Frederick Percy Hardy (26 June 1880 – 9 March 1916) was a first-class cricketer who played for Somerset.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Frederick Percy Hardy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 June 1880 Blandford Forum, Dorset, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 9 March 1916 (aged 35) King's Cross railway station, London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right arm medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1902–1914 | Somerset | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 22 December 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career
editHardy was a left-handed batsman who sometimes opened the innings and a right-arm medium-pace bowler. He played for Surrey's colts team, but left to join Somerset. He made his debut in 1902 and in his second match took the slip catch that dismissed Victor Trumper for just five – Trumper was dismissed a second time for five by the same bowler, George Gill, later in the match.
Hardy played as a professional in a mainly amateur team and made fairly regular appearances for Somerset right through to 1914. In 1910, when the side lost 15 out of 18 County Championship matches and failed to secure a single point all season, he headed the Somerset batting figures with 700 runs, including his own highest score of 91 against the champions, Kent, at Taunton. His best bowling figures, six for 82, also came in that season, against Middlesex at Bath.
Death
editHardy's death is something of a mystery. He was, in the words of Wisden's 1917 edition, "found dead on the floor of a lavatory at King's Cross station (G.N.R.)... His throat was cut and a blood-stained knife was by his side."[1] Hardy was serving as a private with the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) at the time.[2] The historian David Foot wrote that the knife was Hardy's own and that the death was suicide brought on by distress at being sent back to the World War I battlefield.[3] Hardy, who left a widow, Maud Mary, was buried at St Mary's Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Green.[2]
References
edit- ^ "Other deaths in 1916". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. John Wisden & Co. December 2005. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
- ^ a b "Private Frederick Percy Hardy". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
- ^ Foot, David (30 October 1986). Sunshine, Sixes and Cider. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8890-8.
External links
edit- Percy Hardy at CricketArchive (subscription required)