Bobby Abel

Bobby Abel

Entr'acte cartoon: Bobby Abel, to W. G.:—"Look here, we players intend to be sufficiently paid, as well as the so-called gentlemen!"
Personal information
Full name	Robert Abel
Born	30 November 1857 (1857-11-30) (age 152) Rotherhithe, Surrey, England
Batting style	Right-hand batsman
Bowling style	Right-arm off-break
Relations	Bob Wilkinson (great-nephew), Tom Abel, William Abel, George Abel, Robert Abel (sons)
International information
National side	England
Test debut	July 16 1888 v Australia
Last Test	July 24 1902 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1881-1904	Surrey
Career statistics
Competition	Test	FC
Matches	13	627
Runs scored	744	33128
Batting average	37.20	35.46
100s/50s	2/2	74/145
Top score	132*	357*
Balls bowled	0	14408
Wickets	0	263
Bowling average	-	24.00
5 wickets in innings	0	3
10 wickets in match	0	0
Best bowling	-	6/15
Catches/stumpings	13/0	587/0
Source: Cricket Archive, October 5 2009

Robert Abel (November 30, 1857 – December 10, 1936), nicknamed "The Guv'nor", was a Surrey and England opening batsman who was one of the most prolific run-getters in the early years of the County Championship. He was the first England player to "carry his bat" – opening the batting and remaining not out at the end of an innings – through a Test innings, and the first player to score 2000 runs in consecutive seasons – which he did each season between 1895 and 1902.

Abel also carried his bat through an innings of 811, the highest total for which this feat has been achieved). His 357* in that innings remains a Surrey record, and was the highest score made at The Oval until Len Hutton scored 364 in 1938. Abel also played a record number of first-class matches in a season – 41 in 1902.

A physically small man - only five feet four (162 centimetres) and very slimly built, Abel also suffered in the later part of his career from major vision problems that could have handicapped him against the fastest bowling. However, his ability to produce eccentric, unortodox cross-batted strokes – particularly the pull around his legs – complemented with extreme determination and stamina, brought Abel success on the many difficult pitches of his time and made him highly popular with the public.

Cricket career

Abel first played for Surrey in 1881, but did not achieve much until 1883, from which point he became a high-class bat - scoring 1000 runs for the first time in 1886.^[1] In the summer of 1887, he was disappointing, but in 1888 Abel scored 1323 runs including nine scores over fifty in a year,^[1] when only three other Englishmen reached four figures.^[2] He was rewarded for this excellence with his first Test matches, scoring 70 at the Oval against Charles Turner's bowling. Abel scored 120 at Cape Town in March 1889 before England dismissed South Africa for 47 and 43, thus scoring more than the opposition managed in both of their innings.

For the next fourteen years, except for 1893 when he was disappointing and handicapped by injury, Abel was always one of the leading run-scorers in England. Despite missing out on Test selection in 1890, Abel returned to his best form in 1891 and played well in Australia the following winter, whilst his batting in the summer of 1894 was a major factor (along with the pace and break-back of Tom Richardson and William Lockwood) in Surrey regaining the County Championship in 1894.^{[citation needed]}

However, it was in 1895 that Abel began to stand out as an exceptional run-getter. In that year, he became only the fourth player ever to reach 2000 runs and hit his first double hundred against Essex at The Oval. Although after 1896 his problematic eyesight made Test selectors unwilling to choose him, Abel's accumulation of runs continued to increase: he was the only player to reach 2000 in 1897 and 1898, scored 2685 runs in 1899, 2592 in 1900 and 3309 – the highest aggregate at the time – in 1901.^[1]

Abel's batting on many "sticky wickets" in 1902 induced a recall from the national selectors, but it was clear that he was not the batsman he was ten years before when he failed in both Tests he played.^{[citation needed]} In 1903 he was injured early and struggled upon return to the extent that the Surrey selection committee dropped him early in July.

After this decline, even when relatively fit, Abel disappointed in 1904 and retired - to be replaced by Jack Hobbs, who surpassed all Abel's records. In his later life, Abel was completely blind and he died at the age of 79 in Stockwell, London.

Notes

External links

• Player Profile: Bobby Abel from Cricinfo
• Player Profile: Bobby Abel from CricketArchive