James Hildreth has been a permanent fixture near the top of the Somerset batting order for almost 20 years, but sadly he has played his last innings for the Cidermen.
Even though he wasn’t born in the county the fans have loved Hildy from the very first time he pulled on a Somerset shirt back in 2002 since when he has provided us with so many entertaining innings, but sadly there will be no more after he pulled up with a hamstring injury which has brought a premature end to his retirement season.
Over the years Hildy has played so many brilliant innings in all three formats of cricket- he is the last remaining player on the Somerset staff who was playing in 2003 when T20 was introduced.
Hildy’s talents were spotted early on and he played up through the Somerset age groups before making his first team debut in 2003- his first championship appearance was against Derbyshire during which Ian Blackwell blasted his 247!
The following year saw Hildy announce himself on the big stage when he hit his maiden championship hundred against a Durham attack that included and Rawlpindi Express – Shoaib Akhtar whose run up started at the boundary edge- which he followed up with 71 in the second innings.
Later that season he hit 210 off 255 balls with 29 fours and two sixes for England Under 19s in the second Test Match that was played at Taunton- playing in the same match was Alastair Cook who mustered 23 in the same innings, as well as Steve Davies who made 71 and shared a partnership of 177 with him.
In June 2005 Hildy was at the crease with Carl Gazzard as Somerset beat Australia for only the second time ever in front of a packed house at Taunton and then in July hit the winning runs to see the Cidermen to victory over Lancashire in the final of the T20 Cup at the Oval.
He repeated this feat 14 years later at Lord’s to help Somerset lift the Royal London One Day Cup by beating Hampshire
Hildy passed 1000 first class runs in a season for the first time in 2007 and two years later became the youngest ever triple centurion when he hit an unbeaten 303 against Warwickshire at Taunton.
However when you think about James Hildreth you don’t remember facts and figures and neither does he.
Hildy has always given the distinct impression that he has loved every minute of being a first class cricketer- it wasn’t just about accumulating runs it was always about playing game the way that he wanted to with flair and style. How lucky we have been to have watched him go about his business and entertain us for so many seasons.
Now the name of JC Hildreth will no longer appear on the Somerset scorecard and he will go down in history as the highest run scorer ever for the county across all formats, the third highest run scorer in first class cricket and the fourth highest century maker for the county.
Hildy thanks for the hours of pleasure we have derived from watching you batting in the way that only you can- we are going to miss you and the refreshing way you played your cricket!
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