on the committee of the Melbourne Cricket Club
(MCC) from 1900–01 to 1910–11 and was made a life member in 1904. In 1911 he resigned from the bank to become MCC club secretary; a position he held for 27 years until his death. In this role, he played a leading part in reconciling the club and the Victorian Cricket Association
after a period of some friction between the two bodies. He was instrumental in attracting quality cricketers to the club including Bert Ironmonger
, whom Trumble saw play on a visit to Queensland
. During his term as secretary, the Melbourne Cricket Ground
was expanded to a capacity of over 70,000 spectators.
Trumble was a prominent writer about and elder statesman of the game and was conspicuous in his support for journalists calling at any hour. From time to time, Trumble acted as a selector
of the Victorian cricket team
. In 2001, Trumble was selected in the Melbourne Cricket Club Team of the Century
, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
for his contribution to the sport in Australia.
In 1899, aged 31, Trumble met and fell in love with Florence Christian, aged 19 from Queensland. The couple were married in 1902, with the wedding timed to allow a honeymoon trip accompanying the Australian cricket tour of England. An injury to his thumb freed Trumble from cricket commitments for a while, to his new wife's delight. Together, the couple had eight children; six sons and two daughters. One son, Robert
, a renowned musician and writer, dedicated his first book, The Golden Age of Cricket, to his father. Trumble died aged 71, from a heart attack in his home in the Melbourne eastern suburb of Hawthorn
.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played 32 Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
as a bowling all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
between 1890 and 1904. He captained
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wickets in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 21.78 runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
per wicket. He is one of only three bowlers
Test cricket hat-tricks
This is a list of all hat-tricks in Test cricket; that is, the occasions when a bowler has taken three wickets in consecutive deliveries in Test cricket matches. As of 30 July 2011, a hat-trick has been taken 39 times since the first Test match in 1877, most recently by English fast-medium bowler...
to twice take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Observers in Trumble's day, including the authoritative Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, regarded him as ranking among the great Australian bowlers of the Golden Age of cricket
Golden Age of cricket
The Golden Age of Cricket is a term that has often been applied in cricket literature to the period in English, Australian, and American cricket from the formation of the official County Championship in the 1890 season to the outbreak of World War I, which occurred just before the scheduled end of...
. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
in 1897 and the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in the National Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This Hall of Fame commemorates the greatest Australian cricketers of all time....
, established in 1996, inducted him in 2004.
A tall and thin off spin
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
ner, Trumble delivered the ball at a quicker pace than most spin bowlers, using his height and uncommonly long fingers to his greatest advantage. He was at his best on the softer pitches
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
of England, but his accuracy and variations in pace enabled him to take wickets on the harder pitches of Australia. He was a dependable lower order
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
batsman and a fine fielder
Fielding (cricket)
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...
in the slips
Slip (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many teams employ two or three slips...
. He was recognised as a shrewd thinker about the game and was popular with team-mates and opponents, with a penchant for practical jokes.
Trumble made his Test debut during the Australian cricket team's tour of England in 1890
Australian cricket team in England in 1890
The Australian cricket team in England in 1890 played 34 first-class matches including 2 Tests .England won the Test series 2-0:...
, but was unable to secure a permanent place in the Australian side until the 1896 tour of England
Australian cricket team in England in 1896
The Australian cricket team in England in 1896 played 34 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 2-1:* – England won by 6 wickets* – Australia won by 3 wickets...
. When the Australian team next toured England in 1899
Australian cricket team in England in 1899
The Australian cricket team in England in 1899 played 35 first-class matches including five Tests, the first time that a series in England had consisted of more than three matches...
, Trumble scored 1,183 runs and took 142 wickets; only George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
before him had achieved the "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets as part of a touring team in England. He was appointed captain of Australia
Australian national cricket captains
Australia played in the first-ever Test match in cricket in 1877, the first-ever One Day International in 1971 and the first-ever Twenty20 international in 2005...
in 1901–02, when Joe Darling
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
was unavailable due to farming commitments. He retired after the 1902 Australian tour of England but was coaxed back in 1903–04. In his last Test match, Trumble took a hat-trick, his second, in front of his home town supporters in Melbourne.
Off the field, Trumble worked for the National Bank of Australasia
National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. NAB is ranked 17th largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation...
, rising to the position of manager of a local branch despite his cricket commitments interrupting his banking career. In 1911, he was appointed secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
, overseeing the development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
(MCG) into a stadium capable of holding over 70,000 spectators. He held this post until his death in 1938 from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, aged 71.
Early life and career
Trumble was born in the inner MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
neighbourhood of Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
in 1867, the son of William, born in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and superintendent of an insane asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
, and Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-born Elizabeth (née Clark). His elder brother, John
John Trumble
John William Trumble was an Australian cricketer who played in 7 Tests between 1885 and 1886.He was the brother of Hugh Trumble....
, also played Test cricket for Australia and his younger brother, Thomas, was a public servant
Australian Public Service
The Australian Public Service is the Australian federal civil service, the group of people employed by federal departments, agencies and courts under the Government of Australia, to administer the working of the public administration of the Commonwealth of Australia...
who served as Secretary for the Department of Defence
Department of Defence (Australia)
The Australian Department of Defence is a Federal Government Department. It forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation along with the Australian Defence Force . The Defence mission is to defend Australia and its national interests...
from 1918–27, and then official secretary to the High Commissioner
High Commissioner (Commonwealth)
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a High Commissioner is the senior diplomat in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another.-History:...
for Australia in London.
Trumble spent part of his early life in the western Victorian town of Ararat
Ararat, Victoria
Ararat is a city in south-west Victoria, Australia, about west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway on the eastern slopes of the Ararat Hills and Cemetery Creek valley between Victoria's Western District and the Wimmera...
before returning to Melbourne, settling in suburban Camberwell
Camberwell, Victoria
Camberwell is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Camberwell had a population of 19,637....
. He was educated at Hawthorn Grammar School and played his early cricket for Kew Cricket Club. Encouraging his sons' early love of cricket, William Trumble—a keen cricketer who bowled leg break
Leg break
A leg break is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. A delivery of a right-handed leg spin bowler. Leg breaks are also colloquially known as leggies or wrist spinners, as the wrist is the body part which is primarily used to impart spin on the ball, as opposed to the fingers in the case of...
s for South Melbourne Cricket Club
Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club
The Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club is a cricket club located in the outer south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, which plays in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. Founded in 1862 as South Melbourne, it has produced nine Australian Test captains, more than any other cricket...
—set out a cricket pitch
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
at the family home. He placed a feather on a good length
Line and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
and urged his sons to aim at it when bowling. Known for his accuracy, Hugh later said, "Of course I couldn't repeatedly hit the feather, but I soon reached the stage when I was always pretty close to it"
Trumble transferred to the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
for the 1887–88 cricket season and was an immediate success. He took 36 wickets that season, finishing with an average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 6.77 runs per wicket; the best in the club, beating his teammate and Australian Test bowler Fred Spofforth
Fred Spofforth
Frederick Robert "Fred" Spofforth , also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century and was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a test hat-trick in 1879...
. He made his first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut for Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
that same season, selected to play against a touring English XI led by Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
batsman George Vernon
George Vernon
George Frederick Vernon was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club. He also played one Test match for England during the first-ever Ashes tour in 1882-83.Vernon was the son of George Vernon of 32 Montague Square...
. His first match for Victoria against Australian opposition was against New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
. Bowling with Spofforth, in the first innings Trumble took seven wickets for 52 runs.
Early struggle
Early in the 1889–90 Australian season, Trumble endured a period where he was not able to take wickets consistently. With selection of the Australian team to tour England in 1890 due at this time, Trumble was anxious about this poor run of form. Noting his anxiety while playing, a friend offered him a beer during the lunch break to revive his spirits. Previously a teetotalerTeetotalism
Teetotalism refers to either the practice of or the promotion of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. A person who practices teetotalism is called a teetotaler or is simply said to be teetotal...
, Trumble enjoyed his first taste and ordered another before re-entering the field of play. Feeling relaxed, although wondering about his steadiness of step, Trumble took a succession of wickets to ensure his selection in the Australian team. Trumble finished the season with 27 wickets at an average of 14.20 per wicket.
The 1890 Australian team touring England was relatively inexperienced. The team missed the all-round
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
ability of George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
, who had refused to join the squad, thinking it unlikely the tour would be a sporting or financial success. The Australians won 13 matches on tour, losing 16 and drawing 9. Trumble made his Test cricket debut in the First Test against the English team at Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
. He took only one wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...
, dismissing Bobby Peel
Bobby Peel
Robert "Bobby" Peel was a Yorkshire and England cricketer: a left-arm spinner who ranks as one of the finest bowlers of the 1890s. He was also a capable batsman, who once hit 210 not out...
caught and bowled for 1. Batting at number eleven in the first innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
he made 1 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
and in the second, 5 runs batting at number ten. Despite this lack of success, he retained his spot in the team for the Second Test at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
where he failed to take a wicket. He was selected for the Third Test at Old Trafford but continuous rain saw the match abandoned without a ball being bowled. Trumble played 28 first-class matches during the tour, scoring 288 runs at an average of 8.47 and took 52 wickets at an average of 21.75. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
wrote, "Reports from Australia had led us to expect a great deal of ... Trumble" but his "straightness and regular length
Line and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
[were] insufficient to compensate for an obvious lack of 'devil' and variety".
Trumble was not selected for the Australian team to play Lord Sheffield
Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield
Henry North Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield , styled Viscount Pevensey until 1876, was an English Conservative politician and patron of cricket....
's touring English team in 1891–92. He did not return to the Australian team until his selection in the squad to tour England in 1893
Australian cricket team in England in 1893
The Australian cricket team in England in 1893 played 31 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 1-0 with 2 matches drawn:* – match drawn* – England won by an innings and 43 runs...
. Before the Test matches he took 14 wickets for 116 runs (14/116) against the Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
followed by 12/84 against Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
at Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
. He played in all three Test matches in 1893, taking 6 wickets at an average of 39.00. Trumble scored 58 runs in the Tests with a highest score of 35 but had more success in the other matches, scoring 774 runs, including one century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
in all first-class matches on tour. Wisden noted that "An immense improvement on his form of three years before was shown by Hugh Trumble, who bowled consistently well all through the tour" and "... the reports of Hugh Trumble's improvement in batting were amply borne out, his hitting in many matches being remarkably fine".
When Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English cricketer and rugby union player. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.-Cricket career:...
's English team
English cricket team in Australia in 1894-95
The England cricket team toured Australia and Ceylon in 1894-95.The team, captained by Andrew Stoddart, played 24 matches in total, of which it won 10, drew 10 and lost 4...
visited Australia in 1894–95, Trumble played only one Test, the Second at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
. In the first innings, England scored 75 runs with Trumble taking 3 wickets. England fought back in their second innings, scoring 475 runs to win the Test by 94 runs; Trumble failed to take a wicket.
Established cricketer
Trumble was selected in the Australian team to tour England in 1896Australian cricket team in England in 1896
The Australian cricket team in England in 1896 played 34 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 2-1:* – England won by 6 wickets* – Australia won by 3 wickets...
