Graeme Hick - Successful Years

Successful Years

The Indian tour proved to be the start of by far the most successful period of Hick's Test career. At the end of 1992 his average was a mere 18.06, but by the end of the South African series just over three years later it had improved to a very respectable 38.66; his average over those three years alone was an impressive 46.44. In the first ODI of 1993 Hick made 85, but in the first Ashes Test at Old Trafford, he was famously sledged by Merv Hughes, leading umpire Dickie Bird to ask him: "What has that nice Mr Hick ever done to you?" Hughes later commented that although he had been "a bit OTT with Hick"; he "only sledged batsmen respected".

Despite scores of 34, 22, 20 and 64, Hick — along with Mike Gatting — was dropped after the second Test at Lord's; the decision amazed Shane Warne. Hick was recalled for the sixth Test at The Oval and hit 80 and 36 in a 161-run England victory, giving him a series average of 42.66, behind only Gooch, Atherton and Thorpe among England's specialist batsmen in a series in which England used 24 players.

A reasonable tour of West Indies followed, although Hick narrowly failed to make a maiden hundred against this opposition when he was dismissed for 96 in the Jamaican Test, and did not make a fifty in five ODI innings. Then came two short series against New Zealand and South Africa; he played in all six Tests and reached double figures in all ten innings, although he was not particularly successful against New Zealand, with a top score of only 58. Against the South Africans, however, he averaged over sixty, making 110 in the Second Test and a match-winning 81* (at a run a ball) in England's dash to victory in the Third. He played in three of the four ODIs and failed in two of them, but made another 81 against South Africa.

The 1994-95 Ashes series came to be known for one incident in particular. In the third Test at Sydney, England captain Mike Atherton had let it be known to his players that he intended to declare. Hick was nearing what would have been his first Ashes century, but Atherton felt he was scoring too slowly and that as a result the team were "dawdling". He took the decision to call the players in with Hick 98 not out. Hick was surprised and hurt not to be allowed to reach his hundred: Alec Stewart wrote later that his team-mates "couldn't believe" the decision, and he felt that it "cost dearly". Atherton admitted in his autobiography that although he still felt the declaration had been justified in strictly cricketing terms, he would not have taken such a decision again. Phil Tufnell felt similarly, saying that while there was a match to win, "a few of were also very sorry for Hick." Jonathan Agnew's sympathies, however, lay with the captain, telling Atherton that his "conscience should be clear".

Hick seemed to be overcoming his disappointment over the next few days, making a match-winning 91 in a World Series Cup ODI — a performance which lifted him to second behind only Brian Lara in the world rankings — and following up with 143 in a four-day game against Victoria. But he did not get a chance to make that Ashes century: a slipped disc ended his tour just before the fourth Test. He never came so close to one again. Hick's injury and the declaration affair overshadowed what up to that point had been a somewhat mixed series as far as the Tests had been concerned: in his other five innings he had been dismissed cheaply three times, but he had also made 80 at Brisbane.

West Indies visited in 1995, and Hick — an "automatic pick" for Atherton at this point in his career — enjoyed a good summer, averaging just over 50 in the Tests with the highlights being 118* at Trent Bridge (he had been told the previous day by Ray Illingworth that he had a "soft centre" ) and then 96 and 51* in the final Test at The Oval. He also averaged over 50 in the County Championship, and took a career-best 5-18 against Leicestershire in early July. In the Benson & Hedges Cup, he scored three hundreds in five matches as Worcestershire reached the semi-final. In that game, Hick made 109 and took two wickets, but Lancashire won a close contest with four balls to spare.

That winter's tour was to South Africa, and Hick made a superb hundred on the first day of the first Test at Centurion Park; Allan Donald later conceded that "he hammered us". He advanced his score to 141 the next day before falling lbw to Pollock, but appalling weather washed out the last three days of the game and the match was drawn. Hick, having reached his highest ever Test ranking of seventh, played in all five Tests and seven ODIs on that tour, but passed fifty only twice. The 1996 World Cup in the subcontinent immediately followed, but 85 against New Zealand was his only major contribution against top-class opposition.