{{short description|English cricketer}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Schofield Haigh | image = Schofield Haigh c1905.jpg | country = England | fullname = Schofield Haigh | birth_date = {{Birth date|1871|3|19|df=yes}} | birth_place = Berry Brow, Yorkshire, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1921|2|27|1871|3|19|df=yes}} | death_place = Huddersfield, England | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right arm fast-medium | international = true | testdebutdate = 14 February | testdebutyear = 1899 | testdebutagainst = South Africa | testcap = 113 | lasttestdate = 31 July | lasttestyear = 1912 | lasttestagainst = Australia | club1 = Yorkshire | year1 = 1895–1913 | columns = 2 | column1 = Test | matches1 = 11 | runs1 = 113 | bat avg1 = 7.53 | 100s/50s1 = 0/0 | top score1 = 25 | deliveries1 = 1,294 | wickets1 = 24 | bowl avg1 = 25.91 | fivefor1 = 1 | tenfor1 = 0 | best bowling1 = 6/11 | catches/stumpings1 = 8/– | column2 = First-class | matches2 = 561 | runs2 = 11,713 | bat avg2 = 18.65 | 100s/50s2 = 4/47 | top score2 = 159 | deliveries2 = 78,817 | wickets2 = 2,012 | bowl avg2 = 15.94 | fivefor2 = 135 | tenfor2 = 30 | best bowling2 = 9/25 | catches/stumpings2 = 299/– | date = 2 October | year = 2009 | source = http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/13992.html Cricinfo }} '''Schofield Haigh''' (19 March 1871 – 27 February 1921) was a Yorkshire and England cricketer.<ref name="Cric">{{cite web |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/13992.html |title=Schofield Haigh |publisher=Espncricinfo.com |access-date=3 July 2011}}</ref> He played for nineteen seasons for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, sporadically for England from 1898–99 to 1912, and was a ''Wisden Cricketer of the Year'' in 1901.
==Early life and beginnings with Yorkshire== Born in Berry Brow, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, Haigh began his career under the coaching of Louis Hall in Aberdeen and Perth.<ref name="County44">{{cite book|last=Pope|first=Mick |title=Yorkshire County Cricket Club: 100 Greats|year=2001|publisher=Tempus|isbn=9780752421797|page=44}}</ref> He also played club cricket for Keighley and Armitage Bridge, who also produced Jack Beaumont for Surrey and later Crowther Charlesworth for Warwickshire.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hodgson |first=Derek |title=The Official History of Yorkshire County Cricket Club|year=1989|publisher=Crowood |location=Marlborough |isbn=9781852232740 |page=65}}</ref>
Haigh debuted for Yorkshire in 1895 and remained with the Tykes until 1913.<ref name="YB">{{cite book|title=The Yorkshire County Cricket Club: 2011 Yearbook|last=Warner|first=David|year=2011 |edition=113th|publisher=Great Northern Books|location=Ilkley, Yorkshire|isbn=978-1-905080-85-4|page=369 }}</ref> He started with Yorkshire as a fast bowler with a long run-up for the era.<ref>{{Cite book |title=John Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack|publisher=John Wisden & Co. |year=1897 |editor-last=Pardon |editor-first=Sydney H. |editor-link=Sydney Pardon|edition=34th |location=London |pages=8-9 |chapter=Yorkshire Matches}}</ref> He played a few times for Yorkshire in 1895 but took fewer than ten wickets.<ref>{{Cite book |title=John Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack |publisher=John Wisden & Co. |year=1896 |editor-last=Pardon |editor-first=Sydney H. |edition=33rd |location=London |pages=68-69 |chapter=Yorkshire Matches}}</ref> However, when Yorkshire's regular bowlers Peel, Hirst and Wainwright were struggling in the very dry weather of the early 1896 season, Haigh was introduced to the team with great success. He took 7 for 25 in each innings against Durham,<ref group="note">Durham was then a "second-class" county and would not become first-class until 1992.</ref> and was immediately given his county cap and elevated permanently to the first eleven.<ref>{{cite book|last=Holmes|first=Robert Stratton |title=History of Yorkshire County Cricket 1833–1903|year=1904|publisher=A. Constable|page=74}}</ref> Possessing a strong break-back and a slower ball very difficult to detect because of lack of change of action,<ref>{{cite news |date=4 July 1896 |title=Cricket: Yorkshire v Derbyshire – Storer Scores Another Century; Splendid Bowling by Haigh |work=The Leeds Mercury |location=Leeds, Yorkshire|page=8}}</ref> Haigh became viewed as the hard-wicket bowler Yorkshire sought for many seasons.<ref name="Matches18986566">{{cite book|editor-last=Pardon|editor-first=Sydney H.|title=John Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack|year=1898|publisher=John Wisden & Co.|location=London|pages=65-66|chapter=Yorkshire Matches}}</ref> Despite not playing the last four games due to illness,<ref>{{cite news |title=The First-Class Averages |work=The Morning Post|date=8 September 1896 |location=London |page=3}}</ref> Haigh took 84 wickets for just over 15 runs each, including 8 for 78 on a good wicket against the Australians.