, despite a poor domestic season in 1895–96 that saw his place in the touring squad seriously questioned by pundits. The leading cricket journalist, Tom Horan
Tom Horan
Thomas Patrick Horan was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia, and later became an esteemed cricket journalist under the pen name "Felix". The first of only two Irish-born players to play Test cricket for Australia, Horan was the leading batsman in the colony of Victoria...
said that as much as he personally liked Trumble, he could not see him as a member of a team for the England tour that season. It was, however, during this tour that Trumble finally established a permanent place in the Australian line up. Wisden said of Trumble when listing him as one of its Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
, "...it was not until his third visit, during the past season, that Trumble convinced Englishmen he was entitled to rank among the great bowlers of Australia". In that season, Trumble took 148 wickets at an average of 15.81. He was seen as Australia's leading bowler who "was able to inspire [the English] batsmen with a feeling of apprehension". Wisden's summary of the 1896 Australian tour said of Trumble, "His great strength lay in the combination of spin with extreme accuracy" and "he was on all wickets distinctly the best bowler on the [Australian] side".
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
by 6 wickets, Trumble taking one wicket in each innings. The Second Test at Old Trafford was more closely fought. Despite K. S. Ranjitsinhji scoring a "marvellous" 154 and Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back , a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled...
"bowling in his finest form" the Australians managed to hold on for a 3 wicket victory. The Australians required 125 runs to win in their second innings and were expected to make this target easily. Richardson's skilful bowling however saw Trumble and Kelly batting together with only 3 wickets in hand but with 25 runs still to make. Against excellent bowling and in a tense atmosphere, the pair managed to bat Australia home with the last runs taking an hour to score, mainly in singles
Single (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a single is scored when the batsman take one run, either following a successful shot or when running for a bye or leg bye ....
. Trumble made 17 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
to follow his 24 runs in the first innings and his 4 wickets. With the series tied at one Test apiece, the Third and final Test was played at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in London. On a pitch damaged by rain
Sticky wicket
Sticky wicket is a metaphor used to describe a difficult circumstance; it originates from difficult circumstances in the sport of cricket.-Origins:...
, the English batted first and were dismissed for 145. Trumble took 6 wickets for 59 runs, including a 9-over
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
spell of 5 wickets for 10 runs. England fought back to bowl the Australians out for 119. In turn, the Australians restricted England to 84 runs with Trumble taking 6 wickets for 30, to leave Australia requiring 111 runs in their second innings to win the match. Bobby Peel
Bobby Peel
Robert "Bobby" Peel was a Yorkshire and England cricketer: a left-arm spinner who ranks as one of the finest bowlers of the 1890s. He was also a capable batsman, who once hit 210 not out...
and Jack Hearne
Jack Hearne (John Thomas Hearne)
John Thomas Hearne was a Middlesex and England medium-fast bowler...
combined to bowl Australia out for 44 runs to win the Test by 66 runs and retain the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
for England . In the three Tests, Trumble took 18 wickets at an average of 18.83 runs per wicket.
Trumble played in every Test of the 1897–98 series against the touring English
English cricket team in Australia in 1897-98
The England national cricket team toured Australia during the summer of 1897-98. The team was officially captained by Andrew Stoddart, but actually captained by Archie MacLaren for the first, second and fifth tests, and Stoddart for the third and fourth tests...
, who were again captained by Stoddart. England won the First Test in Sydney by 9 wickets with Trumble's 70 runs the highest score in the Australian first innings. Under the captaincy of Harry Trott
Harry Trott
George Henry Stevens "Harry" Trott was an Australian Test cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, "... it is as a captain that he is best remembered, an understanding judge of...
, Australia fought back to win the Second Test in Melbourne by an innings and 55 runs. Trumble took 8 wickets in the match and in partnership with Monty Noble
Monty Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian...
bowled the English out for 150 runs in the second innings. Australia won the Third Test in Adelaide by an innings and 13 runs; Trumble made 37 runs in the Australian innings and took 1 wicket for the match. In the Fourth Test, Trumble combined with Clem Hill
Clem Hill
Clement "Clem" Hill was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five...
in a 165 run partnership
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
for the seventh wicket, described by Wisden as the turning point in the innings. Australia won the match by 8 wickets. Australia won the Fifth Test and the series four Tests to one. For the series overall, Trumble took 19 wickets at an average of 28.15 runs per wicket and scored 170 runs at an average of 36.20.
The 1899 Australian tour
Australian cricket team in England in 1899
The Australian cricket team in England in 1899 played 35 first-class matches including five Tests, the first time that a series in England had consisted of more than three matches...
saw Trumble score 1,183 runs and take 142 wickets; he was only the second Australian, after George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
, to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in an English season as part of a touring team. In the Test series, Trumble took 15 wickets at an average of 25.00 and made 232 runs at an average of 38.66. Wisden said of Trumble's batting that season, "[Trumble] played so consistently well as to make it clear that if he had not been a bowler he would have been a great batsman". Dry pitches
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
saw his bowling average fall off a little from the 1896 tour but Wisden stated that he "bowled quite as well as in 1896" and "[he] never seemed easy to hit, and whenever the ground gave him least advantage ... he was deadly". Australia won the Second Test by 10 wickets and with the other Tests finishing in draws, they retained the Ashes in a one Test to nil series victory. Trumble played particularly well in the Third Test at Headingley
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
, where he took 5 wickets for 60 runs and was the highest run-scorer in the Australian second innings with 56.
Hat-tricks and captaincy
At the age of 34, Trumble was chosen to captainCaptain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
the Australian team against England in 1901–02 when Joe Darling
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
withdrew to manage his farm in Tasmania after the first three Tests. Australia won the two remaining Tests—the only occasions that Trumble would captain his country in Test cricket—to win the series four Tests to one. Earlier, in the Second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, Trumble took a "hat-trick"; only five hat-tricks had been taken in the previous 24 years of Test cricket. He dismissed Arthur Jones
Arthur Jones (cricketer)
Arthur Owen Jones , was a cricketer, noted as an all-rounder.He was born in Shelton, Nottinghamshire, and educated at Bedford Modern School and Jesus College, Cambridge. He played for Cambridge University, Nottinghamshire, London County and England...
, John Gunn
John Gunn (cricketer)
John Richmond Gunn was an English cricketer who played in six Tests from 1901 to 1905....
and Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
in successive balls to complete an Australian victory by 229 runs. In the Third Test in Adelaide, Trumble captured 6 wickets for 74 runs in the England second innings and made 62 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
to help the Australians win the match by 4 wickets. After this success with the bat, Trumble—in his new role as captain—promoted himself to open the batting alongside Victor Trumper
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
. He made only 6 runs, handing the opening batsman role to Reggie Duff
Reggie Duff
Reginald Alexander Duff was an Australian cricketer who played in 22 Tests between 1902 and 1905....
for the second innings. Australia won the Test by 7 wickets with Trumble not required to bat a second time. In the Fifth Test, again in Melbourne, Trumble took 5 wickets for 62 runs to help restrict England to a lead of 45 runs after the first innings. In the second innings Trumble took another 3 wickets and, combined with Noble's 6 wickets, helped Australia win by 32 runs. Trumble and Noble were the most successful Australian bowlers during the series. Together they took 60 wickets in the Tests: Noble 32 at an average of 19.00 and Trumble 28 at an average of 20.03.
Australian cricket team in England in 1902
The Australian cricket team toured England during the 1902 English cricket season. The five-Test series between the two countries has been fondly remembered; in 1967 the cricket writer A.A. Thomson described the series as "a rubber more exciting than any in history except the Australia v West...
, with Darling returning to captain the Australian team. Early in the tour, Trumble broke his thumb at practice, causing him to miss the first month of the English season. Despite this, when he returned for the final three Tests he took 26 wickets. In the Fourth Test at Old Trafford, Trumble took 10 wickets. This included 6 wickets in the second innings when he combined with Jack Saunders
Jack Saunders
John Victor Saunders was an Australian cricketer who played in 14 Tests from 1902 to 1908....
to bowl England out for 120; securing an Australian victory by 3 runs. Trumble, recalling his final over
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
of the match, said "With the ball greasy [wet] and my boots unable to get a proper foothold on slippery turf, it was the most trying over I ever bowled." In the Fifth Test at The Oval, Trumble made 64 runs in the first innings and followed this with 8 wickets for 65 runs in the English first innings. He took another 4 wickets in the English second innings, but this was not sufficient to prevent an English victory by one wicket. Darling bowled Trumble unchanged from the Pavilion end throughout both innings of the match. Wisden praised Trumble's bowling saying "Trumble, paying us his fifth visit, bowled perhaps better than ever", but remarked that "it must be said that the wet weather and soft wickets were all in his favour"
After playing in one Test match against the South African team on a stopover when returning from England to Australia, Trumble retired from Test cricket, aged 35. When Australia lost to the English tourists in the First Test in Sydney in 1903–04, Trumble was persuaded to return for the Second Test under the captaincy of Noble. He was immediately successful taking 4 wickets for 107 runs in the first innings and 5 for 34 in the second, but was unable to prevent England from winning the Test by 185 runs Selected for the remaining four Tests, his 24 wickets in four Tests made Trumble the most successful Australian bowler in the series. The writer Roland Perry
Roland Perry
Roland Perry is a Melbourne-based author best known for his books on history, especially Australia in the two world wars. His Monash: The Outsider Who Won The War, won the Fellowship of Australian Writers' 'Melbourne University Publishing Award' in 2004...
described Trumble's final Test match as "the most dramatic and memorable farewell performance ever by a bowler". In front of his home town supporters in Melbourne, he took 7 wickets for 28 runs, including a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
, to bowl Australia to victory; Wisden describing his bowling in the second innings as "practically unplayable". The hat-trick, his second in Test cricket, consisted of the dismissals of Bernard Bosanquet
Bernard Bosanquet (cricketer)
Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet was an English cricketer best known for inventing the googly, a delivery designed to deceive the batsman. When bowled, it appears to be a leg break, but after pitching the ball turns in the opposite direction to that which is expected, behaving as an off break instead...
, Plum Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
and Dick Lilley
Dick Lilley
Arthur Frederick Augustus Lilley was an English cricketer who played in 35 Tests from 1896 to 1909, more than any other England wicket-keeper in the first sixty years of Test cricket.The conservative cricket establishment of the time was not effusive in its appreciation of this great keeper...
on 7 March. He went on to take the wicket of Ted Arnold
Ted Arnold
Edward George Arnold was an English cricketer who played in ten Test Matches from 1903 to 1907, and most of his 343 first-class matches for Worcestershire between 1899 and 1913...
, ending the match and his career in international cricket.
Style and personality
Trumble was tall and thin, 6 in 4 in (193.04 cm) in height. His long face featured prominent ears and a large nose, while his long arms and uncommonly long and strong fingers assisted his bowling. The cricket writer Ray RobinsonRay Robinson (cricket writer)
Raymond John Robinson was an Australian journalist and author, best known for his writings on the sport of cricket. Born in Melbourne, Robinson attended Brighton State school and joined the Melbourne's The Herald as a copyboy. Given a cadetship with the paper, he reported on Australian football...
said of Trumble: "El Greco
El Greco
El Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
, with his lengthening touch would have liked to draw Trumble. Hugh's lantern shaped head set on a column of a neck would have given the Spaniard a halfway start." English cricketer and author Plum Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
called him "That great camel, Hughie Trumble."
Monty Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian...
, as "sidelong and insinuating, with his neck craned like a gigantic bird". He bowled off spin
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
ners with an impeccable length
Line and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
at medium pace and was able to swing
Swing bowling
Swing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers. Swing bowling is generally classed as a subtype of fast bowling.-Physics of swing bowling:...
the new ball. He had a well-disguised slower ball, hoodwinking batsmen such as Stanley Jackson
Stanley Jackson
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ , known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Early life:...
