Graeme Hick, who was hailed as the next big thing for England in the 90s, lived up to his reputation by smashing 405 in a County game for Worcestershire.
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For 93 years, one record in England’s County circuit was unbroken. In 1895, Archie MacLaren of Australia had smashed 424 in one match against Somerset. Many legends tried but no one could come close. Of course, Sir Don Bradman would register the highest first-class score when he hit 452. It was expected. Hanif Mohammad of Pakistan came agonizingly close when he was dismissed for 44. But, none of those greats had achieved this in England. However, in 1988, one individual managed to match the feat set by MacLaren in the 19th century. Graeme Hicj would go on to be the future for England, and this was the knock that showed his potential.
In the County game between Worcestershire and Somerset, Graeme Hick’s exploits stole the show. If one considers the next best score was 56, then Graeme Hick’s knock becomes even more legendary. He smashed 39 fours and 11 sixes as Hick took the attack to the Somerset attack. That Somerset 11 had future journalist greats in Peter Roebuck, Vic Marks and an umpire in Neil Mallender. Worcestershire notched up 628/8 declared and Somerset was bowled out for 222 and 192. Had the Worcester captain not declared the innings, Graeme Hick could very well have notched up the highest first-class score in England.
Hick’s knock could not have gotten going. In the first ball he faced, he clipped a flick to square leg but the ball landed inches ahead of the fielder. The discipline Hick showed reflected in his knock. Worcestershire were struggling and every other batsmen could not get going. Hick single-handedly tore the attack to shreds and Somerset had no answers.
The Zimbabwe-born Hick broke several records. Hick scored 3,684 runs all cricket in that season; 2,713 of them in all first-class matches, a record since fixtures were cut in 1969, and 2,443 in the Championship. His first-class total of 2,615 at an average 79.24 for the county was only 39 runs short of Harold Gibbons’ Worcestershire record of 2,654 set in 1934. He equaled Glenn Turner’s Worcestershire record by scoring ten tons and his century against Glamorgan was the 34th first-class hundred of a young career.
By the time he arrived in international cricket in 1991, he had already hit 57 first-class centuries. But, his England career was punctuated by great moments plus lot of troughs. In ODIs, he averaged 37 with 3846 runs while in 65 Tests, he managed an average of just 31. His rivalry with the Aussies led to his downfall, managing to score just 669 runs in 20 innings at an average of 35. His only notable performances were in the 1992 World Cup, especially in the semi-final against South Africa in Sydney.
However, Hick’s record of 405 would not stand for long. Six years later, in the glorious summer of 1994, Brian Lara would rewrite the history books by smashing 501 for Warwickshire against Durham. His knock included 62 fours and 10 sixes as they ended on 810/4 declared. In that year, Lara had scored 375 against England in Antigua, breaking the record set by Sir Gary Sobers’ 365 against Pakistan in Jamaica almost 40 years ago. But, on that glorious summer of 1988, Hick had given plenty of cheers to England and Worcestershire supporters.
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