Sam Hargreave

Who was Sam Hargreave?

Sam Hargreave was the most successful bowler for Warwickshire until the success of Foster and Field in winning the 1911 County Championship.

Although the presence of Rhodes and Blythe made higher representative honours always out of his reach, for a couple of years in the early 1900s Hargreave was regarded as the best left arm slow bowler in England apart from Rhodes. His accuracy was always exceptional and on helpful pitches he could spin the ball a great deal. Being faster than Rhodes or Blythe, Hargreave was very difficult to hit and his steadiness made him valuable on the generally very plumb wickets that characterised Edgbaston in fine weather during that era. Hargreave was no batsman, but he was a capable fieldsman at point.

Sam Hargreave played for Lancashire's second eleven in the middle 1890s, but having no opportunity with Briggs so dominant he left the country to qualify for Warwickshire. He first played for Warwickshire in two matches at the tail end of 1899, and did nothing apart from a surprise 44 against Lockwood at his most destructive, which was to remain his second-highest score in first-class cricket.