Hearne made his debut for
Kent in
1884 as a
leg-break bowler. He headed the county's
bowling averages, taking 41 wickets in a generally dry summer, and playing a crucial role Kent's defeat of the
touring Australian team with match figures of seven wickets for 66 runs. and critics were surprised he was not chosen to play for England against Australia at some point during his career. As his career progressed Hearne developed into an
off-break bowler after bowling leg-breaks began to cause injury problems for him. In
1888 he nearly headed the first-class bowling averages, taking 41 wickets at an average of under 11. As of October 2017, this remains the sixth highest partnership in Kent's history for any wicket. By the end of his Kent career Hearne was established as the leading run scorer and wicket taker in club history. Hearne played first-class cricket for 23 seasons in total, making his final appearance for Kent in the
1906 County Championship winning team. He played five matches against universities, four for
MCC, between 1908 and 1910. In total he played 51 times for MCC, 12 times for The South and four times for The Players.
International cricket , with Alec Hearne second right Hearne was chosen to tour South Africa as part of
Walter Read's XI in
1891–1892. The tour took place at the same time as another team, captained by
W G Grace, were
representing England against Australia. The sole first-class match on the tour was against a South African XI and this match was retrospectively given
Test match status. He scored just nine runs in the Test match but acquitted himself well on the tour in general. In the Test match, played at
Newlands Cricket Ground in
Cape Town, Hearne played on the same team as his brother
George and cousin
John Thomas Hearne. His other brother,
Frank Hearne, played for the South African team, having previously played for England. ==Retirement and later life==