Ashes Heroes No 38: Bobby Peel

Our countdown to the next Ashes continues a-pace and after Bobby Simpson last week, we have another Bobby as this week's hero. To read about him, we go back into the mists of time, when Good Queen Victoria was on the throne, Britain ruled the waves and, as you will read, cricketers were occasionally very very naughty...

Bobby Peel, Ashes hero (on the right of this pic), was born seven years after the death of that other famous Robert Peel, the Prime Minister and founder of the modern police force, and 20 years before the first Test match. His first-class career began in 1882, the same year as the birth of the Ashes, but before we get on to his exploits for England it is worth skipping ahead to 1897 and the end of his career.

Never mind Andrew Flintoff being drunk in charge of a pedalo, was Peel's fall from grace the worst - and funniest - display of being blotto in public? In 1897, Peel was banned from playing for Yorkshire by Lord Hawke, the county's captain and supremo, after supposedly relieving himself on the pitch at Bradford during a match against Lancashire. That is the claim and while some have said that there is no proof that he urinated in public, the charge has stuck. He was certainly drunk during the game and apparently tried bowling without the ball. Eventually, his captain had enough. "Lord Hawke put his arm round me and helped me off the ground - and out of first-class cricket," Peel said. "What a gentleman!" The scorecard simply says that Peel was "absent hurt" in Yorkshire's second innings.

That's got the titillation out of the way early. Now back to his feats as a cricketer, for there is no doubt that Peel, a slow left-arm bowler known especially for his fine control of length, deserves his place on this list. His first-class debut, as mentioned, was against Surrey in 1882, when he took nine wickets in two innings. His second first-class match was for Yorkshire against the touring Australians, against whom he took six for 41 in 46 overs.

Over the next two seasons, Peel's reputation grew and in 1884 he was asked to tour Australia with Alfred Shaw's MCC side, the first of four tours Peel made to Australia. It was an auspicious start, with eight wickets in the first Test at Adelaide and six more at Melbourne as England went 2-0 up. Australia won the next two Tests of a thrilling series, with Peel making little impact, but in the final Test at Melbourne he took three for 28 in 41 overs as Australia were put on the back foot in their first innings and added another wicket in the second as England won match and series.

Yet the hero of the tour did not play well on his return to England and was left out of the home series in 1886. A better summer in 1887 led to him going on his second Ashes tour, where he took nine wickets in the only Test. In the summer of 1888, Peel took 24 wickets in the three Ashes Tests, the highlight being at Old Trafford when he took seven for 31 and four for 37. That was not a patch on his most impressive feat of the summer, however, when Peel took 14 Northamptonshire wickets for 33 runs in 54 overs, including eight for 12 in the first innings.

For some reason, probably because of the greater competition at home, Peel played only once in each of the 1890, 1893 and 1896 home Ashes series, but he continued to be picked for tours. In 1892-93, he went to Australia for a third time, but it was his fourth tour, in 1894-95, when he won his reputation as the best slow bowler in the world.

In the first Test, at Sydney, Australia made a record 586 in their first innings and, after dismissing England for 325, asked the touring side to follow on. What happened next is part of Test folklore, as great perhaps as Botham in 1981 or Harbjahan Singh in 2001. Australia were set 177 to win and had reached 113 for two by stumps on the fifth day (this being a timeless Test).

During the night, the heavens opened and some of the England team, Peel naturally among them, decided to have a few drinks. But the sun came out on the sixth morning, providing the perfect recipe for a spin bowler in those days of uncovered pitches, and Peel, still not quite sober, reportedly demanded of his captain, Andrew Stoddart, "Gie me t'ball". The remaining eight Australia wickets fell for 53, with Peel taking five of them.

England went 2-0 up in the next Test, with Peel taking five wickets and making 53, and although Australia again levelled the series, it was Peel again who played the crucial role in the deciding rubber, taking seven wickets and making 73 in the first innings and 15 not out in the second as England chased 297 to win match and series.

Peel had one more Ashes Test in him, at the Oval in 1896. In his final Test innings, as Australia chased only 111 to win, he took six for 23 in 12 overs and Australia were dismissed for 44. As well as winning the match, it took Peel past 100 Test wickets, in 20 matches, at an average of under 17.

His record for his county was even more impressive: 1,550 wickets at 15.09, plus ten centuries, the highest being 226 not out against Leicestershire. He also made 210 against Warwickshire in 1896, adding 292 for the eighth wicket with Lord Hawke, the man who sacked him a year later. Peel went on, perhaps predictably, to become a publican. More surprisingly, he lived until he was 86.

Seven years ago, Peel's name was controversially left off a flag commemorating the 36 greatest Yorkshire cricketers. Craig White was included instead. Clearly Lord Hawke's disapproval over Peel's drunken exploits lingers at Headingley, but I hope I'm not disappointing too many of you by revealing that White won't be appearing on this list of Ashes Heroes. Nor will Lord Hawke.

Comments

[Johnmc]

Great story - and I will admit to never having heard of him before. I can only assume his last action on a cricket field was to help his county get ready for the long period when we all extracted the urine out of them (generally involving the 50 times they seemed to sack Geoff Boycott)

[Ophuph Hucksake]

Don't forget one of Peel's most impressive achievements - the only Test bowler to send down over 100 overs in an innings. This happened in his 2nd Test match, played at Melbourne against the Aussies in 1885.

His figures for the first innings were 102.1-56-78-3. Only 4-ball overs for that match though