Herbie Hewett - Later Cricket Career and Life

Later Cricket Career and Life

After leaving Somerset, Hewett did not continue in county cricket at all, opting to play first-class cricket only for amateur and representative sides. At the tail-end of the 1893 season, he played three times for the South, scoring two half-centuries. In July 1894, Hewett made the second of his two appearances for the Gentlemen against the Players. Unlike his first appearance, made at Hastings, the match was played at Lord's Cricket Ground, which was generally considered to be the more prestigious Gentlemen v Players fixture of the season, being the more representative. These matches were keenly contested during the 1890s, and were considered to be second in prestige only to gaining a Test cap. Batting at number three, Hewett scored 12 runs out of the Gentlemen's total of 254, before Stanley Jackson and Hewett's former Somerset colleague, Sammy Woods, bowled the Players out for 108 and 107. He appeared 11 times in 1894, scoring 579 runs at an average of 34.05, higher than the previous season. Woods described Hewett as being "in splendid form" when he played, and lamented that he was no longer playing for Somerset. He scored his only century of the season for A. J. Webbe's XI, reaching 110 after opening the innings against Oxford University. He continued his form with the bat into 1895, twice scoring centuries for the Gentlemen against the universities, making 109 against Cambridge, and 102 against Oxford. During this season Hewett appeared in his first match for the amateur side I Zingari, who had strong links with both Harrow School and Somerset president Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane.

Hewett played all three matches of the 1895 Scarborough Festival; he opened the innings for the MCC against Yorkshire, and then captained the South in their loss against the North. In the third match, Hewett was named captain of an England XI, a compliment for the former Somerset captain. However, rain meant that the start was delayed. Unlike a couple of years earlier, Hewett was happy to ignore the puddles in the field and start the match at the scheduled time. The umpires disagreed with him, and the crowd, wanting cricket, blamed Hewett for the delay and lack of sport. When he belatedly led his side onto the field, the spectators threw insults at him until the Yorkshire captain, Lord Hawke, shouted "Keep quiet or I'll think about calling the game off". Hewett did not bother with such threats, and left the field, got changed and departed from the ground, taking no further part in the game. Fred Spofforth replaced him in the match which the England side went on to win by nine wickets.

During the English winter of 1895–96, Hewett once again toured with Lord Hawke, travelling to South Africa. Arriving too late to take part in the first match of the tour, he then played the next four matches, but was summoned back to England by important business. The tour included three matches against a South African national team which were deemed to be Tests, but by this stage of the tour Hewett had left South Africa, and he thus completed his cricket career without any Test appearances. He played his final first-class match in 1896, scoring 86 for the MCC against Oxford University. In this match, for unknown reasons, he appeared as "Mr. H Herbert".

"When Mr 'Herbert' came in to bat ... many of the spectators in the free seats did not recognise him, but after he had sampled an over or two, an old gentleman, who had shown some knowledge of the game, hit the nail on the head when he remarked: I don't remember to have seen this Mr 'Erbert' before but he's 'class'."

He continued to play cricket for the Harrow Wanderers, MCC and I Zingari until 1901. At the time of the 1901 Census, Hewett was living in Westminster. He was listed as head of the household, the only other resident being a servant.

Hewett practised as a barrister, having trained at the Inner Temple, where he passed at least one exam in 1890. During the First World War, he served in the Territorial Force Reserve as an Assistant Provost Marshal, an appointment which he held from 7 September 1915 until 24 May 1918. He died in Hove, Sussex on 4 March 1921, and his funeral was held in Norton Fitzwarren four days later. His obituary in The Times describes only Hewett's cricket career, and does not give any details about his later life. It does not mention a spouse or any children. The notice of his funeral in the same paper says: "The whole village was in mourning and among those present at the graveside were Mr H. E. Murray Anderdon, president, and Mr S. M. J. Woods, secretary of the Somerset Cricket Club."