Hugh Trumble

Trumble was born in the inner Melbourne neighbourhood of Collingwood, Victoria in 1867, the son of William, born in Ireland and superintendent of an insane asylum, and Scottish-born Elizabeth (née Clark). His elder brother, Billy, also played Test cricket for Australia and his younger brother, Thomas, was a public servant who served as Secretary for the Department of Defence from 1918 to 1927, and then official secretary to the High Commissioner for Australia in London. Encouraging his sons' early love of cricket, William Trumble—a keen cricketer who bowled leg breaks for South Melbourne Cricket Club—set out a cricket pitch at the family home. He placed a feather on a good length and urged his sons to aim at it when bowling. Known for his accuracy, Hugh later said, "Of course I couldn't repeatedly hit the feather, but I soon reached the stage when I was always pretty close to it" Trumble transferred to the Melbourne Cricket Club for the 1887–88 cricket season and was an immediate success. He took 36 wickets that season, finishing with an average of 6.77 runs per wicket; the best in the club, beating his teammate and Australian Test bowler Fred Spofforth. His first match for Victoria against Australian opposition was against New South Wales at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Bowling with Spofforth, in the first innings Trumble took seven wickets for 52 runs. == Test cricket ==

Early struggle Early in the 1889–90 Australian season, Trumble endured a period where he was not able to take wickets consistently. With selection of the Australian team to tour England in 1890 due at this time, Trumble was anxious about this poor run of form. Noting his anxiety while playing, a friend offered him a beer during the lunch break to revive his spirits. Previously a teetotaler, Trumble enjoyed his first taste and ordered another before re-entering the field of play. Feeling relaxed, although wondering about his steadiness of step, Trumble took a succession of wickets to ensure his selection in the Australian team. Trumble finished the season with 27 wickets at an average of 14.20 per wicket. The 1890 Australian team touring England was relatively inexperienced. The team missed the all-round ability of George Giffen, who had refused to join the squad, thinking it unlikely the tour would be a sporting or financial success. The Australians won 13 matches on tour, losing 16 and drawing 9. Batting at number eleven in the first innings he made 1 not out and in the second, 5 runs batting at number ten. Despite this lack of success, he retained his spot in the team for the Second Test at The Oval where he failed to take a wicket. He was selected for the Third Test at Old Trafford but continuous rain saw the match abandoned without a ball being bowled. Trumble played 28 first-class matches during the tour, scoring 288 runs at an average of 8.47 and took 52 wickets at an average of 21.75. ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' wrote, "Reports from Australia had led us to expect a great deal of ... Trumble" but his "straightness and regular length [were] insufficient to compensate for an obvious lack of 'devil' and variety". Trumble was not selected for the Australian team to play Lord Sheffield's touring English team in 1891–92. He did not return to the Australian team until his selection in the squad to tour England in 1893. Before the Test matches he took 14 wickets for 116 runs (14/116) against the Players followed by 12/84 against Kent at Gravesend. He played in all three Test matches in 1893, taking 6 wickets at an average of 39.00. Trumble scored 58 runs in the Tests with a highest score of 35 but had more success in the other matches, scoring 774 runs, including one century in all first-class matches on tour. Wisden noted that "An immense improvement on his form of three years before was shown by Hugh Trumble, who bowled consistently well all through the tour" and "... the reports of Hugh Trumble's improvement in batting were amply borne out, his hitting in many matches being remarkably fine". Established cricketer Trumble was selected in the Australian team to tour England in 1896, despite a poor domestic season in 1895–96 that saw his place in the touring squad seriously questioned by pundits. The leading cricket journalist, Tom Horan said that as much as he personally liked Trumble, he could not see him as a member of a team for the England tour that season. It was, however, during this tour that Trumble finally established a permanent place in the Australian line up. Wisden said of Trumble when listing him as one of its Cricketers of the Year, "...it was not until his third visit, during the past season, that Trumble convinced Englishmen he was entitled to rank among the great bowlers of Australia". He was seen as Australia's leading bowler who "was able to inspire [the English] batsmen with a feeling of apprehension". The Second Test at Old Trafford was more closely fought. Despite K. S. Ranjitsinhji scoring a "marvellous" 154 and Tom Richardson "bowling in his finest form" the Australians managed to hold on for a 3 wicket victory. The Australians required 125 runs to win in their second innings and were expected to make this target easily. Richardson's skilful