, who said, "You old devil. You get me caught-and-bowled whenever you like but I'll pick that slow one sooner or later." He preferred English pitches, saying he hardly saw one on which he could not get some turn and the temperate weather allowed him to bowl all day. In Australia, Trumble had to work harder for his wickets on firmer pitches, relying on his change of pace and consistent accuracy; he claimed he could land the ball on a saucer 17 metres (19 yd) away five times out of six. Johnnie Moyes
Johnnie Moyes
Alban George "Johnny" Moyes MBE MC was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Victoria. Following his brief playing career, Moyes, a professional journalist, he later gained greater fame as a writer and commentator on the game.As a right-hand batsman Moyes scored 883 runs at an average of...
named him as an "immortal of the art" who succeeded by "attacking the batsman's strength". W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
called him "the best bowler Australia has sent us". While Trumble was able to score 1,183 runs during the 1899 tour of England, the demands of bowling did not allow him to consistently score heavily. His long, prehensile fingers helped him make a reputation as a fine slips
Slip (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many teams employ two or three slips...
fieldsman and he was the first to take 20 catches in an Australian season. English cricketer Johnny Douglas
Johnny Douglas
John "Johnny" William Henry Tyler Douglas was a cricketer who was captain of the England team and an Olympic boxer.-Early life:...
said, "Trumble should not be allowed on the cricket field—his natural place would be up trees in the bush." He practised slip fielding by catching a tennis ball thrown against a brick wall; he believed this practise trained him not to "snatch" at the ball but allow it to fall into his safe hands.
Trumble was known for his cleverness on the field. C. B. Fry said of him, "He is the most long-headed, observant and acute judge of the game, a perfect master of the whole art of placing fieldsmen and changing bowlers." On one occasion when captaining his state side, Victoria, he deliberately bowled two wides that his fieldsmen allowed to roll to the boundary
Boundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
to score four runs for his opponents. This was done in order to save his tired bowlers from having to bowl again immediately, as his opponents would have been required to follow-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
(bat twice in a row), at the time compulsory. When questioned by an onlooker about the dubious sportsmanship
Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors...
of the action, he replied, "I had to do it, old chap, but I wonder what my father will think of it?" Trumble was respected by his teammates and opponents; New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
cricketer, Dan Reese
Dan Reese
Dan Reese was a New Zealand cricketer. A left-handed batsman and a slow-medium bowler, Reese first represented his national team aged 16. His early cricket was with the Midland club in Christchurch and his provincial team, Canterbury. He left New Zealand to play for Melbourne Cricket Club from...
, who played against and alongside Trumble said, "His subtle humour, his fund of cricket stories, his kindness, and, above all, his judgment, made him a man of exceptional character."
He was popular with team-mates and opponents alike, with a weakness for practical jokes. On board a ship travelling to England, Trumble offered to coach unsuspecting fellow travellers in various deck sports such as quoits
Quoits
Quoits is a traditional game which involves the throwing of metal, rope or rubber rings over a set distance, usually to land over or near a spike . The sport of quoits encompasses several distinct variations.-The history of quoits:The history of quoits is disputed...
. Accepting Trumble's advice, they were made to contort themselves into a number of ludicrous positions to the amusement of his team-mates and other onlookers in the know. To prolong the joke, in his own games Trumble would adopt the same peculiar stance and method he advocated.
Legacy and statistical analysis
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of just over 20 runs per wicket. He took 5 wickets in an innings on nine occasions and 10 wickets in a match three times. On retirement, he had taken more wickets in Test cricket than any other player; a record he held for nearly 10 years until surpassed by Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
. It wasn't until Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
75 years later that anyone was able to better Trumble's 141 wickets against England. While mainly a bowler, Trumble batted well enough to make 851 runs in Test cricket at an average of 19.79 with a highest score of 70. Trumble was also prolific at first-class level. He took 929 wickets, including 5 wickets in an innings on 69 occasions, and as a batsman, he made 5,395 runs with three centuries
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
and a highest score of 107. For Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
, he took just under 400 wickets and scored more than 3,000 runs; winning the club best bowling average on six occasions and the best batting average once.
Trumble was particularly effective in England. After taking 52 wickets on his first tour of England in 1890, his other four visits to England—in 1893, 1896, 1899 and 1902—saw him take over 100 wickets in first-class matches. In 1899, he scored 1,183 runs making him one of only four Australians, with George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
, Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921 and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two...
(both three times) and Jack Gregory, to take over 100 wickets and make over 1,000 runs on a tour of England.
The ICC player rankings have been applied retrospectively to cricket history and Trumble achieved the top ranking as a bowler. By June 1896, he was ranked fifth in the world and never again slipped lower; from 1899 until his retirement he was the first or second best bowler in the world according to the ratings. As a batsman, Trumble's ranking peaked at twelfth in the world after the Third Test in Adelaide in 1901–02.
Trumble was the first player to take two hat-tricks in Test cricket. Both hat-tricks were taken against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, where Trumble played his club cricket. Hat-tricks are extremely rare; in over 131 years of Test cricket to March 2008, there had only been 37 Test hat-tricks
Test cricket hat-tricks
This is a list of all hat-tricks in Test cricket; that is, the occasions when a bowler has taken three wickets in consecutive deliveries in Test cricket matches. As of 30 July 2011, a hat-trick has been taken 39 times since the first Test match in 1877, most recently by English fast-medium bowler...
and only Jimmy Matthews
Jimmy Matthews
Thomas James Matthews was an Australian Test cricketer. He bowled leg breaks...
and Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricketer and model. who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches....
been able to repeat Trumble's feat of taking a second.
Off the playing field
National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. NAB is ranked 17th largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation...
in 1887 to begin a career in banking. While the bank often allowed him time to practice, his frequent absences with cricket meant his career progression was slow; after each of his five tours of England he returned to find junior bank officers promoted over him. Nevertheless, he was appointed accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
at the Richmond
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
branch in 1903 and after his retirement from cricket in 1908, manager of the Kew
Kew, Victoria
Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....
branch.
A loyal clubman, Trumble served on the committee of the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
(MCC) from 1900–01 to 1910–11 and was made a life member in 1904. In 1911 he resigned from the bank to become MCC club secretary; a position he held for 27 years until his death. In this role, he played a leading part in reconciling the club and the Victorian Cricket Association
Cricket Victoria
Cricket Victoria is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Victoria. It was formed on 29 September 1875 as the Victorian Cricket Association...
after a period of some friction between the two bodies. He was instrumental in attracting quality cricketers to the club including Bert Ironmonger
Bert Ironmonger
Herbert Ironmonger was a Victorian and Australian cricketer....
, whom Trumble saw play on a visit to Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. During his term as secretary, the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
was expanded to a capacity of over 70,000 spectators.
Trumble was a prominent writer about and elder statesman of the game and was conspicuous in his support for journalists calling at any hour. From time to time, Trumble acted as a selector
Selector (sport)
In many team sports, a selection panel consist of selectors who choose teams or individuals to represent a country or club in sporting competitions.Selectors tend to be past players....
of the Victorian cricket team
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
. In 2001, Trumble was selected in the Melbourne Cricket Club Team of the Century
Team of the Century
Team of the Century and Team of the Decade are terms used in team sport to name a hypothetical best team over a given time period.For the century team, it can be either 100 years, or for a century...
, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in the National Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This Hall of Fame commemorates the greatest Australian cricketers of all time....
for his contribution to the sport in Australia.
In 1899, aged 31, Trumble met and fell in love with Florence Christian, aged 19 from Queensland. The couple were married in 1902, with the wedding timed to allow a honeymoon trip accompanying the Australian cricket tour of England. An injury to his thumb freed Trumble from cricket commitments for a while, to his new wife's delight. Together, the couple had eight children; six sons and two daughters. One son, Robert
Robert Trumble
Robert William Trumble was an Australian musician and author. Son of international cricketer Hugh Trumble, Robert dedicated his first book, The Golden Age of Cricket, to his father. It was published in Melbourne in 1968.Trumble's musical career was also noted by the Australian media...
, a renowned musician and writer, dedicated his first book, The Golden Age of Cricket, to his father. Trumble died aged 71, from a heart attack in his home in the Melbourne eastern suburb of Hawthorn
Hawthorn, Victoria
Hawthorn is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara...
.
External links
Hugh Trumble (12 May 1867 – 14 August 1938) was an Australian cricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played 32 Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
as a bowling all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
between 1890 and 1904. He captained
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wickets in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 21.78 runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
per wicket. He is one of only three bowlers
Test cricket hat-tricks
This is a list of all hat-tricks in Test cricket; that is, the occasions when a bowler has taken three wickets in consecutive deliveries in Test cricket matches. As of 30 July 2011, a hat-trick has been taken 39 times since the first Test match in 1877, most recently by English fast-medium bowler...
to twice take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Observers in Trumble's day, including the authoritative Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, regarded him as ranking among the great Australian bowlers of the Golden Age of cricket
Golden Age of cricket
The Golden Age of Cricket is a term that has often been applied in cricket literature to the period in English, Australian, and American cricket from the formation of the official County Championship in the 1890 season to the outbreak of World War I, which occurred just before the scheduled end of...
. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
in 1897 and the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in the National Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This Hall of Fame commemorates the greatest Australian cricketers of all time....
, established in 1996, inducted him in 2004.
A tall and thin off spin
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
ner, Trumble delivered the ball at a quicker pace than most spin bowlers, using his height and uncommonly long fingers to his greatest advantage. He was at his best on the softer pitches
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
of England, but his accuracy and variations in pace enabled him to take wickets on the harder pitches of Australia. He was a dependable lower order
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
batsman and a fine fielder
Fielding (cricket)
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...
in the slips
Slip (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many teams employ two or three slips...
. He was recognised as a shrewd thinker about the game and was popular with team-mates and opponents, with a penchant for practical jokes.
Trumble made his Test debut during the Australian cricket team's tour of England in 1890
Australian cricket team in England in 1890
The Australian cricket team in England in 1890 played 34 first-class matches including 2 Tests .England won the Test series 2-0:...
, but was unable to secure a permanent place in the Australian side until the 1896 tour of England
Australian cricket team in England in 1896
The Australian cricket team in England in 1896 played 34 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 2-1:* – England won by 6 wickets* – Australia won by 3 wickets...
. When the Australian team next toured England in 1899
Australian cricket team in England in 1899
The Australian cricket team in England in 1899 played 35 first-class matches including five Tests, the first time that a series in England had consisted of more than three matches...
, Trumble scored 1,183 runs and took 142 wickets; only George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
before him had achieved the "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets as part of a touring team in England. He was appointed captain of Australia
Australian national cricket captains
Australia played in the first-ever Test match in cricket in 1877, the first-ever One Day International in 1971 and the first-ever Twenty20 international in 2005...
in 1901–02, when Joe Darling
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
was unavailable due to farming commitments. He retired after the 1902 Australian tour of England but was coaxed back in 1903–04. In his last Test match, Trumble took a hat-trick, his second, in front of his home town supporters in Melbourne.
Off the field, Trumble worked for the National Bank of Australasia
National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. NAB is ranked 17th largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation...
, rising to the position of manager of a local branch despite his cricket commitments interrupting his banking career. In 1911, he was appointed secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
, overseeing the development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
(MCG) into a stadium capable of holding over 70,000 spectators. He held this post until his death in 1938 from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, aged 71.
