Wes Hall - Style and Personality

Style and Personality

Hall had a magnificent, bounding approach, eyes bulging, teeth glinting, crucifix flying, climaxing in a classical cartwheel action and intimidating followthrough. —David Frith,

Hall was a tall and muscular cricketer, 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm) tall and bearing the "physique and strength of a bodybuilder." He had a graceful, classical action and one of the longest run-ups in Test cricket. A genuinely fast bowler, he was timed at 91 miles per hour (146 km/h). Hall was able to sustain pace and hostility for very long spells—during the Test against England at Lord's in 1963 he bowled unchanged for over three hours on the final day. While Hall was an aggressive fast bowler, he was not one to set out to injure the batsman. The England cricketer Ted Dexter—himself hit several times by Hall—said "there was never a hint of malice in or in his bowling". Hall himself said after one of his deliveries fractured Australian cricketer Wally Grout's jaw "It made me sick to see Wal leaving and it made me sicker to hear some jokers in the crowd ranting on as though I had intentionally hurt ".

While Hall could never be described as an all-rounder, on occasions he was an effective batsman. His one century in first-class cricket was against Cambridge University Cricket Club at Fenners—scored in 65 minutes, the fastest century of the 1963 English season. Wisden said of this innings, " batting promised so much ... made his runs in the classic mould, not in the unorthodox manner usually adopted by fast bowlers." With his characteristic humour, Hall said of this innings, "Ah, but it wasn't any old hundred, it was against the intelligentsia."

Hall was one of the most popular cricketers of his day. The Australian commentator Johnnie Moyes descibed Hall as "a rare box-office attraction, a man who caught and held the affections of the paying public." Hall was particularly popular in Australia. When invited back to play for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield in 1961–62, Hall arrived in Brisbane to "scenes more in keeping with the arrival of a pop star, a thousand people jamming the old terminal building at Eagle Farm airport to welcome him." Hall was fond of a bet and was a keen follower of horseracing. Hall is known as a good humoured man; C. L. R. James observed "Hall simply exudes good nature at every pore." Tony Cozier states " is renowned for his entertaining, if prolonged oratory, as well as for his tardiness."