bowling however saw Trumble and Kelly batting together with only 3 wickets in hand but with 25 runs still to make. Against excellent bowling and in a tense atmosphere, the pair managed to bat Australia home with the last runs taking an hour to score, mainly in singles. With the series tied at one Test apiece, the Third and final Test was played at The Oval in London. On a pitch damaged by rain, the English batted first and were dismissed for 145. Trumble took 6 wickets for 59 runs, including a 9-over spell of 5 wickets for 10 runs. England fought back to bowl the Australians out for 119. In turn, the Australians restricted England to 84 runs with Trumble taking 6 wickets for 30, to leave Australia requiring 111 runs in their second innings to win the match. Trumble played in every Test of the 1897–98 series against the touring English, who were again captained by Stoddart. England won the First Test in Sydney by 9 wickets with Trumble's 70 runs the highest score in the Australian first innings. Under the captaincy of Harry Trott, Australia fought back to win the Second Test in Melbourne by an innings and 55 runs. Trumble took 8 wickets in the match and in partnership with Monty Noble bowled the English out for 150 runs in the second innings. Australia won the Third Test in Adelaide by an innings and 13 runs; Trumble made 37 runs in the Australian innings and took 1 wicket for the match. In the Fourth Test, Trumble combined with Clem Hill in a 165 run partnership for the seventh wicket, described by Wisden as the turning point in the innings. Australia won the match by 8 wickets. Australia won the Fifth Test and the series four Tests to one. For the series overall, Trumble took 19 wickets at an average of 28.15 runs per wicket and scored 170 runs at an average of 36.20. The 1899 Australian tour saw Trumble score 1,183 runs and take 142 wickets; he was only the second Australian, after George Giffen, to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in an English season as part of a touring team. Wisden said of Trumble's batting that season, "[Trumble] played so consistently well as to make it clear that if he had not been a bowler he would have been a great batsman". Dry pitches saw his bowling average fall off a little from the 1896 tour but Wisden stated that he "bowled quite as well as in 1896" and "[he] never seemed easy to hit, and whenever the ground gave him least advantage ... he was deadly". Hat-tricks and captaincy At the age of 34, Trumble was chosen to captain the Australian team against England in 1901–02 when Joe Darling withdrew to manage his farm in Tasmania after the first three Tests. Australia won the two remaining Tests—the only occasions that Trumble would captain his country in Test cricket—to win the series four Tests to one. He dismissed Arthur Jones, John Gunn and Sydney Barnes in successive balls to complete an Australian victory by 229 runs. In the Third Test in Adelaide, Trumble captured 6 wickets for 74 runs in the England second innings and made 62 not out to help the Australians win the match by 4 wickets. After this success with the bat, Trumble—in his new role as captain—promoted himself to open the batting alongside Victor Trumper. He made only 6 runs, handing the opening batsman role to Reggie Duff for the second innings. Australia won the Test by 7 wickets with Trumble not required to bat a second time. In the Fifth Test, again in Melbourne, Trumble took 5 wickets for 62 runs to help restrict England to a lead of 45 runs after the first innings. In the second innings Trumble took another 3 wickets and, combined with Noble's 6 wickets, helped Australia win by 32 runs. Trumble and Noble were the most successful Australian bowlers during the series. Together they took 60 wickets in the Tests: Noble 32 at an average of 19.00 and Trumble 28 at an average of 20.03. Trumble's last cricketing tour of England was in 1902, with Darling returning to captain the Australian team. Early in the tour, Trumble broke his thumb at practice, causing him to miss the first month of the English season. Despite this, when he returned for the final three Tests he took 26 wickets. Trumble, recalling his final over of the match, said "With the ball greasy [wet] and my boots unable to get a proper foothold on slippery turf, it was the most trying over I ever bowled." Darling bowled Trumble unchanged from the Pavilion end throughout both innings of the match. Wisden praised Trumble's bowling saying "Trumble, paying us his fifth visit, bowled perhaps better than ever", but remarked that "it must be said that the wet weather and soft wickets were all in his favour" After playing in one Test match against the South African team on a stopover when returning from England to Australia, Trumble retired from Test cricket, aged 35. Selected for the remaining four Tests, his 24 wickets in four Tests made Trumble the most successful Australian bowler in the series. Wisden describing his bowling in the second innings as "practically unplayable". The hat-trick, his second in Test cricket, consisted of the dismissals of Bernard Bosanquet, Plum Warner and Dick Lilley on 7 March. He went on to take the wicket of Ted Arnold, ending the match and his career in international cricket. == Style and personality ==