Early life and career
Trumble was born in the inner MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
neighbourhood of Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
in 1867, the son of William, born in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and superintendent of an insane asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
, and Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-born Elizabeth (née Clark). His elder brother, John
John Trumble
John William Trumble was an Australian cricketer who played in 7 Tests between 1885 and 1886.He was the brother of Hugh Trumble....
, also played Test cricket for Australia and his younger brother, Thomas, was a public servant
Australian Public Service
The Australian Public Service is the Australian federal civil service, the group of people employed by federal departments, agencies and courts under the Government of Australia, to administer the working of the public administration of the Commonwealth of Australia...
who served as Secretary for the Department of Defence
Department of Defence (Australia)
The Australian Department of Defence is a Federal Government Department. It forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation along with the Australian Defence Force . The Defence mission is to defend Australia and its national interests...
from 1918–27, and then official secretary to the High Commissioner
High Commissioner (Commonwealth)
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a High Commissioner is the senior diplomat in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another.-History:...
for Australia in London.
Trumble spent part of his early life in the western Victorian town of Ararat
Ararat, Victoria
Ararat is a city in south-west Victoria, Australia, about west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway on the eastern slopes of the Ararat Hills and Cemetery Creek valley between Victoria's Western District and the Wimmera...
before returning to Melbourne, settling in suburban Camberwell
Camberwell, Victoria
Camberwell is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Camberwell had a population of 19,637....
. He was educated at Hawthorn Grammar School and played his early cricket for Kew Cricket Club. Encouraging his sons' early love of cricket, William Trumble—a keen cricketer who bowled leg break
Leg break
A leg break is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. A delivery of a right-handed leg spin bowler. Leg breaks are also colloquially known as leggies or wrist spinners, as the wrist is the body part which is primarily used to impart spin on the ball, as opposed to the fingers in the case of...
s for South Melbourne Cricket Club
Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club
The Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club is a cricket club located in the outer south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, which plays in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. Founded in 1862 as South Melbourne, it has produced nine Australian Test captains, more than any other cricket...
—set out a cricket pitch
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
at the family home. He placed a feather on a good length
Line and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
and urged his sons to aim at it when bowling. Known for his accuracy, Hugh later said, "Of course I couldn't repeatedly hit the feather, but I soon reached the stage when I was always pretty close to it"
Trumble transferred to the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
for the 1887–88 cricket season and was an immediate success. He took 36 wickets that season, finishing with an average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 6.77 runs per wicket; the best in the club, beating his teammate and Australian Test bowler Fred Spofforth
Fred Spofforth
Frederick Robert "Fred" Spofforth , also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century and was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a test hat-trick in 1879...
. He made his first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut for Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
that same season, selected to play against a touring English XI led by Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
batsman George Vernon
George Vernon
George Frederick Vernon was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club. He also played one Test match for England during the first-ever Ashes tour in 1882-83.Vernon was the son of George Vernon of 32 Montague Square...
. His first match for Victoria against Australian opposition was against New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
. Bowling with Spofforth, in the first innings Trumble took seven wickets for 52 runs.
Early struggle
Early in the 1889–90 Australian season, Trumble endured a period where he was not able to take wickets consistently. With selection of the Australian team to tour England in 1890 due at this time, Trumble was anxious about this poor run of form. Noting his anxiety while playing, a friend offered him a beer during the lunch break to revive his spirits. Previously a teetotalerTeetotalism
Teetotalism refers to either the practice of or the promotion of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. A person who practices teetotalism is called a teetotaler or is simply said to be teetotal...
, Trumble enjoyed his first taste and ordered another before re-entering the field of play. Feeling relaxed, although wondering about his steadiness of step, Trumble took a succession of wickets to ensure his selection in the Australian team. Trumble finished the season with 27 wickets at an average of 14.20 per wicket.
The 1890 Australian team touring England was relatively inexperienced. The team missed the all-round
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
ability of George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
, who had refused to join the squad, thinking it unlikely the tour would be a sporting or financial success. The Australians won 13 matches on tour, losing 16 and drawing 9. Trumble made his Test cricket debut in the First Test against the English team at Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
. He took only one wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...
, dismissing Bobby Peel
Bobby Peel
Robert "Bobby" Peel was a Yorkshire and England cricketer: a left-arm spinner who ranks as one of the finest bowlers of the 1890s. He was also a capable batsman, who once hit 210 not out...
caught and bowled for 1. Batting at number eleven in the first innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
he made 1 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
and in the second, 5 runs batting at number ten. Despite this lack of success, he retained his spot in the team for the Second Test at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
where he failed to take a wicket. He was selected for the Third Test at Old Trafford but continuous rain saw the match abandoned without a ball being bowled. Trumble played 28 first-class matches during the tour, scoring 288 runs at an average of 8.47 and took 52 wickets at an average of 21.75. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
wrote, "Reports from Australia had led us to expect a great deal of ... Trumble" but his "straightness and regular length
Line and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
[were] insufficient to compensate for an obvious lack of 'devil' and variety".
Trumble was not selected for the Australian team to play Lord Sheffield
Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield
Henry North Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield , styled Viscount Pevensey until 1876, was an English Conservative politician and patron of cricket....
's touring English team in 1891–92. He did not return to the Australian team until his selection in the squad to tour England in 1893
Australian cricket team in England in 1893
The Australian cricket team in England in 1893 played 31 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 1-0 with 2 matches drawn:* – match drawn* – England won by an innings and 43 runs...
. Before the Test matches he took 14 wickets for 116 runs (14/116) against the Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
followed by 12/84 against Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
at Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
. He played in all three Test matches in 1893, taking 6 wickets at an average of 39.00. Trumble scored 58 runs in the Tests with a highest score of 35 but had more success in the other matches, scoring 774 runs, including one century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
in all first-class matches on tour. Wisden noted that "An immense improvement on his form of three years before was shown by Hugh Trumble, who bowled consistently well all through the tour" and "... the reports of Hugh Trumble's improvement in batting were amply borne out, his hitting in many matches being remarkably fine".
When Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English cricketer and rugby union player. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.-Cricket career:...
's English team
English cricket team in Australia in 1894-95
The England cricket team toured Australia and Ceylon in 1894-95.The team, captained by Andrew Stoddart, played 24 matches in total, of which it won 10, drew 10 and lost 4...
visited Australia in 1894–95, Trumble played only one Test, the Second at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
. In the first innings, England scored 75 runs with Trumble taking 3 wickets. England fought back in their second innings, scoring 475 runs to win the Test by 94 runs; Trumble failed to take a wicket.
Established cricketer
Trumble was selected in the Australian team to tour England in 1896Australian cricket team in England in 1896
The Australian cricket team in England in 1896 played 34 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 2-1:* – England won by 6 wickets* – Australia won by 3 wickets...
, despite a poor domestic season in 1895–96 that saw his place in the touring squad seriously questioned by pundits. The leading cricket journalist, Tom Horan
Tom Horan
Thomas Patrick Horan was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia, and later became an esteemed cricket journalist under the pen name "Felix". The first of only two Irish-born players to play Test cricket for Australia, Horan was the leading batsman in the colony of Victoria...
said that as much as he personally liked Trumble, he could not see him as a member of a team for the England tour that season. It was, however, during this tour that Trumble finally established a permanent place in the Australian line up. Wisden said of Trumble when listing him as one of its Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
, "...it was not until his third visit, during the past season, that Trumble convinced Englishmen he was entitled to rank among the great bowlers of Australia". In that season, Trumble took 148 wickets at an average of 15.81. He was seen as Australia's leading bowler who "was able to inspire [the English] batsmen with a feeling of apprehension". Wisden's summary of the 1896 Australian tour said of Trumble, "His great strength lay in the combination of spin with extreme accuracy" and "he was on all wickets distinctly the best bowler on the [Australian] side".
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
by 6 wickets, Trumble taking one wicket in each innings. The Second Test at Old Trafford was more closely fought. Despite K. S. Ranjitsinhji scoring a "marvellous" 154 and Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back , a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled...
"bowling in his finest form" the Australians managed to hold on for a 3 wicket victory. The Australians required 125 runs to win in their second innings and were expected to make this target easily. Richardson's skilful bowling however saw Trumble and Kelly batting together with only 3 wickets in hand but with 25 runs still to make. Against excellent bowling and in a tense atmosphere, the pair managed to bat Australia home with the last runs taking an hour to score, mainly in singles
Single (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a single is scored when the batsman take one run, either following a successful shot or when running for a bye or leg bye ....
. Trumble made 17 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
to follow his 24 runs in the first innings and his 4 wickets. With the series tied at one Test apiece, the Third and final Test was played at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in London. On a pitch damaged by rain
Sticky wicket
Sticky wicket is a metaphor used to describe a difficult circumstance; it originates from difficult circumstances in the sport of cricket.-Origins:...
, the English batted first and were dismissed for 145. Trumble took 6 wickets for 59 runs, including a 9-over
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
spell of 5 wickets for 10 runs. England fought back to bowl the Australians out for 119. In turn, the Australians restricted England to 84 runs with Trumble taking 6 wickets for 30, to leave Australia requiring 111 runs in their second innings to win the match. Bobby Peel
Bobby Peel
Robert "Bobby" Peel was a Yorkshire and England cricketer: a left-arm spinner who ranks as one of the finest bowlers of the 1890s. He was also a capable batsman, who once hit 210 not out...
and Jack Hearne
Jack Hearne (John Thomas Hearne)
John Thomas Hearne was a Middlesex and England medium-fast bowler...
combined to bowl Australia out for 44 runs to win the Test by 66 runs and retain the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
for England . In the three Tests, Trumble took 18 wickets at an average of 18.83 runs per wicket.
Trumble played in every Test of the 1897–98 series against the touring English
English cricket team in Australia in 1897-98
The England national cricket team toured Australia during the summer of 1897-98. The team was officially captained by Andrew Stoddart, but actually captained by Archie MacLaren for the first, second and fifth tests, and Stoddart for the third and fourth tests...
, who were again captained by Stoddart. England won the First Test in Sydney by 9 wickets with Trumble's 70 runs the highest score in the Australian first innings. Under the captaincy of Harry Trott
Harry Trott
George Henry Stevens "Harry" Trott was an Australian Test cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, "... it is as a captain that he is best remembered, an understanding judge of...
, Australia fought back to win the Second Test in Melbourne by an innings and 55 runs. Trumble took 8 wickets in the match and in partnership with Monty Noble
Monty Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian...
bowled the English out for 150 runs in the second innings. Australia won the Third Test in Adelaide by an innings and 13 runs; Trumble made 37 runs in the Australian innings and took 1 wicket for the match. In the Fourth Test, Trumble combined with Clem Hill
Clem Hill
Clement "Clem" Hill was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five...
in a 165 run partnership
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
for the seventh wicket, described by Wisden as the turning point in the innings. Australia won the match by 8 wickets. Australia won the Fifth Test and the series four Tests to one. For the series overall, Trumble took 19 wickets at an average of 28.15 runs per wicket and scored 170 runs at an average of 36.20.