==Deadliest sticky wicket bowler== However, the following season the strain on his slight frame of bowling fast began to tell on Haigh, and though his 91 wickets at 18.75 placed him in the top twenty of the national averages, he was already noticed to be less formidable than Yorkshire's other bowlers on firm pitches, but quite unplayable after rain – as in the home games with Surrey and Derbyshire.<ref name="Matches18986566"/> Although he produced a skilful performance against Middlesex at Lord's on a hard pitch the following year, Haigh did comparatively little else of note except on sticky wickets. On such a sticky wicket his return of 14 for 43 beat Hampshire in one day's cricket.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hampshire v Yorkshire, County Ground, Southampton on 26th, 27th May 1898 |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/4/4971.html |website=CricketArchive |access-date=28 March 2024 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Haigh did nonetheless play representative cricket for the first time for the Players at Lord's in celebration of W. G. Grace's fiftieth birthday; however, his selection was widely criticised<ref>{{cite book|last=Kynaston|first=David |title=WG's Birthday Party|year=1992|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=9780192829429|pages=65, 67}}</ref> and he ultimately achieved little. Nevertheless, Haigh soon became recognised as the deadliest right-handed bowler in the country on sticky wickets,<ref>{{cite book|last=Swanton|first=Ernest William|author-link=E. W. Swanton|title=History Of Cricket |year=1926 |publisher=George Allen and Unwin Ltd. |location=London |page=208}}</ref> and he was highly successful under his county captain Lord Hawke on the matting pitches in South Africa in 1898–99, helping Albert Trott to dismiss South Africa for 35 with 6 for 11.<ref>{{Cite book |title=John Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack |publisher=John Wisden & Co. |year=1899 |editor-last=Pardon |editor-first=Sydney H. |edition=36th |location=London |pages=477-478 |chapter=Lord Hawke's Team in South Africa}}</ref>
Modifying his style to eliminate the sudden plunge and long run-up, Haigh took 163 wickets in 1900 and helped Wilfred Rhodes to give Yorkshire the first unbeaten season in the official County Championship.
Haigh's batting also developed. Having never previously played an innings of 40, he would help George Hirst put on 192 for the ninth wicket on a difficult pitch against Surrey in 1898,<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Pardon |editor-first=Sydney H.|title=John Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack|edition=36th|year=1899|publisher=John Wisden & Co.|location=London|page=10|chapter=Yorkshire Matches}}</ref> and against Worcestershire in 1900 he played an innings critical to maintaining Yorkshire's undefeated record in the County Championship. In 1901, Haigh fell off with the ball in part due to an injured knee that ended his season prematurely,<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Pardon|editor-first=Sydney H. |title=John Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack|year=1902|publisher=John Wisden & Co.|location=London |page=4 |edition=39th |chapter=Yorkshire Matches}}</ref> but averaged 26 with the bat. He scored 96 in a sensational loss to Somerset, and then his maiden century and highest career score before lunch against Nottinghamshire in another big stand with Hirst. In 1902 Haigh bounced back with the ball to such a degree that his 158 wickets were taken in just 799 overs – a strike rate rivalled since 1895 only by Colin Blythe in 1912 and Harold Larwood in 1931.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Webber |editor-first=Roy |title=The Playfair Book of Cricket Records |date=1951 |publisher=Playfair Books Limited |location=London |page=174}}</ref> He also remained useful with the bat, again helping Yorkshire ward off defeat, this time against nearest rival Sussex. Haigh was controversially omitted from all the Test matches – being left out at the last minute at Sheffield and then England selectors were severely criticised for playing Fred Tate instead of him at Old Trafford. 1903 was a moderate season, but in 1904 Haigh returned to form with the ball and advanced in batting so much that he scored two centuries in consecutive innings and totalled over 1,000 runs, doing the "double" for the only time in his career.
