Clem Hill

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Clem Hill : biography

18 March 1877 – 5 September 1945

Matters came to a head when Hill sent a telegram to fellow selector, Peter McAlister, urging the inclusion of the New South Wales all-rounder Charlie Macartney in the team for the Fourth Test in Melbourne. The reply from McAlister—a member of the Board of Control who still bore some animosity towards Hill from past commentsSee above ‘"strongly opposed the selection in the team of 40 year old Peter McAlister, who he claimed "was past his best" and "not suited to English conditions"’—to Hill’s request was "… Still opposed to Macartney’s inclusion. If Iredale (another selector) agrees with you as to Macartney’s inclusion, I favour yourself standing down not Minnett." Hill saw the offer to remove himself from the team as sore provocation and his team-mates scorned the suggestion. Australia lost the Third Test by seven wickets. Macartney wrote later, "Persistent ill-feeling seriously affected the morale of the side." At a meeting held after the Test, the Board of Control rejected the players’ petition and declared that the manager would be appointed by the Board alone. At a "special meeting" two weeks later, the Board appointed George Crouch from Queensland to the position of tour manager.

The following day, 3 February 1912, the selection committee met in Sydney to decide the team for the Fourth Test. It was the first time Hill and McAlister had met since the exchange of telegrams. The pair exchanged insults with McAlister sharply criticising Hill’s captaincy. Hill retorted, "In England, Armstrong wouldn’t play under you. Did you ever win any except second rate games?"

McAlister replied, "I am a better captain than Trumper, Armstrong and yourself put together. You are the worst captain I have ever seen." Hill then warned McAlister to stop insulting him but McAlister repeated the remark. Losing control, Hill struck McAlister a blow across the face. The two then grappled for around ten minutes. Blood was drawn, staining their clothes and splashing on the other men present, Iredale and secretary Sydney Smith. At one stage, fearing that one or both combatants would fall through the window and onto the street, Smith grabbed hold of Hill’s coat-tails. The fight ended with a bloody McAlister lying on the floor and Hill, unmarked, standing over him. Hill told Smith he could no longer work with McAlister. Smith then asked Hill to put his resignation in writing and the Board accepted it that evening.

The crowds at the Melbourne and Sydney Tests gave Hill three cheers when he arrived at the wicket. When Hill reached the batting crease in his last Test at Sydney, the umpire Bob Crockett said "there were tears in his eyes".Haigh, pp. 224–225. An in camera investigation into the fracas took place; the Board’s only comment on the meeting was to report that it had been "satisfactorily settled". Hill was then offered an invitation to take part in the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England. Hill declined the invitation, along with Warwick Armstrong, Trumper, Carter, Noble and Vernon Ransford, who collectively became known as the "Big Six". He never played Test cricket again.

Retirement and legacy

An innings-by-innings breakdown of Hill’s Test match batting career, showing runs scored (red bars) and the average of the last ten innings (blue line). The blue dots indicate an innings where he was not dismissed. At the age of 43, Hill returned to first-class cricket for one match to assist in its re-establishment in Australia after the Great War. In support of the benefits of some former colleagues, he played in a further two first-class matches with his best score of 66 coming in a game against Victoria. His last match was for an Australian XI against New South Wales played to support Bill Howell’s benefit.

In all Tests, Hill scored 3,412 runs at an average just under 40 runs per innings and including seven centuries. When he retired he had scored more runs in Test cricket than any other player; a record he held for 12 years until surpassed by Jack Hobbs. In 1902 Hill was the first to score 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year; the next to do so was Denis Compton 45 years later in 1947. Prolific in Australian state cricket as well, he headed the South Australian first-class averages on ten occasions between 1895–96 and 1910–11. In successive innings in 1909–10 he scored 175 against Victoria in Adelaide, 205 against New South Wales and 185 against Victoria in Melbourne. He was the only Australian to score more than 17,000 runs in the period before pitches were protected from rain. In club cricket he averaged more than 100 runs for the season on three occasions.