The 1899 Australian tour
Australian cricket team in England in 1899
The Australian cricket team in England in 1899 played 35 first-class matches including five Tests, the first time that a series in England had consisted of more than three matches...
saw Trumble score 1,183 runs and take 142 wickets; he was only the second Australian, after George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
, to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in an English season as part of a touring team. In the Test series, Trumble took 15 wickets at an average of 25.00 and made 232 runs at an average of 38.66. Wisden said of Trumble's batting that season, "[Trumble] played so consistently well as to make it clear that if he had not been a bowler he would have been a great batsman". Dry pitches
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
saw his bowling average fall off a little from the 1896 tour but Wisden stated that he "bowled quite as well as in 1896" and "[he] never seemed easy to hit, and whenever the ground gave him least advantage ... he was deadly". Australia won the Second Test by 10 wickets and with the other Tests finishing in draws, they retained the Ashes in a one Test to nil series victory. Trumble played particularly well in the Third Test at Headingley
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
, where he took 5 wickets for 60 runs and was the highest run-scorer in the Australian second innings with 56.
Hat-tricks and captaincy
At the age of 34, Trumble was chosen to captainCaptain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
the Australian team against England in 1901–02 when Joe Darling
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
withdrew to manage his farm in Tasmania after the first three Tests. Australia won the two remaining Tests—the only occasions that Trumble would captain his country in Test cricket—to win the series four Tests to one. Earlier, in the Second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, Trumble took a "hat-trick"; only five hat-tricks had been taken in the previous 24 years of Test cricket. He dismissed Arthur Jones
Arthur Jones (cricketer)
Arthur Owen Jones , was a cricketer, noted as an all-rounder.He was born in Shelton, Nottinghamshire, and educated at Bedford Modern School and Jesus College, Cambridge. He played for Cambridge University, Nottinghamshire, London County and England...
, John Gunn
John Gunn (cricketer)
John Richmond Gunn was an English cricketer who played in six Tests from 1901 to 1905....
and Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
in successive balls to complete an Australian victory by 229 runs. In the Third Test in Adelaide, Trumble captured 6 wickets for 74 runs in the England second innings and made 62 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
to help the Australians win the match by 4 wickets. After this success with the bat, Trumble—in his new role as captain—promoted himself to open the batting alongside Victor Trumper
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
. He made only 6 runs, handing the opening batsman role to Reggie Duff
Reggie Duff
Reginald Alexander Duff was an Australian cricketer who played in 22 Tests between 1902 and 1905....
for the second innings. Australia won the Test by 7 wickets with Trumble not required to bat a second time. In the Fifth Test, again in Melbourne, Trumble took 5 wickets for 62 runs to help restrict England to a lead of 45 runs after the first innings. In the second innings Trumble took another 3 wickets and, combined with Noble's 6 wickets, helped Australia win by 32 runs. Trumble and Noble were the most successful Australian bowlers during the series. Together they took 60 wickets in the Tests: Noble 32 at an average of 19.00 and Trumble 28 at an average of 20.03.
Australian cricket team in England in 1902
The Australian cricket team toured England during the 1902 English cricket season. The five-Test series between the two countries has been fondly remembered; in 1967 the cricket writer A.A. Thomson described the series as "a rubber more exciting than any in history except the Australia v West...
, with Darling returning to captain the Australian team. Early in the tour, Trumble broke his thumb at practice, causing him to miss the first month of the English season. Despite this, when he returned for the final three Tests he took 26 wickets. In the Fourth Test at Old Trafford, Trumble took 10 wickets. This included 6 wickets in the second innings when he combined with Jack Saunders
Jack Saunders
John Victor Saunders was an Australian cricketer who played in 14 Tests from 1902 to 1908....
to bowl England out for 120; securing an Australian victory by 3 runs. Trumble, recalling his final over
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
of the match, said "With the ball greasy [wet] and my boots unable to get a proper foothold on slippery turf, it was the most trying over I ever bowled." In the Fifth Test at The Oval, Trumble made 64 runs in the first innings and followed this with 8 wickets for 65 runs in the English first innings. He took another 4 wickets in the English second innings, but this was not sufficient to prevent an English victory by one wicket. Darling bowled Trumble unchanged from the Pavilion end throughout both innings of the match. Wisden praised Trumble's bowling saying "Trumble, paying us his fifth visit, bowled perhaps better than ever", but remarked that "it must be said that the wet weather and soft wickets were all in his favour"
After playing in one Test match against the South African team on a stopover when returning from England to Australia, Trumble retired from Test cricket, aged 35. When Australia lost to the English tourists in the First Test in Sydney in 1903–04, Trumble was persuaded to return for the Second Test under the captaincy of Noble. He was immediately successful taking 4 wickets for 107 runs in the first innings and 5 for 34 in the second, but was unable to prevent England from winning the Test by 185 runs Selected for the remaining four Tests, his 24 wickets in four Tests made Trumble the most successful Australian bowler in the series. The writer Roland Perry
Roland Perry
Roland Perry is a Melbourne-based author best known for his books on history, especially Australia in the two world wars. His Monash: The Outsider Who Won The War, won the Fellowship of Australian Writers' 'Melbourne University Publishing Award' in 2004...
described Trumble's final Test match as "the most dramatic and memorable farewell performance ever by a bowler". In front of his home town supporters in Melbourne, he took 7 wickets for 28 runs, including a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
, to bowl Australia to victory; Wisden describing his bowling in the second innings as "practically unplayable". The hat-trick, his second in Test cricket, consisted of the dismissals of Bernard Bosanquet
Bernard Bosanquet (cricketer)
Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet was an English cricketer best known for inventing the googly, a delivery designed to deceive the batsman. When bowled, it appears to be a leg break, but after pitching the ball turns in the opposite direction to that which is expected, behaving as an off break instead...
, Plum Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
and Dick Lilley
Dick Lilley
Arthur Frederick Augustus Lilley was an English cricketer who played in 35 Tests from 1896 to 1909, more than any other England wicket-keeper in the first sixty years of Test cricket.The conservative cricket establishment of the time was not effusive in its appreciation of this great keeper...
on 7 March. He went on to take the wicket of Ted Arnold
Ted Arnold
Edward George Arnold was an English cricketer who played in ten Test Matches from 1903 to 1907, and most of his 343 first-class matches for Worcestershire between 1899 and 1913...
, ending the match and his career in international cricket.
Style and personality
Trumble was tall and thin, 6 in 4 in (193.04 cm) in height. His long face featured prominent ears and a large nose, while his long arms and uncommonly long and strong fingers assisted his bowling. The cricket writer Ray RobinsonRay Robinson (cricket writer)
Raymond John Robinson was an Australian journalist and author, best known for his writings on the sport of cricket. Born in Melbourne, Robinson attended Brighton State school and joined the Melbourne's The Herald as a copyboy. Given a cadetship with the paper, he reported on Australian football...
said of Trumble: "El Greco
El Greco
El Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
, with his lengthening touch would have liked to draw Trumble. Hugh's lantern shaped head set on a column of a neck would have given the Spaniard a halfway start." English cricketer and author Plum Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
called him "That great camel, Hughie Trumble."
Monty Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian...
, as "sidelong and insinuating, with his neck craned like a gigantic bird". He bowled off spin
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
ners with an impeccable length
Line and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
at medium pace and was able to swing
Swing bowling
Swing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers. Swing bowling is generally classed as a subtype of fast bowling.-Physics of swing bowling:...
the new ball. He had a well-disguised slower ball, hoodwinking batsmen such as Stanley Jackson
Stanley Jackson
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ , known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Early life:...
, who said, "You old devil. You get me caught-and-bowled whenever you like but I'll pick that slow one sooner or later." He preferred English pitches, saying he hardly saw one on which he could not get some turn and the temperate weather allowed him to bowl all day. In Australia, Trumble had to work harder for his wickets on firmer pitches, relying on his change of pace and consistent accuracy; he claimed he could land the ball on a saucer 17 metres (19 yd) away five times out of six. Johnnie Moyes
Johnnie Moyes
Alban George "Johnny" Moyes MBE MC was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Victoria. Following his brief playing career, Moyes, a professional journalist, he later gained greater fame as a writer and commentator on the game.As a right-hand batsman Moyes scored 883 runs at an average of...
named him as an "immortal of the art" who succeeded by "attacking the batsman's strength". W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
called him "the best bowler Australia has sent us". While Trumble was able to score 1,183 runs during the 1899 tour of England, the demands of bowling did not allow him to consistently score heavily. His long, prehensile fingers helped him make a reputation as a fine slips
Slip (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many teams employ two or three slips...
fieldsman and he was the first to take 20 catches in an Australian season. English cricketer Johnny Douglas
Johnny Douglas
John "Johnny" William Henry Tyler Douglas was a cricketer who was captain of the England team and an Olympic boxer.-Early life:...
said, "Trumble should not be allowed on the cricket field—his natural place would be up trees in the bush." He practised slip fielding by catching a tennis ball thrown against a brick wall; he believed this practise trained him not to "snatch" at the ball but allow it to fall into his safe hands.
Trumble was known for his cleverness on the field. C. B. Fry said of him, "He is the most long-headed, observant and acute judge of the game, a perfect master of the whole art of placing fieldsmen and changing bowlers." On one occasion when captaining his state side, Victoria, he deliberately bowled two wides that his fieldsmen allowed to roll to the boundary
Boundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
to score four runs for his opponents. This was done in order to save his tired bowlers from having to bowl again immediately, as his opponents would have been required to follow-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
(bat twice in a row), at the time compulsory. When questioned by an onlooker about the dubious sportsmanship
Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors...
of the action, he replied, "I had to do it, old chap, but I wonder what my father will think of it?" Trumble was respected by his teammates and opponents; New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
cricketer, Dan Reese
Dan Reese
Dan Reese was a New Zealand cricketer. A left-handed batsman and a slow-medium bowler, Reese first represented his national team aged 16. His early cricket was with the Midland club in Christchurch and his provincial team, Canterbury. He left New Zealand to play for Melbourne Cricket Club from...
, who played against and alongside Trumble said, "His subtle humour, his fund of cricket stories, his kindness, and, above all, his judgment, made him a man of exceptional character."
He was popular with team-mates and opponents alike, with a weakness for practical jokes. On board a ship travelling to England, Trumble offered to coach unsuspecting fellow travellers in various deck sports such as quoits
Quoits
Quoits is a traditional game which involves the throwing of metal, rope or rubber rings over a set distance, usually to land over or near a spike . The sport of quoits encompasses several distinct variations.-The history of quoits:The history of quoits is disputed...
. Accepting Trumble's advice, they were made to contort themselves into a number of ludicrous positions to the amusement of his team-mates and other onlookers in the know. To prolong the joke, in his own games Trumble would adopt the same peculiar stance and method he advocated.
Legacy and statistical analysis
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of just over 20 runs per wicket. He took 5 wickets in an innings on nine occasions and 10 wickets in a match three times. On retirement, he had taken more wickets in Test cricket than any other player; a record he held for nearly 10 years until surpassed by Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
. It wasn't until Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
75 years later that anyone was able to better Trumble's 141 wickets against England. While mainly a bowler, Trumble batted well enough to make 851 runs in Test cricket at an average of 19.79 with a highest score of 70. Trumble was also prolific at first-class level. He took 929 wickets, including 5 wickets in an innings on 69 occasions, and as a batsman, he made 5,395 runs with three centuries
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
and a highest score of 107. For Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
, he took just under 400 wickets and scored more than 3,000 runs; winning the club best bowling average on six occasions and the best batting average once.
Trumble was particularly effective in England. After taking 52 wickets on his first tour of England in 1890, his other four visits to England—in 1893, 1896, 1899 and 1902—saw him take over 100 wickets in first-class matches. In 1899, he scored 1,183 runs making him one of only four Australians, with George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
, Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921 and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two...
