1938
His finest year was 1938. While travelling up to Leeds to play Yorkshire in May, his captain told him : 'If you score 50 I will give you your cap ... a 50 against them is worth 100 against any other county'. Bartlett scored 94 out of 125 in 75 minutes against an attack of Bill Bowes, Hedley Verity, Frank Smailes, Emmott Robinson and Cyril Turner. After twice hitting Verity for three sixes in an over, he was caught at the boundary by Maurice Leyland off a hit that would otherwise have gone for six. Bartlett was duly awarded his county cap. He was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1939 as a result of his achievements in the preceding season.
Later at Lord's he hit 175 not out for the Gentlemen against the Players. One six off Morris Nichols deposited the ball in a grandstand turret. He hit Nichols for five fours in an over, Peter Smith for two fours and two sixes off another. In all, he hit 24 fours and four sixes in 165 minutes. With last man Ken Farnes (10), he added 82 in 45 minutes.
On 27 August, the Australians came to Hove and Bartlett in two hours hit 157. He went to his hundred in 57 minutes - it won him the Lawrence trophy for the fastest hundred of the season - and then took 21 off an over from Frank Ward. His innings included six sixes and eighteen fours.
With 1548 runs at 57.33, he finished fifth in the averages (behind Wally Hammond, Joe Hardstaff, Jr., Len Hutton and Eddie Paynter). He hit 40 sixes in the season, second only to Arthur Wellard. He toured South Africa that winter but did not play a Test. A year later, he was picked for the Indian tour under the captaincy of A. J. Holmes, but the Second World War led to the cancellation of the tour.
Read more about this topic: Hugh Bartlett