Alfred Hind

Hind was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1878. He was educated at Uppingham School before entering Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1897.[1] He gained four sporting Blues in athletics between 1898 and 1901 and ran the 100 yards in 9.8 seconds on teo occasions. He gained a further Blue with the rugby team in 1900. On leaving university be became a solicitor.[2]

A right arm medium pace bowler and handy lower order batsman, Hind played most of his cricket for Cambridge but also appeared in a first-class match for Nottinghamshire. That match came in the 1901 County Championship, against Leicestershire at Aylestone Road, but in a low scoring encounter but wasn't called on to bowl by his captain Arthur Jones.[3] The previous year he had played a three-day match for Nottinghamshire against the touring West Indians and made what would have been his highest score of 60 except the match wasn't awarded first-class status.[4]

Hind's first year at Cambridge University Cricket Club was his best, claiming 35 wickets at 17.91 in 1898.[5] He took his career best figures of 7 for 30 on debut, in a University Match against CI Thornton's England XI and despite him taking a further two wickets in the second innings they still lost the match.[6] Perhaps the biggest name out of his 80 first-class victims was the great W.G. Grace, whom Hind dismissed when the England Test cricketer was playing for the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1900.[7]

Hind had a long and distinguished rugby career, first representing Cambridge University while a student. He played in the Varsity Match of 1900 and on leaving he joined Leicester. The first of Hind's two England rugby union caps was a Test in 1905 against New Zealand. The other came the following year when he played against Wales in a Home Nations encounter. In 1903 he toured South Africa with the British Isles and he played his club rugby at Nottingham, mostly as a winger.[8]

• Cricinfo: Alfred Hind