George Hele - Reputation and Personality

Reputation and Personality

Although known primarily for his role in the Bodyline series, Hele was recognised as the best umpire in South Australia at the time of his selection to umpire in Test matches, and was held in high regard by players and officials from both Australian teams and touring international teams. In an interview after Hele's first Test series as umpire, the English captain, Percy Chapman reported that, although the English missed the retired Bob Crockett, Hele had "proved a worthy successor to that great umpire, and would hold his own anywhere". Despite Hele's opinion of Douglas Jardine's tactics during the bodyline, Jardine respected his umpiring ability, and in a 1932 letter to an Australian cricket official, placed him on the same level as England's Frank Chester: "as you know, we in England bracket Hele and Chester as the two best umpires in the world". Similarly, Sir Donald Bradman wrote in his 1950 book Farewell to Cricket that both he and the Englishmen agreed that Hele was "the best Australian umpire between the two wars". In 1959, writing his book Australian Cricket: A History, noted cricket journalist Johnny Moyes wrote "in the opinion of those qualified to judge, was perhaps the finest umpire Australia has produced". As late as 1970, a journalist described Hele as a "gentle man, still tall and erect, and with a keen eye".

Hele was on friendly terms with many of the notable players whom he umpired, and he maintained a collection of "souvenirs" which had been given to him by players and officials in gratitude for his service. These included:

• a platinum wrist watch from the Nawab of Pataudi, the Indian captain
• a necktie from South African Quintin McMillan
• a baggy green from Australian captain Bill Woodfull
• England caps from Jack Hobbs, Maurice Tate, Ernest Tyldesley, and Bill Voce
• English county caps from Herbert Sutcliffe (Yorkshire) and George Duckworth (Lancashire)
• a Cambridge University cap from West Indian captain Jackie Grant

Also an avid collector of cricket memorabilia and writing, Hele was said to possess "one of the finest cricket libraries in Australia", with a collection of over 350 books, often personally autographed by their authors.