(both three times) and Jack Gregory, to take over 100 wickets and make over 1,000 runs on a tour of England.
The ICC player rankings have been applied retrospectively to cricket history and Trumble achieved the top ranking as a bowler. By June 1896, he was ranked fifth in the world and never again slipped lower; from 1899 until his retirement he was the first or second best bowler in the world according to the ratings. As a batsman, Trumble's ranking peaked at twelfth in the world after the Third Test in Adelaide in 1901–02.
Trumble was the first player to take two hat-tricks in Test cricket. Both hat-tricks were taken against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, where Trumble played his club cricket. Hat-tricks are extremely rare; in over 131 years of Test cricket to March 2008, there had only been 37 Test hat-tricks
Test cricket hat-tricks
This is a list of all hat-tricks in Test cricket; that is, the occasions when a bowler has taken three wickets in consecutive deliveries in Test cricket matches. As of 30 July 2011, a hat-trick has been taken 39 times since the first Test match in 1877, most recently by English fast-medium bowler...
and only Jimmy Matthews
Jimmy Matthews
Thomas James Matthews was an Australian Test cricketer. He bowled leg breaks...
and Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricketer and model. who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches....
been able to repeat Trumble's feat of taking a second.
Off the playing field
National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. NAB is ranked 17th largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation...
in 1887 to begin a career in banking. While the bank often allowed him time to practice, his frequent absences with cricket meant his career progression was slow; after each of his five tours of England he returned to find junior bank officers promoted over him. Nevertheless, he was appointed accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
at the Richmond
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
branch in 1903 and after his retirement from cricket in 1908, manager of the Kew
Kew, Victoria
Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....
branch.
A loyal clubman, Trumble served on the committee of the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
(MCC) from 1900–01 to 1910–11 and was made a life member in 1904. In 1911 he resigned from the bank to become MCC club secretary; a position he held for 27 years until his death. In this role, he played a leading part in reconciling the club and the Victorian Cricket Association
Cricket Victoria
Cricket Victoria is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Victoria. It was formed on 29 September 1875 as the Victorian Cricket Association...
after a period of some friction between the two bodies. He was instrumental in attracting quality cricketers to the club including Bert Ironmonger
Bert Ironmonger
Herbert Ironmonger was a Victorian and Australian cricketer....
, whom Trumble saw play on a visit to Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. During his term as secretary, the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
was expanded to a capacity of over 70,000 spectators.
Trumble was a prominent writer about and elder statesman of the game and was conspicuous in his support for journalists calling at any hour. From time to time, Trumble acted as a selector
Selector (sport)
In many team sports, a selection panel consist of selectors who choose teams or individuals to represent a country or club in sporting competitions.Selectors tend to be past players....
of the Victorian cricket team
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
. In 2001, Trumble was selected in the Melbourne Cricket Club Team of the Century
Team of the Century
Team of the Century and Team of the Decade are terms used in team sport to name a hypothetical best team over a given time period.For the century team, it can be either 100 years, or for a century...
, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in the National Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This Hall of Fame commemorates the greatest Australian cricketers of all time....
for his contribution to the sport in Australia.
In 1899, aged 31, Trumble met and fell in love with Florence Christian, aged 19 from Queensland. The couple were married in 1902, with the wedding timed to allow a honeymoon trip accompanying the Australian cricket tour of England. An injury to his thumb freed Trumble from cricket commitments for a while, to his new wife's delight. Together, the couple had eight children; six sons and two daughters. One son, Robert
Robert Trumble
Robert William Trumble was an Australian musician and author. Son of international cricketer Hugh Trumble, Robert dedicated his first book, The Golden Age of Cricket, to his father. It was published in Melbourne in 1968.Trumble's musical career was also noted by the Australian media...
, a renowned musician and writer, dedicated his first book, The Golden Age of Cricket, to his father. Trumble died aged 71, from a heart attack in his home in the Melbourne eastern suburb of Hawthorn
Hawthorn, Victoria
Hawthorn is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara...
.
External links
Hugh Trumble (12 May 1867 – 14 August 1938) was an Australian cricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played 32 Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
as a bowling all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
between 1890 and 1904. He captained
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wickets in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 21.78 runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
per wicket. He is one of only three bowlers
Test cricket hat-tricks
This is a list of all hat-tricks in Test cricket; that is, the occasions when a bowler has taken three wickets in consecutive deliveries in Test cricket matches. As of 30 July 2011, a hat-trick has been taken 39 times since the first Test match in 1877, most recently by English fast-medium bowler...
to twice take a hat-trick in Test cricket. Observers in Trumble's day, including the authoritative Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, regarded him as ranking among the great Australian bowlers of the Golden Age of cricket
Golden Age of cricket
The Golden Age of Cricket is a term that has often been applied in cricket literature to the period in English, Australian, and American cricket from the formation of the official County Championship in the 1890 season to the outbreak of World War I, which occurred just before the scheduled end of...
. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
in 1897 and the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in the National Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This Hall of Fame commemorates the greatest Australian cricketers of all time....
, established in 1996, inducted him in 2004.
A tall and thin off spin
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
ner, Trumble delivered the ball at a quicker pace than most spin bowlers, using his height and uncommonly long fingers to his greatest advantage. He was at his best on the softer pitches
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
of England, but his accuracy and variations in pace enabled him to take wickets on the harder pitches of Australia. He was a dependable lower order
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
batsman and a fine fielder
Fielding (cricket)
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...
in the slips
Slip (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many teams employ two or three slips...
. He was recognised as a shrewd thinker about the game and was popular with team-mates and opponents, with a penchant for practical jokes.
Trumble made his Test debut during the Australian cricket team's tour of England in 1890
Australian cricket team in England in 1890
The Australian cricket team in England in 1890 played 34 first-class matches including 2 Tests .England won the Test series 2-0:...
, but was unable to secure a permanent place in the Australian side until the 1896 tour of England
Australian cricket team in England in 1896
The Australian cricket team in England in 1896 played 34 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 2-1:* – England won by 6 wickets* – Australia won by 3 wickets...
. When the Australian team next toured England in 1899
Australian cricket team in England in 1899
The Australian cricket team in England in 1899 played 35 first-class matches including five Tests, the first time that a series in England had consisted of more than three matches...
, Trumble scored 1,183 runs and took 142 wickets; only George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
before him had achieved the "double" of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets as part of a touring team in England. He was appointed captain of Australia
Australian national cricket captains
Australia played in the first-ever Test match in cricket in 1877, the first-ever One Day International in 1971 and the first-ever Twenty20 international in 2005...
in 1901–02, when Joe Darling
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
was unavailable due to farming commitments. He retired after the 1902 Australian tour of England but was coaxed back in 1903–04. In his last Test match, Trumble took a hat-trick, his second, in front of his home town supporters in Melbourne.
Off the field, Trumble worked for the National Bank of Australasia
National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. NAB is ranked 17th largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation...
, rising to the position of manager of a local branch despite his cricket commitments interrupting his banking career. In 1911, he was appointed secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
, overseeing the development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
(MCG) into a stadium capable of holding over 70,000 spectators. He held this post until his death in 1938 from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, aged 71.
Early life and career
Trumble was born in the inner MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
neighbourhood of Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
in 1867, the son of William, born in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and superintendent of an insane asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
, and Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-born Elizabeth (née Clark). His elder brother, John
John Trumble
John William Trumble was an Australian cricketer who played in 7 Tests between 1885 and 1886.He was the brother of Hugh Trumble....
, also played Test cricket for Australia and his younger brother, Thomas, was a public servant
Australian Public Service
The Australian Public Service is the Australian federal civil service, the group of people employed by federal departments, agencies and courts under the Government of Australia, to administer the working of the public administration of the Commonwealth of Australia...
who served as Secretary for the Department of Defence
Department of Defence (Australia)
The Australian Department of Defence is a Federal Government Department. It forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation along with the Australian Defence Force . The Defence mission is to defend Australia and its national interests...
from 1918–27, and then official secretary to the High Commissioner
High Commissioner (Commonwealth)
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a High Commissioner is the senior diplomat in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another.-History:...
for Australia in London.
Trumble spent part of his early life in the western Victorian town of Ararat
Ararat, Victoria
Ararat is a city in south-west Victoria, Australia, about west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway on the eastern slopes of the Ararat Hills and Cemetery Creek valley between Victoria's Western District and the Wimmera...
before returning to Melbourne, settling in suburban Camberwell
Camberwell, Victoria
Camberwell is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Camberwell had a population of 19,637....
. He was educated at Hawthorn Grammar School and played his early cricket for Kew Cricket Club. Encouraging his sons' early love of cricket, William Trumble—a keen cricketer who bowled leg break
Leg break
A leg break is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. A delivery of a right-handed leg spin bowler. Leg breaks are also colloquially known as leggies or wrist spinners, as the wrist is the body part which is primarily used to impart spin on the ball, as opposed to the fingers in the case of...
s for South Melbourne Cricket Club
Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club
The Casey-South Melbourne Cricket Club is a cricket club located in the outer south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, which plays in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition. Founded in 1862 as South Melbourne, it has produced nine Australian Test captains, more than any other cricket...
—set out a cricket pitch
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
at the family home. He placed a feather on a good length
Line and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
and urged his sons to aim at it when bowling. Known for his accuracy, Hugh later said, "Of course I couldn't repeatedly hit the feather, but I soon reached the stage when I was always pretty close to it"
Trumble transferred to the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
for the 1887–88 cricket season and was an immediate success. He took 36 wickets that season, finishing with an average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 6.77 runs per wicket; the best in the club, beating his teammate and Australian Test bowler Fred Spofforth
Fred Spofforth
Frederick Robert "Fred" Spofforth , also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century and was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a test hat-trick in 1879...
. He made his first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut for Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
that same season, selected to play against a touring English XI led by Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
batsman George Vernon
George Vernon
George Frederick Vernon was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club. He also played one Test match for England during the first-ever Ashes tour in 1882-83.Vernon was the son of George Vernon of 32 Montague Square...
. His first match for Victoria against Australian opposition was against New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
. Bowling with Spofforth, in the first innings Trumble took seven wickets for 52 runs.
Early struggle
Early in the 1889–90 Australian season, Trumble endured a period where he was not able to take wickets consistently. With selection of the Australian team to tour England in 1890 due at this time, Trumble was anxious about this poor run of form. Noting his anxiety while playing, a friend offered him a beer during the lunch break to revive his spirits. Previously a teetotalerTeetotalism
Teetotalism refers to either the practice of or the promotion of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. A person who practices teetotalism is called a teetotaler or is simply said to be teetotal...
, Trumble enjoyed his first taste and ordered another before re-entering the field of play. Feeling relaxed, although wondering about his steadiness of step, Trumble took a succession of wickets to ensure his selection in the Australian team. Trumble finished the season with 27 wickets at an average of 14.20 per wicket.
The 1890 Australian team touring England was relatively inexperienced. The team missed the all-round
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
ability of George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
, who had refused to join the squad, thinking it unlikely the tour would be a sporting or financial success. The Australians won 13 matches on tour, losing 16 and drawing 9. Trumble made his Test cricket debut in the First Test against the English team at Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
. He took only one wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...