Trumble was tall and thin, in height. His long face featured prominent ears and a large nose, while his long arms and uncommonly long and strong fingers assisted his bowling. The cricket writer Ray Robinson said of Trumble: "El Greco, with his lengthening touch would have liked to draw Trumble. Hugh's lantern shaped head set on a column of a neck would have given the Spaniard a halfway start." His action was described by his team-mate and bowling partner, Monty Noble, as "sidelong and insinuating, with his neck craned like a gigantic bird". He bowled off spinners with an impeccable length at medium pace and was able to swing the new ball. He had a well-disguised slower ball, hoodwinking batsmen such as Stanley Jackson, who said, "You old devil. You get me caught-and-bowled whenever you like but I'll pick that slow one sooner or later." He preferred English pitches, saying he hardly saw one on which he could not get some turn and the temperate weather allowed him to bowl all day. In Australia, Trumble had to work harder for his wickets on firmer pitches, relying on his change of pace and consistent accuracy; he claimed he could land the ball on a saucer away five times out of six. Johnnie Moyes named him as an "immortal of the art" who succeeded by "attacking the batsman's strength". W. G. Grace called him "the best bowler Australia has sent us". While Trumble was able to score 1,183 runs during the 1899 tour of England, the demands of bowling did not allow him to consistently score heavily. His long, prehensile fingers helped him make a reputation as a fine slips fieldsman and he was the first to take 20 catches in an Australian season. English cricketer Johnny Douglas said, "Trumble should not be allowed on the cricket field—his natural place would be up trees in the bush." He practised slip fielding by catching a tennis ball thrown against a brick wall; he believed this practise trained him not to "snatch" at the ball but allow it to fall into his safe hands. Trumble was known for his cleverness on the field. C. B. Fry said of him, "He is the most long-headed, observant and acute judge of the game, a perfect master of the whole art of placing fieldsmen and changing bowlers." On one occasion when captaining his state team, Victoria, he deliberately bowled two wides that his fieldsmen allowed to roll to the boundary to score four runs for his opponents. This was done to save his tired bowlers from having to bowl again immediately, as his opponents would have been required to follow-on (bat twice in a row), at the time compulsory. When questioned by an onlooker about the dubious sportsmanship of the action, he replied, "I had to do it, old chap, but I wonder what my father will think of it?" Trumble was respected by his teammates and opponents; New Zealand cricketer, Dan Reese, who played against and alongside Trumble said, "His subtle humour, his fund of cricket stories, his kindness, and, above all, his judgment, made him a man of exceptional character." He was popular with team-mates and opponents alike, with a weakness for practical jokes. On board a ship travelling to England, Trumble offered to coach unsuspecting fellow travellers in various deck sports such as quoits. Accepting Trumble's advice, they were made to contort themselves into a number of ludicrous positions to the amusement of his team-mates and other onlookers in the know. To prolong the joke, in his own games Trumble would adopt the same peculiar stance and method he advocated. == Legacy and statistical analysis ==

"The first of the great off spinners of the Test-match age", in 32 Tests, Trumble took 141 wickets at an average of just over 20 runs per wicket. He took 5 wickets in an innings on nine occasions and 10 wickets in a match three times. On retirement, he had taken more wickets in Test cricket than any other player; a record he held for nearly 10 years until surpassed by Sydney Barnes. It wasn't until Dennis Lillee 75 years later that anyone was able to better Trumble's 141 wickets against England. While mainly a bowler, Trumble batted well enough to make 851 runs in Test cricket at an average of 19.79 with a highest score of 70. Trumble was particularly effective in England. After taking 52 wickets on his first tour of England in 1890, his other four visits to England—in 1893, 1896, 1899 and 1902—saw him take over 100 wickets in first-class matches. As a batsman, Trumble's ranking peaked at twelfth in the world after the Third Test in Adelaide in 1901–02. Trumble was the first player to take two hat-tricks in Test cricket. Both hat-tricks were taken against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where Trumble played his club cricket. Hat-tricks are extremely rare; in over 131 years of Test cricket to March 2008, there had only been 37 Test hat-tricks and only Jimmy Matthews and Wasim Akram been able to repeat Trumble's feat of taking a second. == Off the playing field ==

Trumble joined the National Bank of Australasia in 1887 to begin a career in banking. He was instrumental in attracting quality cricketers to the club including Bert Ironmonger, whom Trumble saw play on a visit to Queensland. In 2001, Trumble was selected in the Melbourne Cricket Club Team of the Century, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame for his contribution to the sport in Australia. In 1899, aged 31, Trumble met and fell in love with Florence Christian, aged 19 from Queensland. The couple were married in 1902, with the wedding timed to allow a honeymoon trip accompanying the Australian cricket tour of England. Trumble died aged 71, from a heart attack in his home in the Melbourne eastern suburb of Hawthorn. == References ==