Herbie Hewett - Personality and Style

Personality and Style

When Hewett was named as one of the Five Batsmen of the Year by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1893, the publication described him as "the finest left-handed batsman in England". He played in an unorthodox but attractive fashion, which prompted W.G. Grace to praise "his dashing and fearless hitting", while remarking that he had an awkward style. In Somerset, Cider and Sixes, David Foot described that he was "possessed of an eagle eye, considerable meat and the ability to make his forcing shots attractive." In Peter Roebuck's From Sammy to Jimmy, he offered a similar portrait of Hewett's batting style, adding that "he saw it as his task to conquer". Hewett's batting received praise in H. S. Altham and E. W. Swanton's A History of Cricket, where he is described as a "singularly determined and venomous" batsman who "hit the ball in unexpected and demoralizing directions." He frequently scored his runs rapidly, as described by the Reverend R.S. Holmes, who wrote of his batting against Nottinghamshire; "the Captain scored at his usual rate – three out of four runs notched, represent his pace. Against Surrey he got 61 out of 81, this time 60 out of the same total. That's the kind of example every captain should set - a run a minute, or thereabouts." In summary of the 1892 season The Cricket Annual notes that "the Somerset player, in fact, had established the reputation of being the most punishing batsman and rapid scorer of the day, and on last season's form no representative eleven could be considered complete without him." Sammy Woods claimed that Hewett disliked fielding, but offered the view that he was good at point. Woods also related how Hewett would chew on a toothpick, which he always had in his mouth when fielding, when his team was losing.

As evidenced by the manner in which Hewett left Somerset and walked off during the Scarborough Festival of 1895, he possessed a short fuse. Team-mate Frederic John Poynton characterised his captain as a player who suffered "from a deep, difficult nature, which once upset, took long to recover". He was a strong leader who was both respected and feared by his colleagues. In 1885, Somerset County Cricket Club had failed to field eleven players for some of their first-class contests, and in most of their other matches were a poor side. Hewett took on the county captaincy in 1889, and in his second year led his side unbeaten against fellow county opposition to win the 'Second-class County Championship', and gain re-admission to the first-class game. Hewett's batting and captaincy were aided by the emergence of Woods and Palairet, both of whom were named as Wisden Cricketers of the Year between 1889 and 1893. In 1891, Somerset finished joint fifth among the nine first-class counties, while the subsequent year they rose to third. Hewett's final season at Somerset was the county's least successful under his captaincy, winning just four of their sixteen matches to finish in eighth.