==County stalwart== Called to the Test side with a sticky wicket expected in 1905, Haigh had a surprising off-day and was not picked again until 1909. Nevertheless, he came close to heading the national bowling averages for five successive seasons – being only shaded out by Albert Hallam in 1907,<ref group="note">South African tourist Reggie Schwarz took 100 wickets at a lower average than either Hallam or Haigh in 1907.</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Frindall |title=The Wisden Book of Cricket Records|year=1998|pages=305, 307}}</ref> in which season he took 13 for 40 against Warwickshire. He did not maintain his 1904 form with the bat and indeed did not score fifty in county cricket between 1907 and 1909.
After a poor season in 1910, Haigh returned to form in 1911 and 1912, when his 96 wickets for 11.41 was decisive in Yorkshire's County Championship win.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 September 1912 |title=Yorkshire as Champions – Batting and Bowling Averages of a Successful Season – The Fartown Gate Receipts |work=Weekly Examiner |location=Huddersfield, Yorkshire |pages=16}}</ref> However, another unsuccessful Test appearance and his age – forty-one – made Haigh decide in November 1912 to become coach at Winchester, with that school reserving the post for him until after the 1913 season.<ref>{{cite news|title=Post for Yorkshire Cricketer at Winchester |work=Southern Daily Echo|date=7 November 1912|page=3}}</ref> Despite missing some games due to a motor accident,<ref>{{cite book|last=Callaghan |first=John|title=Yorkshire's Pride: 150 Years of County Cricket|year=1984|publisher=Pelham|location=London |isbn=9780720715057|page=52}}</ref> Haigh did retain his place for Yorkshire primarily as a batsman with a long series of useful though never large innings, whilst his bowling lapsed into decline. ==Coach and untimely death== After 1913 Haigh was coach at Winchester School, where his work was praised from his first season as coach<ref>{{cite news|title=Mr. Wilson and Haigh at Winchester|work=The Times|date=28 July 1914|page=36}}</ref> and was responsible for the emergence of Douglas Jardine.
After he retired from first-class cricket, Haigh umpired several first-class matches at the Scarborough Festival, and played a little for Keighley in the Bradford League and Huddersfield in the District League.<ref>{{cite news |title=Schofield Haigh: Death of Armitage Bridge Bowler – Exceptional Feats |work=Weekly Examiner|date=5 March 1921|location=Huddersfield |page=11}}</ref>
Haigh died aged 49 in Taylor Hill, Huddersfield, in early 1921 after a stroke.
==Player profile== After shifting away from the faster style of his first two seasons in county cricket, Haigh bowled right-hand medium pace, but could vary it with slower or faster deliveries, and when the pitch helped him he made the ball spin back from the off. The usefulness of Haigh's break-back saw over 74 per cent of his wickets taken without assistance from fieldsmen<ref>{{cite book|edition=51st|editor-last=Pardon|editor-first=Sydney H.|title=John Wisden's Cricketer's Almanack|year=1914|publisher=John Wisden & Co. |location=London |page=173 |chapter=Schofield Haigh in First-Class Cricket}}</ref> – the highest of any bowler with over 500 wickets.
However, because he was of slight build,<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Southerton|editor-first=Sydney James |title=[John Wisden's Cricketers Almanack|year=1934|publisher=John Wisden & Co. Ltd.|location=London|page=324|edition=71st|chapter=Notes by the Editor}}</ref> Haigh was not able to undertake arduous spells of bowling, and his output of overs was always low for a frontline bowler. Moreover, after his first few seasons Haigh lacked the pace to be threatening against top batsmen on a good pitch. He was never considered for a tour of Australia, and his record in Test cricket in England was poor compared to his exploits in the county game.
Haigh has the lowest average of any bowler taking 1,000 wickets since 1895 except Hedley Verity.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Frindall|editor-first=Bill |title=The Wisden Book of Cricket Records |date=1998 |publisher=Headline |location=London |isbn=0747222037 |pages=313-316}}</ref> He was also a determined but underrated batsman, who scored a hundred before lunch in 1901, and a keen fieldsman.
==Notes== {{reflist|group="note"}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Schofield Haigh}} * [http://content.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/13992.html Cricinfo page on Schofield Haigh]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haigh, Schofield}} Category:1871 births Category:1921 deaths Category:English cricket umpires Category:England Test cricketers Category:English cricketers Category:English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year Category:Yorkshire cricketers Category:Cricketers from Huddersfield Category:Players cricketers Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:Lord Hawke's XI cricketers Category:C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers Category:North v South cricketers Category:Lord Londesborough's XI cricketers