Robert (Bobby) Abel (born November 30, 1857, Rotherhithe, Surrey, England; died December 10, 1936, Stockwell, London, England) was a Surrey and England opening batsman who was one of the most prolific run-getters in the early years of the County Championship. He also: Large sized flag of England/St Georges Cross/State flag of Gurnsey, 1936-1985 File links The following pages link to this file: The Ashes Arsenal F.C. Cambridgeshire Charlton Athletic F.C. City of London London Borough of Croydon Cheshire Chelsea F.C. Devon England Essex Exeter England... The English cricket team is a national cricket team representing England and Wales. ... Cricket batsman A batsman in the sport of cricket is a player whose speciality in the game is batting. ... In the sport of cricket there are two categories of bowler: pace bowler and spin bowler. ... Off spin is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner and refers to a right-handed spin bowler who uses his fingers to spin the ball from a right-handed batsmans off side towards the leg side (that is... Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Batting average is a statistic in both baseball and cricket measuring the performance of baseball hitters and cricket batsmen, respectively. ... This article is about the cricket term. ... Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket. ... This article is about the cricket term. ... An innings, or inning, is a segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably baseball and cricket – during which a side takes its turn to bat. ... This article is about the cricket term. ... In the sport of cricket, the term stump has three different meanings: part of the wicket, a manner of dismissing a batsman, and the end of the days play (stumps). Part of the wicket The stumps are three vertical posts supporting the bails to form a wicket at each... July 16 is the 197th day (198th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 168 days remaining. ... 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... Events January-April January 28 - The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, DC with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Rotherhithe is a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames in east London in the London Borough of Southwark, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank. ... This is about Surrey, England. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Stockwell is an inner city area in the South West of London in the London Borough of Lambeth. ... London — containing the City of London — is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England and a major world city. With over seven million inhabitants (Londoners) in Greater London area, it is amongst the most densely populated areas in Western Europe. ... Surrey County Cricket Club (SCCC) is an English domestic first-class cricket team based at The Oval in London. ... The English cricket team is a national cricket team representing England and Wales. ... Cricket batsman A batsman in the sport of cricket is a player whose speciality in the game is batting. ... In the UK, County cricket is the domestic form of the sport of cricket that is considered to be first-class cricket. ...

• was the first England player to "carry his bat" (open the batting and remain not out at the end of an innings) through a Test innings.
• was the first player to score 2000 runs in consecutive seasons (1895 to 1902).
• Carried his bat through an innings of 811 (http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/f/4/f4856.html) (the highest total for which this feat has been achieved)
• played a record number of first-class matches in a season (41 in 1902).

An exceedingly small man - only five feet four (162 centimetres) and very slimly built, Abel also suffered in the later part of his career from major vision problems that could handicap him against the fastest bowling. However, his ability to produce eccentric, cross-batted strokes, complemented with a remarkable determination and stamina, made Abel a wonderful batsman on the many difficult pitches of his time. He was also extremely effective at pulling the ball around his legs, a useful skill at a time when few fieldsmen were placed on the leg side, at least in dry weather. Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Abel first played for Surrey in 1881, but did not achieve much until 1883, from which point he became a high-class bat - scoring 1000 runs for the first time in 1886. In the exceptional summer of 1887, he was very disappointing, but on the dreadful pitches of 1888 Abel obtained a remarkable record - scoring 1323 runs including nine scores over fifty in a year when only three other Englishmen reached four figures. He was rewarded for this excellence with his first Test matches, and his 70 at the Oval against Charles Turner was most impressive. Charles Turner (Charles Thomas Biass Turner; born November 16, 1862, Bathurst, Australia; died January 1, 1944, Manly, New South Wales, Australia) was a bowler who is regarded as one of the finest ever produced by Australia. ...

For the next fourteen years, except for 1893 when he was exceedingly disappointing and handicapped by injury, Abel was always one of the leading run-scorers in England. Despite missing out on test selection in 1890, Abel returned to his best form in 1891 and played excellently in Australia the following winter, whilst his superb batting in the wet summer of 1894 was a major factor (along with the pace and break-back of Tom Richardson and William Lockwood) in Surrey regaining the County Championship in 1894. Tom Richardson (born August 11, 1870, Byfleet, Surrey; died July 2, 1912, Chambéry, France) was one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and certainly the most prolific in terms of wicket-taking feats, largely owing to his amazing stamina and appetite for work, which allowed him to... William Lockwood (William Henry Lockwood; born March 25, 1868, Old Radford, Nottinghamshire; died April 26, 1932, Old Radford, Nottinghamshire) was a fast bowler and the unpredictable, occasionally devastating counterpart to the amazingly hard-working Tom Richardson for Surrey in the early County Championship. ...

However, it was in 1895 that Abel began to stand out as a remarkable run-getter. In that year, he became only the fourth player ever to reach 2000 runs and hit his first double hundred against Essex at The Oval. Although after 1896 his problematic eyesight made Test selectors unwilling to choose him, Abel's accumulation of runs continued to increase: he was the only player to reach 2000 in 1897 and 1898, scored 2685 runs in 1899, 2592 in 1900 and a staggering 3309 (the highest aggregate at the time) in 1901. For the shape, see oval The Oval is a cricket ground in Kennington, London. ...

Abel's superb batting on many 'sticky wickets' in 1902 finally induced a recall from the national selectors, but it was clear that he was not the batsman he was ten years before when he failed in both Tests he played. His success for Surrey, though, at the age of forty-four made many wonder how much longer Abel could go on, but in 1903 he was injured early and was a such a disastrous failure when he returned that the Surrey selection committee dropped him early in July.

After this decline, it was no surprise that, even when relatively fit, Abel disappointed in 1904 and retired - to be replaced by Jack Hobbs, who surpassed all Abel's records. In his later life, Bobby Abel was completely blind and he died at the age of 79 in 1936. Sir Jack Berry Hobbs (born 16 December 1882 in Cambridge, England, died 21 December 1963 in Hove, Sussex) played cricket for Surrey and England. ... Blindness can be defined physiologically as the condition of lacking sight. ...

Teams

• England national team
• Surrey County Cricket Club

The English cricket team is a national cricket team representing England and Wales. ... Surrey County Cricket Club (SCCC) is an English domestic first-class cricket team based at The Oval in London. ...

Career highlights

Tests

Test debut: vs Australia, Lord's, 1888
Last Test: vs Australia, Manchester, 1902 The Australian cricket team is today regarded as the dominant team in world cricket. ... The Media Centre at Lords Cricket Ground Lords Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in St Johns Wood in London. ... 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... This article is about the city in England. ... Events January-April January 28 - The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, DC with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie. ...

• Abel's best Test score of 132 not out was made against Australia, Sydney, 1891-1892

This is about the city of Sydney in Australia. ... 1891 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

External links

Picture of Bobby Abel (http://usa.cricinfo.com/perl/picture.cgi/052787)
Test batting averages of Bobby Abel (http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/0/107/t_Batting_by_Season.html)
First-class batting averages of Bobby Abel (http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/0/107/f_Batting_by_Season.html)