The
Unofficial Website
John (Jack) Hampshire
Cricketer & Umpire
I remember the name of Jack Hampshire very
well from my school days, but when it came to finding out anything about him, even my old friend Google couldn't scrape up more than a passing reference. Even Rotherham Library which is
my trusty standby when Google fails barely provided me with the bones, let alone the meat on them. Any road this is what I have found to date.
The following information has been received from an old Rotherhamite, Darrell who was at school with Jack, or Johnny as he was known in an earlier incarnation.
"His father was the local bobby at East Herringthorpe, when it was first built. We moved there in 1946. Jack (senior) had been a Yorkshire Colt, and Johnny and I went to Badsley Moor Lane Junior School and then to High Greave when it opened. John and I both passed 11+ and he opted for Oakwood Tech, I for the Grammar. He went on to be selected for Yorkshire and MCC and did a stint of coaching in Tasmania. We last met in Aden when the MCC, on their way home from Australia, played a Joint Services XI in 1963. God knows when John became Jack, but I believe he joined the Sheffield police when his cricket playing career ended, and of course, he is now a test umpire."
I have had a ferret around and this is the information that I have come up with. John (Jack) Hampshire made his debut for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1961 when he played a couple of innings. He became a regular player, was deputy captain and became captain in 1979 but resigned the post at the end of the 1980 season. Due to the worries about his new responsibilities and the wars then being conducted at Yorkshire County Cricket Club (I'm not going into those here) Jack's batting averages declined significantly. Jack ceased to play cricket for Yorkshire in 1981. Some statistics about Jack's career.
J. Hampshire Batting Statistics
| Completed Innings | 635 |
| Runs Scored | 21,979 |
| Batting Average | 34.6 |
The author John Callaghan states that "...(Jack Hampshire) the Thurnscoe batsman gathered his runs in a robust manner that added welcome acceleration in the middle of many an
innings."
Unfortunately for Jack he played cricket for Yorkshire at a time when there were many outstanding players, 'Fiery' Freddie Truman, Brian Close, Ray Illingworth, and not forgetting Geoff Boycott though many would like to.
Since I have found his name upon a list of test umpires I guess that is what he's doing these days.