Tom Hayward
Thomas Walter Hayward (1871–1939) was a cricketer who played for Surrey and England between the 1890s and the outbreak of World War I. He was primarily an opening batsman, noted especially for the quality of his off-drive. Neville Cardus wrote that he "was amongst the most precisely technical and most prolific batsmen of any time in the annals of cricket." He was only the second batsman to reach the landmark of 100 first-class centuries, following WG Grace. In the 1906 English season he scored 3,518 runs, a record aggregate since surpassed only by Denis Compton and Bill Edrich in 1947.
Career
Born 29 March 1871 in Cambridge Hayward came from a cricketing family: his grandfather, father and uncle had all played first-class cricket. Hayward himself made his debut for Surrey in 1893 and quickly established himself as an important part of the side, being capped in 1894 and receiving the accolade of Wisden Cricketer of the Year the following season.
From 1895 through to his final season in 1914, Hayward never once failed to reach 1,000 first-class runs, passing 2,000 on ten occasions and twice (in 1904 and 1906) scoring over 3,000; his 1906 aggregate of 3,518 (at 66.37 with 13 hundreds) established a record which stood until surpassed by Denis Compton and Bill Edrich in 1947. In 1898 he made his highest first-class score of 315 against Lancashire. In 1899 he and Bobby Abel put on 448 for Surrey's fourth wicket against Yorkshire. This remains the highest partnership for any wicket for Surrey. In 1900 he achieved the very rare feat of scoring 1,000 runs before the end of May.
