Patsy Hendren

Patsy Hendren

Hendren in about 1924
Personal information
Full name	Elias Henry Hendren
Born	(1889-02-05)5 February 1889 Turnham Green,Middlesex
Died	4 October 1962(1962-10-04)(aged 73) Tooting Bec,London
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off-break
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap181)	17 December 1920 vAustralia
Last Test	18 March 1935 vWest Indies
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class Matches 51 833 Runs scored 3,525 57,611 Batting average 47.63 50.80 100s/50s 7/21 170/272 Top score 205* 301* Ballsbowled 47 4,830 Wickets 1 47 Bowling average 31.00 54.76 5 wickets in innings 0 1 10 wickets in match 0 0 Best bowling 1/27 5/43 Catches/stumpings 33/– 759/–
Source:CricInfo,6 December 2019

Elias Henry Hendren(5 February 1889 – 4 October 1962), known asPatsy Hendren,was an Englishfirst-class cricketer,active 1907 to 1937, who played forMiddlesexandEngland.He also had a concurrent career as afootballerand had a long tenure withBrentford F.C.He was born inTurnham Greenand died inTooting Bec.A right-handedbatsmanwho occasionallybowledoff breaks,Hendren was one of the most prolific batsmen of the inter-war period,averaging47.63 in his 51Test matchesand 50.80 in all his first-class matches. He has the third highest first-class run aggregate of 57,611 runs (afterJack HobbsandFrank Woolley), and his total of 170centuriesranks second only to Hobbs, who was a personal friend. Hendren was a noted wit, a keenpractical jokerand had a talent formimicry.

Early years

Hendren joined theLord'sgroundstaff at the age of 16, and made his first-class debut for Middlesex in 1907, though the game was abandoned after the first day when spectators caused damage to the pitch and he did not get to bat. He played nine games the following year and gradually established himself in the team, but it was 1911 before he made his first hundred, and untilWorld War Iforced the suspension of theCounty Championshiphe never managed to average 40 in a season.Hendren joined the 1st Sportsmens' Battalion of theRoyal Fusiliersas aprivatein September 1914, before being transferred to work at amunitions factoryinRoyal Leamington Spa.He rejoined the Royal Fusiliers towards the end of the war.

Career

Returning to cricket in 1919 Hendren scored 1,655 runs and averaged over 60, as he was to do the following year as well. He was a strong player of fast bowling. He was made aWisden Cricketer of the Yearin 1920 and was picked for the 1920/21Ashestour, making his Test debut atSydneyand making 58 in the second innings despiteAustralia's huge 377-run victory. He scored two further Test fifties in the series and retained his place for the 1921 series against the same opponents, but failed completely in his four innings, totalling only 17 runs.

1923 was a productive year for Hendren, as he scored 3,010 runs in the season including 13 centuries; he was recalled to the England side the following year and averaged 132.66 againstSouth Africa.Further success was to follow as he averaged over 56 in every year from 1922 to 1928. In both 1927 and 1928 he again made 13 hundreds, in the latter year recording his highest season's aggregate of 3,311 runs.

Patsy Hendren's career performance graph.

In 1929/30, Hendren went on tour with England to theWest Indies:his 693 series runs came at an average of 115.50 and included his highest Test score, 205 not out atPort of Spain;his first-class average for the tour as a whole was 135.76. He made six consecutive Test 50s (77, 205 not out, 56, 123, 61 and 55) a new England record, since equalled byTed Dexter,Ken BarringtonandAlastair Cook.Returning to England, he managed a top score of only 72 against the Australians, but in 1933 he topped 3,000 runs for the third and final time at the age of 44 and made his highest score of 301 not out.

In 1933 he invented a sort of helmet. Against the West Indies at Lord's he appeared wearing a rubber hat or cap with three peaks, two of which fitted over the sides of his head. Although a competent hooker of fast bowling he felt he needed extra protection to face bowlers such as Martindale and Constantine.

He played his final Test match in 1934/1935 atKingston, Jamaica,the game in whichGeorge Headleymade 270 not out to win the series for theWest Indians,but continued to play well in domestic cricket for a few years more. Hendren's final season in the game was 1937, and fittingly he made a century in his last County Championship match, the local derby withSurrey.He did, however, appear for "England Past and Present" againstSir PF Warner'sXI at Folkestone in September 1938, aged 49, but was caught by the 20-year-oldDenis Comptonfor a duck in what was to be his last first-class innings.

In 1919 he played in a Victory International for England. In retirement, he coached cricket atHarrow School(succeeding Wilfred Rhodes) andSussex,and later acted as scorer for Middlesex (1952–1960). His health failed and he died in hospital fromAlzheimer's diseaseat the Whittington HospitalTooting Bec,London, at the age of 73. Seven years after his death, Hendren was the subject of a biography, titled 'Patsy' Hendren – The Cricketer and His Times.

Football

Elias 'Patsy' Hendren

Hendren in 1920
Personal information
Position(s)	Wing Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1906–1907	Sandersons
1907	Queens Park Rangers	0	(0)
1907–1908	Brentford	1	(0)
1908–1909	Manchester City	2	(0)
1909–1911	Coventry City	33	(14)
1911–1927	Brentford	399	(69)
Total		435	(83)
International career
1919	England	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early years

Hendren began his football career with local team Sandersons in 1906, before having spells withQueens Park RangersandBrentfordin theSouthern League.He was sold by Brentford toManchester Cityin 1908 and appeared twice for them in theFootball League First Divisionbefore moving on toCoventry Cityof the Southern League in October 1909. A successful first season saw Hendren make 29 appearances scoring 13 goals, but he was only to make 4 appearances in the1910–11season.

Brentford

Aged 22 Hendren returned to Brentford for the1911–12seasonMaintaining both cricket and football careers meant that Hendren sometimes missed the opening games of the season during this second stint with the club, although during the1920–21 seasonhe made only two appearances due to the1920–21 Australian Tourand made no appearances in the1924–25season for the same reason.He was chosen to represent the Southern League XI against the Football League XI during the 1913-14 season.Brentford rose from the Southern League to the Football League during Hendren's 15 year period with the club, and he retired from football to commit himself to cricket aged 38 having made 432 appearances in total for the club, scoring 74 goals.He was posthumously inducted into theBrentford Hall of Famein 2015.

International

Hendren made one appearance forEnglandin the unofficial Victory International againstWalesin October 1919.

Personal

Patsy's brotherDenis Hendrenplayed 9 first-class games for Middlesex.A second brother, John, was killed atDelville Woodin July 1916 while serving with the Royal Fusiliers.Hendren was a Catholic.

Football honours

Brentford

• London Combination:1918–19

External links

• Media related toPatsy Hendrenat Wikimedia Commons
• Patsy HendrenatESPNcricinfo