, dismissing Bobby Peel
Bobby Peel
Robert "Bobby" Peel was a Yorkshire and England cricketer: a left-arm spinner who ranks as one of the finest bowlers of the 1890s. He was also a capable batsman, who once hit 210 not out...
caught and bowled for 1. Batting at number eleven in the first innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
he made 1 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
and in the second, 5 runs batting at number ten. Despite this lack of success, he retained his spot in the team for the Second Test at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
where he failed to take a wicket. He was selected for the Third Test at Old Trafford but continuous rain saw the match abandoned without a ball being bowled. Trumble played 28 first-class matches during the tour, scoring 288 runs at an average of 8.47 and took 52 wickets at an average of 21.75. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
wrote, "Reports from Australia had led us to expect a great deal of ... Trumble" but his "straightness and regular length
Line and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
[were] insufficient to compensate for an obvious lack of 'devil' and variety".
Trumble was not selected for the Australian team to play Lord Sheffield
Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield
Henry North Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield , styled Viscount Pevensey until 1876, was an English Conservative politician and patron of cricket....
's touring English team in 1891–92. He did not return to the Australian team until his selection in the squad to tour England in 1893
Australian cricket team in England in 1893
The Australian cricket team in England in 1893 played 31 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 1-0 with 2 matches drawn:* – match drawn* – England won by an innings and 43 runs...
. Before the Test matches he took 14 wickets for 116 runs (14/116) against the Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
followed by 12/84 against Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
at Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
. He played in all three Test matches in 1893, taking 6 wickets at an average of 39.00. Trumble scored 58 runs in the Tests with a highest score of 35 but had more success in the other matches, scoring 774 runs, including one century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
in all first-class matches on tour. Wisden noted that "An immense improvement on his form of three years before was shown by Hugh Trumble, who bowled consistently well all through the tour" and "... the reports of Hugh Trumble's improvement in batting were amply borne out, his hitting in many matches being remarkably fine".
When Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English cricketer and rugby union player. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.-Cricket career:...
's English team
English cricket team in Australia in 1894-95
The England cricket team toured Australia and Ceylon in 1894-95.The team, captained by Andrew Stoddart, played 24 matches in total, of which it won 10, drew 10 and lost 4...
visited Australia in 1894–95, Trumble played only one Test, the Second at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
. In the first innings, England scored 75 runs with Trumble taking 3 wickets. England fought back in their second innings, scoring 475 runs to win the Test by 94 runs; Trumble failed to take a wicket.
Established cricketer
Trumble was selected in the Australian team to tour England in 1896Australian cricket team in England in 1896
The Australian cricket team in England in 1896 played 34 first-class matches including 3 Tests.England won the Test series 2-1:* – England won by 6 wickets* – Australia won by 3 wickets...
, despite a poor domestic season in 1895–96 that saw his place in the touring squad seriously questioned by pundits. The leading cricket journalist, Tom Horan
Tom Horan
Thomas Patrick Horan was an Australian cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia, and later became an esteemed cricket journalist under the pen name "Felix". The first of only two Irish-born players to play Test cricket for Australia, Horan was the leading batsman in the colony of Victoria...
said that as much as he personally liked Trumble, he could not see him as a member of a team for the England tour that season. It was, however, during this tour that Trumble finally established a permanent place in the Australian line up. Wisden said of Trumble when listing him as one of its Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
, "...it was not until his third visit, during the past season, that Trumble convinced Englishmen he was entitled to rank among the great bowlers of Australia". In that season, Trumble took 148 wickets at an average of 15.81. He was seen as Australia's leading bowler who "was able to inspire [the English] batsmen with a feeling of apprehension". Wisden's summary of the 1896 Australian tour said of Trumble, "His great strength lay in the combination of spin with extreme accuracy" and "he was on all wickets distinctly the best bowler on the [Australian] side".
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
by 6 wickets, Trumble taking one wicket in each innings. The Second Test at Old Trafford was more closely fought. Despite K. S. Ranjitsinhji scoring a "marvellous" 154 and Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back , a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled...
"bowling in his finest form" the Australians managed to hold on for a 3 wicket victory. The Australians required 125 runs to win in their second innings and were expected to make this target easily. Richardson's skilful bowling however saw Trumble and Kelly batting together with only 3 wickets in hand but with 25 runs still to make. Against excellent bowling and in a tense atmosphere, the pair managed to bat Australia home with the last runs taking an hour to score, mainly in singles
Single (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a single is scored when the batsman take one run, either following a successful shot or when running for a bye or leg bye ....
. Trumble made 17 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
to follow his 24 runs in the first innings and his 4 wickets. With the series tied at one Test apiece, the Third and final Test was played at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in London. On a pitch damaged by rain
Sticky wicket
Sticky wicket is a metaphor used to describe a difficult circumstance; it originates from difficult circumstances in the sport of cricket.-Origins:...
, the English batted first and were dismissed for 145. Trumble took 6 wickets for 59 runs, including a 9-over
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
spell of 5 wickets for 10 runs. England fought back to bowl the Australians out for 119. In turn, the Australians restricted England to 84 runs with Trumble taking 6 wickets for 30, to leave Australia requiring 111 runs in their second innings to win the match. Bobby Peel
Bobby Peel
Robert "Bobby" Peel was a Yorkshire and England cricketer: a left-arm spinner who ranks as one of the finest bowlers of the 1890s. He was also a capable batsman, who once hit 210 not out...
and Jack Hearne
Jack Hearne (John Thomas Hearne)
John Thomas Hearne was a Middlesex and England medium-fast bowler...
combined to bowl Australia out for 44 runs to win the Test by 66 runs and retain the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
for England . In the three Tests, Trumble took 18 wickets at an average of 18.83 runs per wicket.
Trumble played in every Test of the 1897–98 series against the touring English
English cricket team in Australia in 1897-98
The England national cricket team toured Australia during the summer of 1897-98. The team was officially captained by Andrew Stoddart, but actually captained by Archie MacLaren for the first, second and fifth tests, and Stoddart for the third and fourth tests...
, who were again captained by Stoddart. England won the First Test in Sydney by 9 wickets with Trumble's 70 runs the highest score in the Australian first innings. Under the captaincy of Harry Trott
Harry Trott
George Henry Stevens "Harry" Trott was an Australian Test cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, "... it is as a captain that he is best remembered, an understanding judge of...
, Australia fought back to win the Second Test in Melbourne by an innings and 55 runs. Trumble took 8 wickets in the match and in partnership with Monty Noble
Monty Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian...
bowled the English out for 150 runs in the second innings. Australia won the Third Test in Adelaide by an innings and 13 runs; Trumble made 37 runs in the Australian innings and took 1 wicket for the match. In the Fourth Test, Trumble combined with Clem Hill
Clem Hill
Clement "Clem" Hill was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five...
in a 165 run partnership
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
for the seventh wicket, described by Wisden as the turning point in the innings. Australia won the match by 8 wickets. Australia won the Fifth Test and the series four Tests to one. For the series overall, Trumble took 19 wickets at an average of 28.15 runs per wicket and scored 170 runs at an average of 36.20.
The 1899 Australian tour
Australian cricket team in England in 1899
The Australian cricket team in England in 1899 played 35 first-class matches including five Tests, the first time that a series in England had consisted of more than three matches...
saw Trumble score 1,183 runs and take 142 wickets; he was only the second Australian, after George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
, to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in an English season as part of a touring team. In the Test series, Trumble took 15 wickets at an average of 25.00 and made 232 runs at an average of 38.66. Wisden said of Trumble's batting that season, "[Trumble] played so consistently well as to make it clear that if he had not been a bowler he would have been a great batsman". Dry pitches
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
saw his bowling average fall off a little from the 1896 tour but Wisden stated that he "bowled quite as well as in 1896" and "[he] never seemed easy to hit, and whenever the ground gave him least advantage ... he was deadly". Australia won the Second Test by 10 wickets and with the other Tests finishing in draws, they retained the Ashes in a one Test to nil series victory. Trumble played particularly well in the Third Test at Headingley
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
, where he took 5 wickets for 60 runs and was the highest run-scorer in the Australian second innings with 56.
Hat-tricks and captaincy
At the age of 34, Trumble was chosen to captainCaptain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
the Australian team against England in 1901–02 when Joe Darling
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
withdrew to manage his farm in Tasmania after the first three Tests. Australia won the two remaining Tests—the only occasions that Trumble would captain his country in Test cricket—to win the series four Tests to one. Earlier, in the Second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, Trumble took a "hat-trick"; only five hat-tricks had been taken in the previous 24 years of Test cricket. He dismissed Arthur Jones
Arthur Jones (cricketer)
Arthur Owen Jones , was a cricketer, noted as an all-rounder.He was born in Shelton, Nottinghamshire, and educated at Bedford Modern School and Jesus College, Cambridge. He played for Cambridge University, Nottinghamshire, London County and England...
, John Gunn
John Gunn (cricketer)
John Richmond Gunn was an English cricketer who played in six Tests from 1901 to 1905....
and Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
in successive balls to complete an Australian victory by 229 runs. In the Third Test in Adelaide, Trumble captured 6 wickets for 74 runs in the England second innings and made 62 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
to help the Australians win the match by 4 wickets. After this success with the bat, Trumble—in his new role as captain—promoted himself to open the batting alongside Victor Trumper
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
. He made only 6 runs, handing the opening batsman role to Reggie Duff
Reggie Duff
Reginald Alexander Duff was an Australian cricketer who played in 22 Tests between 1902 and 1905....
for the second innings. Australia won the Test by 7 wickets with Trumble not required to bat a second time. In the Fifth Test, again in Melbourne, Trumble took 5 wickets for 62 runs to help restrict England to a lead of 45 runs after the first innings. In the second innings Trumble took another 3 wickets and, combined with Noble's 6 wickets, helped Australia win by 32 runs. Trumble and Noble were the most successful Australian bowlers during the series. Together they took 60 wickets in the Tests: Noble 32 at an average of 19.00 and Trumble 28 at an average of 20.03.
Australian cricket team in England in 1902
The Australian cricket team toured England during the 1902 English cricket season. The five-Test series between the two countries has been fondly remembered; in 1967 the cricket writer A.A. Thomson described the series as "a rubber more exciting than any in history except the Australia v West...
, with Darling returning to captain the Australian team. Early in the tour, Trumble broke his thumb at practice, causing him to miss the first month of the English season. Despite this, when he returned for the final three Tests he took 26 wickets. In the Fourth Test at Old Trafford, Trumble took 10 wickets. This included 6 wickets in the second innings when he combined with Jack Saunders
Jack Saunders
John Victor Saunders was an Australian cricketer who played in 14 Tests from 1902 to 1908....
to bowl England out for 120; securing an Australian victory by 3 runs. Trumble, recalling his final over
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
of the match, said "With the ball greasy [wet] and my boots unable to get a proper foothold on slippery turf, it was the most trying over I ever bowled." In the Fifth Test at The Oval, Trumble made 64 runs in the first innings and followed this with 8 wickets for 65 runs in the English first innings. He took another 4 wickets in the English second innings, but this was not sufficient to prevent an English victory by one wicket. Darling bowled Trumble unchanged from the Pavilion end throughout both innings of the match. Wisden praised Trumble's bowling saying "Trumble, paying us his fifth visit, bowled perhaps better than ever", but remarked that "it must be said that the wet weather and soft wickets were all in his favour"
After playing in one Test match against the South African team on a stopover when returning from England to Australia, Trumble retired from Test cricket, aged 35. When Australia lost to the English tourists in the First Test in Sydney in 1903–04, Trumble was persuaded to return for the Second Test under the captaincy of Noble. He was immediately successful taking 4 wickets for 107 runs in the first innings and 5 for 34 in the second, but was unable to prevent England from winning the Test by 185 runs Selected for the remaining four Tests, his 24 wickets in four Tests made Trumble the most successful Australian bowler in the series. The writer Roland Perry
Roland Perry
Roland Perry is a Melbourne-based author best known for his books on history, especially Australia in the two world wars. His Monash: The Outsider Who Won The War, won the Fellowship of Australian Writers' 'Melbourne University Publishing Award' in 2004...
described Trumble's final Test match as "the most dramatic and memorable farewell performance ever by a bowler". In front of his home town supporters in Melbourne, he took 7 wickets for 28 runs, including a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
, to bowl Australia to victory; Wisden describing his bowling in the second innings as "practically unplayable". The hat-trick, his second in Test cricket, consisted of the dismissals of Bernard Bosanquet
Bernard Bosanquet (cricketer)
Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet was an English cricketer best known for inventing the googly, a delivery designed to deceive the batsman. When bowled, it appears to be a leg break, but after pitching the ball turns in the opposite direction to that which is expected, behaving as an off break instead...
