A new biography of Middlesex and England batsman Patsy Hendren, which reveals his struggles with English cricket’s establishment, is reviewed by Eric Brown…
BY ERIC BROWN
He became one of the most familiar faces among between-the-wars sportsmen, yet his name has slipped below those of many rivals from the same era when it comes to reminiscence.
Patsy Hendren of Middlesex and England might be described as the David Beckham of his age, but those reflecting on these glorious cricketing years will almost inevitably recall first such luminaries as Wally Hammond, Jack Hobbs, Herbert Sutcliffe, Les Ames, Harold Larwood, Frank Woolley, Percy Chapman and others.
This is a shame because Hendren deserves to be regarded and revered as an equal to those immortals, as a new biography demonstrates.
Jeremy Lonsdale’s ‘Patsy Hendren: A Different Kind of English Hero’ reveals that Hendren’s popularity with the public was at least on a par with any of his England team colleagues, although lower in cricket’s corridors of power. Hendren’s participation once drew 20,000 spectators for a charity match in London’s Regent’s Park.
Hendren played in an era when there were no television stars or pop music artists to worship, so sports personalities were adopted as heroes. A returning England touring party, including Middlesex batter Hendren, was greeted by an estimated 40,000 crowd at Victoria Station.
The comparison with Beckham concerns earning potential. Like Beckham, Hendren understood the power of advertising and eagerly embraced it at a time when newspapers were expanding sports coverage.
His face adorned newspaper advertisements for three different types of cigarettes. The blurb on one included the claim that he smoked the brand “continuously.” Hendren advertised a tonic, a muscle developing machine, dry cleaning services, grey flannel trousers and many other items. Oddly, his full address often appeared at the bottom of newspaper adverts.
Hendren founded a highly successful cricket school in Acton, which attracted all types from schoolboys to international players such as Woolley, Andy Ducat and George Geary. He regularly headed coaching sessions there. Additional facilities for bowls clubs increased the school’s popularity.
Hendren wrote three books, appeared in an instructional cricket film shown at cinemas, regularly featured on radio being interviewed on cricket, introducing music programmes or giving coaching hints.
National newspapers tussled to employ the outspoken Hendren as a columnist, and he regularly featured in the Express titles. He also authored a column distributed to local newspapers throughout the country.
All this extracurricular activity boosted his cricket income to a point where it was estimated he was the highest-earning cricketer in the country after Jack Hobbs. He would have been a wealthy natural in the current social media age.
However, he always tackled charity events with enthusiasm despite an already hectic schedule. At close of play, he would often suddenly appear in evening dress and dash off to a charity dinner where he was speaking.
Any charity approaching him for support was usually rewarded with a signed cricket bat to raffle, a promise to speak at their next dinner or to organise a cricket match on their behalf. Hendren was fiercely proud of his Irish catholic heritage and would go out of his way to raise funds for local churches, whether in Acton or Australia.
He even campaigned on behalf of a Conservative election candidate in Brentford, where he appeared 400 times as a pacy, tricky winger for the local football club during winters when not involved in cricket tours.
🏏 Here’s @Lonsdale_Jeremy on his superb biography of Patsy Hendren, out now!
— Pitch Publishing 📚 Sports Books (@PitchPublishing) June 17, 2026
📚 A Different Kind of English Hero is the first full biography of one of the most entertaining inter-war sporting personalities.
⚽️ A prolific batsman for Middlesex, he played 51 Tests for England… pic.twitter.com/FjiedzMxu8
All this constant activity leaves the reader wondering how on earth Patsy Hendren managed to squeeze cricket commitments for Middlesex and England into his hectic schedule.
Yet he did this so successfully that he managed 833 first-class matches between 1907 and 1938, with 51 of these being Test appearances for England. His total of 57,611 runs was bettered only by Jack Hobbs and Frank Woolley, with Hobbs the only player exceeding his 170 centuries. His 759 catches took him to ninth on the all-time list.
Such breathtaking statistics should have brought national recognition, yet Hendren failed to be honoured for his cricket, football and vast charity works. He faced a constant battle for acceptance in a cricket world run by amateur snobs who treated professionals like him as second-class citizens.
These were days when professionals changed in different facilities on the same ground to amateur toffs who entered the playing field through different gates.
Roly-poly, amiable Hendren also faced constant criticism of his batting style. Devastating hooking and pulling deflated many bowlers but raised eyebrows in amateur circles, who were wedded to a straight bat principle. He should have had many more caps.
Talking of caps. Hendren pioneered a protective garment in a move that also upset cricket’s management. After being hit on the head by a pace bowler, he asked wife Minnie if she could come up with protection.
Minnie gathered several caps together, removed the peaks, and sewed them onto a single cap. The result may have looked odd, but it was effective. Needless to say, Hendren’s multi-peaked cap drew criticism from almost every area of a game not yet ready to embrace protective helmets.
What a shame Hendren didn’t patent the idea. Minnie often endured months apart from her husband when he was selected for tours to Australia, South Africa and the West Indies, but received from him a gift of a new car for missing one such trip.
Hendren’s story is a fascinating tale of how multiple activities could be shoehorned into a whirlwind schedule when sport and its stars were worshipped.
Hendren earned his fame through startling cricket achievements listed in a superb statistical section. These include: Passing 200 on 22 occasions and 300 once. Only Hammond and Bradman have scored more double hundreds. Hendren’s total of 1,765 runs in the West Indian season of 1929/30 remains a record. The only player older than Hendren (44 years 167 days) to record a triple hundred was W. G. Grace. Hendren scored 2,000 runs or more in a season on 15 occasions.
He established a reputation as the cheeky chappie of English cricket. On one occasion, he pleaded with a young bowler not to bowl short and fast against him as he was an old bloke past his best with fading eyesight. Of course, the bowler peppered him with short stuff, which was promptly hooked and pulled for boundaries.
When the bowler’s captain sought an explanation and was told of Henden’s plea, he said to the bowler: “That little man is one of the finest batsmen in the world against short bowling. Please pitch the ball up.”
Hendren was known as a fleet-footed outfielder with safe hands, but on one occasion, his Middlesex colleagues could not understand how he cut off a ball beating him to the boundary and returned it to the wicketkeeper inches above the stumps. On examining the “ball”, they found it was an apple Hendren had plucked from his pocket while the match ball rolled over the boundary.
Hendren was indeed a different kind of hero.
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