St. Louis /seɪnt ˈluːɪs/ (French: Saint-Louis or St-Louis, [sɛ̃ lwi] ( listen)) is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States, and is the second-largest city in the state. With a population of 318,069 in July 2011, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) population of 2,812,896 is the 18th-largest in the country. The Greater St. Louis combined statistical area's (CSA) population of 2,878,255 is the 16th-largest CSA in the country, the fourth-largest in the Midwest. The Greater St. Louis area is the largest metropolitan area in Missouri.

The city of St. Louis was founded in 1764 by Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, and after the Louisiana Purchase, it became a major port on the Mississippi River. Its population expanded after the American Civil War, and it became the fourth-largest city in the United States in the late 19th century. It seceded from St. Louis County in March 1877, allowing it to become an independent city and limiting its political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the 1904 World's Fair and the 1904 Olympic Games. The city's population peaked in 1950, then began a long decline that reversed only at the beginning of the 21st century.

Greater St. Louis is the area of Missouri and Illinois that surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis. Depending on the counties included in the area, it can refer to the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan statistical area (MSA) or the St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL combined statistical area (CSA). Included in the MSA is the city of St. Louis; the Southern Illinois counties of Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair, which are collectively known as the Metro East; the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis County (separate from and not inclusive of the city of St. Louis), Warren Washington, and part of Crawford County. The CSA includes all of the MSA listed above and the Farmington, MO micropolitan statistical area, which includes Washington County, Missouri and Saint Francois County, Missouri. The CSA was the 16th largest in the United States in 2010, with a population of 2,878,255, while the MSA was the 18th largest in the country with a population of 2,812,896.

Louis Hall (1 November 1852 – 19 November 1915) was an English first-class cricketer.

Born in Batley, Yorkshire, England, Hall made his debut in 1873, and came of age with an innings of 78 for a local Eighteen against the Australian XI in 1878. Thereafter, until 1892, he was a mainstay of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

With George Ulyett, he formed a successful opening partnership for Yorkshire. They had eleven opening stands of over 100 and, against Sussex in 1885, they added 128 and 108 in the two innings. Against Middlesex in 1884, Hall scored 96 and 135. His finest season was 1887, when he scored 1,544 at an average of 41, 1,240 of them in first-class matches.

Hall carried his bat seventeen times in first-class cricket, a feat matched only by W. G. Grace and Cecil Wood.^{[citation needed]} He played for the Players against Gentlemen five times, and captained Yorkshire a few times in the absence of the regular captain Lord Hawke.

Defensive by nature, Hall was not an attractive batsman, with his primary shot being the front foot defence. He was awarded a benefit match against Surrey in 1890, but he deferred it so that the injured Billy Bates could have his that year. Hall's benefit match against the same team at Sheffield in 1891, which earned him 570 pounds. After his active career which ended in 1894, he served as a coach in Uppingham School.