, Plum Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
and Dick Lilley
Dick Lilley
Arthur Frederick Augustus Lilley was an English cricketer who played in 35 Tests from 1896 to 1909, more than any other England wicket-keeper in the first sixty years of Test cricket.The conservative cricket establishment of the time was not effusive in its appreciation of this great keeper...
on 7 March. He went on to take the wicket of Ted Arnold
Ted Arnold
Edward George Arnold was an English cricketer who played in ten Test Matches from 1903 to 1907, and most of his 343 first-class matches for Worcestershire between 1899 and 1913...
, ending the match and his career in international cricket.
Style and personality
Trumble was tall and thin, 6 in 4 in (193.04 cm) in height. His long face featured prominent ears and a large nose, while his long arms and uncommonly long and strong fingers assisted his bowling. The cricket writer Ray RobinsonRay Robinson (cricket writer)
Raymond John Robinson was an Australian journalist and author, best known for his writings on the sport of cricket. Born in Melbourne, Robinson attended Brighton State school and joined the Melbourne's The Herald as a copyboy. Given a cadetship with the paper, he reported on Australian football...
said of Trumble: "El Greco
El Greco
El Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
, with his lengthening touch would have liked to draw Trumble. Hugh's lantern shaped head set on a column of a neck would have given the Spaniard a halfway start." English cricketer and author Plum Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
called him "That great camel, Hughie Trumble."
Monty Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian...
, as "sidelong and insinuating, with his neck craned like a gigantic bird". He bowled off spin
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
ners with an impeccable length
Line and length
Line and length in cricket refers to the direction and point of bouncing on the pitch of a delivery. The two concepts are frequently discussed together.-Line:...
at medium pace and was able to swing
Swing bowling
Swing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers. Swing bowling is generally classed as a subtype of fast bowling.-Physics of swing bowling:...
the new ball. He had a well-disguised slower ball, hoodwinking batsmen such as Stanley Jackson
Stanley Jackson
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ , known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Early life:...
, who said, "You old devil. You get me caught-and-bowled whenever you like but I'll pick that slow one sooner or later." He preferred English pitches, saying he hardly saw one on which he could not get some turn and the temperate weather allowed him to bowl all day. In Australia, Trumble had to work harder for his wickets on firmer pitches, relying on his change of pace and consistent accuracy; he claimed he could land the ball on a saucer 17 metres (19 yd) away five times out of six. Johnnie Moyes
Johnnie Moyes
Alban George "Johnny" Moyes MBE MC was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Victoria. Following his brief playing career, Moyes, a professional journalist, he later gained greater fame as a writer and commentator on the game.As a right-hand batsman Moyes scored 883 runs at an average of...
named him as an "immortal of the art" who succeeded by "attacking the batsman's strength". W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
called him "the best bowler Australia has sent us". While Trumble was able to score 1,183 runs during the 1899 tour of England, the demands of bowling did not allow him to consistently score heavily. His long, prehensile fingers helped him make a reputation as a fine slips
Slip (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many teams employ two or three slips...
fieldsman and he was the first to take 20 catches in an Australian season. English cricketer Johnny Douglas
Johnny Douglas
John "Johnny" William Henry Tyler Douglas was a cricketer who was captain of the England team and an Olympic boxer.-Early life:...
said, "Trumble should not be allowed on the cricket field—his natural place would be up trees in the bush." He practised slip fielding by catching a tennis ball thrown against a brick wall; he believed this practise trained him not to "snatch" at the ball but allow it to fall into his safe hands.
Trumble was known for his cleverness on the field. C. B. Fry said of him, "He is the most long-headed, observant and acute judge of the game, a perfect master of the whole art of placing fieldsmen and changing bowlers." On one occasion when captaining his state side, Victoria, he deliberately bowled two wides that his fieldsmen allowed to roll to the boundary
Boundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
to score four runs for his opponents. This was done in order to save his tired bowlers from having to bowl again immediately, as his opponents would have been required to follow-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
(bat twice in a row), at the time compulsory. When questioned by an onlooker about the dubious sportsmanship
Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors...
of the action, he replied, "I had to do it, old chap, but I wonder what my father will think of it?" Trumble was respected by his teammates and opponents; New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
cricketer, Dan Reese
Dan Reese
Dan Reese was a New Zealand cricketer. A left-handed batsman and a slow-medium bowler, Reese first represented his national team aged 16. His early cricket was with the Midland club in Christchurch and his provincial team, Canterbury. He left New Zealand to play for Melbourne Cricket Club from...
, who played against and alongside Trumble said, "His subtle humour, his fund of cricket stories, his kindness, and, above all, his judgment, made him a man of exceptional character."
He was popular with team-mates and opponents alike, with a weakness for practical jokes. On board a ship travelling to England, Trumble offered to coach unsuspecting fellow travellers in various deck sports such as quoits
Quoits
Quoits is a traditional game which involves the throwing of metal, rope or rubber rings over a set distance, usually to land over or near a spike . The sport of quoits encompasses several distinct variations.-The history of quoits:The history of quoits is disputed...
. Accepting Trumble's advice, they were made to contort themselves into a number of ludicrous positions to the amusement of his team-mates and other onlookers in the know. To prolong the joke, in his own games Trumble would adopt the same peculiar stance and method he advocated.
Legacy and statistical analysis
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of just over 20 runs per wicket. He took 5 wickets in an innings on nine occasions and 10 wickets in a match three times. On retirement, he had taken more wickets in Test cricket than any other player; a record he held for nearly 10 years until surpassed by Sydney Barnes
Sydney Barnes
Sydney Francis Barnes was an English professional cricketer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the sport's history...
. It wasn't until Dennis Lillee
Dennis Lillee
Dennis Keith Lillee, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation"...
75 years later that anyone was able to better Trumble's 141 wickets against England. While mainly a bowler, Trumble batted well enough to make 851 runs in Test cricket at an average of 19.79 with a highest score of 70. Trumble was also prolific at first-class level. He took 929 wickets, including 5 wickets in an innings on 69 occasions, and as a batsman, he made 5,395 runs with three centuries
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
and a highest score of 107. For Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
, he took just under 400 wickets and scored more than 3,000 runs; winning the club best bowling average on six occasions and the best batting average once.
Trumble was particularly effective in England. After taking 52 wickets on his first tour of England in 1890, his other four visits to England—in 1893, 1896, 1899 and 1902—saw him take over 100 wickets in first-class matches. In 1899, he scored 1,183 runs making him one of only four Australians, with George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
, Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921 and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two...
(both three times) and Jack Gregory, to take over 100 wickets and make over 1,000 runs on a tour of England.
The ICC player rankings have been applied retrospectively to cricket history and Trumble achieved the top ranking as a bowler. By June 1896, he was ranked fifth in the world and never again slipped lower; from 1899 until his retirement he was the first or second best bowler in the world according to the ratings. As a batsman, Trumble's ranking peaked at twelfth in the world after the Third Test in Adelaide in 1901–02.
Trumble was the first player to take two hat-tricks in Test cricket. Both hat-tricks were taken against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, where Trumble played his club cricket. Hat-tricks are extremely rare; in over 131 years of Test cricket to March 2008, there had only been 37 Test hat-tricks
Test cricket hat-tricks
This is a list of all hat-tricks in Test cricket; that is, the occasions when a bowler has taken three wickets in consecutive deliveries in Test cricket matches. As of 30 July 2011, a hat-trick has been taken 39 times since the first Test match in 1877, most recently by English fast-medium bowler...
and only Jimmy Matthews
Jimmy Matthews
Thomas James Matthews was an Australian Test cricketer. He bowled leg breaks...
and Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram
Wasim Akram is a former Pakistani left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman in cricketer and model. who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International matches....
been able to repeat Trumble's feat of taking a second.
Off the playing field
National Australia Bank
National Australia Bank is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. NAB is ranked 17th largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation...
in 1887 to begin a career in banking. While the bank often allowed him time to practice, his frequent absences with cricket meant his career progression was slow; after each of his five tours of England he returned to find junior bank officers promoted over him. Nevertheless, he was appointed accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
at the Richmond
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
branch in 1903 and after his retirement from cricket in 1908, manager of the Kew
Kew, Victoria
Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....
branch.
A loyal clubman, Trumble served on the committee of the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
(MCC) from 1900–01 to 1910–11 and was made a life member in 1904. In 1911 he resigned from the bank to become MCC club secretary; a position he held for 27 years until his death. In this role, he played a leading part in reconciling the club and the Victorian Cricket Association
Cricket Victoria
Cricket Victoria is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Victoria. It was formed on 29 September 1875 as the Victorian Cricket Association...
after a period of some friction between the two bodies. He was instrumental in attracting quality cricketers to the club including Bert Ironmonger
Bert Ironmonger
Herbert Ironmonger was a Victorian and Australian cricketer....
, whom Trumble saw play on a visit to Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. During his term as secretary, the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
was expanded to a capacity of over 70,000 spectators.
Trumble was a prominent writer about and elder statesman of the game and was conspicuous in his support for journalists calling at any hour. From time to time, Trumble acted as a selector
Selector (sport)
In many team sports, a selection panel consist of selectors who choose teams or individuals to represent a country or club in sporting competitions.Selectors tend to be past players....
of the Victorian cricket team
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
. In 2001, Trumble was selected in the Melbourne Cricket Club Team of the Century
Team of the Century
Team of the Century and Team of the Decade are terms used in team sport to name a hypothetical best team over a given time period.For the century team, it can be either 100 years, or for a century...
, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
The Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is a part of the Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in the National Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This Hall of Fame commemorates the greatest Australian cricketers of all time....
for his contribution to the sport in Australia.
In 1899, aged 31, Trumble met and fell in love with Florence Christian, aged 19 from Queensland. The couple were married in 1902, with the wedding timed to allow a honeymoon trip accompanying the Australian cricket tour of England. An injury to his thumb freed Trumble from cricket commitments for a while, to his new wife's delight. Together, the couple had eight children; six sons and two daughters. One son, Robert
Robert Trumble
Robert William Trumble was an Australian musician and author. Son of international cricketer Hugh Trumble, Robert dedicated his first book, The Golden Age of Cricket, to his father. It was published in Melbourne in 1968.Trumble's musical career was also noted by the Australian media...
, a renowned musician and writer, dedicated his first book, The Golden Age of Cricket, to his father. Trumble died aged 71, from a heart attack in his home in the Melbourne eastern suburb of Hawthorn
Hawthorn, Victoria
Hawthorn is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara...
.