In contemporary accounts, Samuel Hind was always identified as ‘junior’ to distinguish him from his father, also Samuel, a professional cricketer who appeared for Nottinghamshire Colts but played no First-Class cricket.
The younger son, Samuel – there was an elder brother, Amos, who played for Derbyshire – was born on 14 December 1850 and played for the XXII Colts on three occasions. On the last of these, in 1877, he seemed to show great promise, making 82 - one of the highest innings ever recorded by a Nottinghamshire Colt. Later that same year he was chosen for the XXII Colts of England v MCC; his innings prompted Wisden to report, “Samuel Hind junior hit freely and hard, apparently caring not a snap of the fingers about Mr WG’s, or any other man’s bowling. When Hind was out for 31 the score stood at 37 only, 21 of his 31 runs having been hit from Mr Grace’s bowling”.
His First-Class debut came in June 1877 for Notts v Kent at Canterbury in which he scored 1 and 18; his county career did not, however, take hold and lasted only two seasons. Hind’s First-Class record reads six matches, 10 innings, 90 runs at 9.00 and a top score of 22; he bowled in three matches without taking a wicket for 51 runs.
A left-hand, fast round-arm bowler and right-hand bat, he had professional engagements with Nottingham Law Club, Worksop, Clongowes College in Co Kildare, Blackburn, Albion CC Bradford, Denton, Woburn Park and Kidderminster. He also appeared for the splendidly-named Casey & Robinson Itinerant Clown XI but no details of this side or his performances for them have been uncovered.
In 1884, Hind scored three centuries for Gibson & Son, a local Nottingham company team and the preceding year had taken eight wickets for nine runs for Casey’s Peripatetics (presumably the same Casey that combined with Robinson). He appeared four times against touring Australian sides – three for Longsight of Manchester (though one game was abandoned without a ball bowled), and once for Werneth and Oldham, in which he took 5-45 in the first innings, accounting for the test openers Bannerman and Murdoch for just nine runs between them.
Samuel Hind jnr was born in Calverton and lived there all his life; he died on 28 March 1923, aged 72 years.
June 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 156