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- Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs (16 December 1882 – 21 December 1963) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Born into poverty in Cambridge, Hobbs displayed little distinction as a cricketer until relatively late in life. After some limited early success, he began to aspire to a career in professional cricket, and a sudden improvement in 1901 made this more likely. Following the death of his father, the whole family depended on Hobbs but he was supported by Tom Hayward, a professional cricketer who played for Surrey. Hayward arranged for Hobbs to have a trial at Surrey, and after he was successful, Hobbs spent two years qualifying to play County Cricket. Hobbs was immediately successful when he made his debut for Surrey, but his batting form went into decline in the rest of his first season. However, he established himself in the following seasons as one of the best and most promising professional batsmen in England. He was chosen to tour Australia with an England team in 1907–08, and retained his place in the team when England next played Test matches in 1909. While successful, it was not until Hobbs toured South Africa in 1909–10, where he established his dominance over the feared South African googly bowlers, that he established himself fully at Test level. By the time of his next series, in Australia in 1911–12, he was regarded by critics as the best batsman in the world and scored three centuries in the series. He maintained his position as the world's leading batsman until war broke out in 1914. Hobbs established a very effective opening partnership with Wilfred Rhodes at Test level, and another with Hayward for Surrey. By 1914, Hobbs was batting in a very aggressive, attractive manner that he would never recapture again when his career resumed after the war. (en)
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- Sir John Berry "Jack" Hobbs (16 December 1882 – 21 December 1963) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Born into poverty in Cambridge, Hobbs displayed little distinction as a cricketer until relatively late in life. After some limited early success, he began to aspire to a career in professional cricket, and a sudden improvement in 1901 made this more likely. Following the death of his father, the whole family depended on Hobbs but he was supported by Tom Hayward, a professional cricketer who played for Surrey. Hayward arranged for Hobbs to have a trial at Surrey, and after he was successful, Hobbs spent two years qualifying to play County Cricket. (en)
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