Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 – 22 January 1978) was an English cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the interwar period. His first-class debut was delayed by the First World War until 1919 and his career was effectively terminated in August 1939 when he was called up for military service in the imminent Second World War. He was the first cricketer to score 16 centuries in Test match cricket. He is most famous for being the partner of Jack Hobbs, and their batting partnership is often regarded as one the greatest ever.
A right-handed batsman, Sutcliffe was noted for his concentration and determination, qualities which made him invaluable to his teams in adverse batting conditions; and he is remembered as one of the game's finest "bad wicket batsmen". His fame rests mainly in the great opening partnership he formed with Jack Hobbs for England between 1924 and 1930. He also formed notable opening partnerships at Yorkshire with Percy Holmes and, in his last few seasons, the young Len Hutton. During Sutcliffe's career, Yorkshire won the County Championship 12 times. Sutcliffe played in 54 Test matches for England and on three occasions he toured Australia, where he enjoyed outstanding success. His last tour in 1932–33 included the controversial "bodyline" series, in which Sutcliffe is perceived to have been one of Douglas Jardine's main supporters. Although close friends have stated that Sutcliffe did not approve of bodyline, he always acted out of fierce loyalty to his team captain and was committed to his team's cause. In statistical terms, Sutcliffe was one of the most successful Test batsmen ever; his completed career batting average was 60.73 which as of January 2026 is the highest by any English batsman and the sixth-highest worldwide (of Test batsmen with 20 completed innings) behind only Don Bradman, Kamindu Mendis (currently active), Adam Voges, Graeme Pollock and George Headley.
Sutcliffe became a successful businessman early in his first-class career by using the money he earned as a player to establish a sportswear shop in Leeds. When his playing career ended, he served on the club committee at Yorkshire for 21 years and for three years was an England Test selector. Among the honours accorded him have been the commemoration of a special set of gates in his name at Headingley, home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, and his induction into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Herbert Sutcliffe was born in Summerbridge, Nidderdale, West Riding of Yorkshire on 24 November 1894 at his parents' home, a cottage in Gabblegate (now called East View). His parents were Willie and Jane Sutcliffe. Herbert was the second of three sons, his brothers being Arthur and Bob. Willie Sutcliffe, who worked at a sawmill in nearby Dacre Banks, was a keen club cricketer.
When Herbert was still a baby the family moved to Pudsey, where Willie's father was the landlord of the King's Arms. Willie worked in the pub and played cricket for the well-known Pudsey St Lawrence Cricket Club. He also played rugby football, and an injury sustained during a rugby match led to his premature death in 1898.
Jane Sutcliffe moved the family back to Nidderdale, where they lived in Darley, the boys enrolling at Darley School, and she remarried. Jane developed consumption, and she died in January 1904 at the age of 37, when Herbert was nine. Jane's second husband, a bootmaker named Tom Waller, was not allowed custody of the brothers, who moved back to Pudsey to be cared for by the Sutcliffe family. Willie Sutcliffe had three sisters, Hannah, Caroline and Harriet, who ran a bakery. They became the legal guardians of Arthur, Herbert and Bob, respectively.
As the three aunts were devoted members of the local Congregational Church, the three boys received religious instruction there and Herbert became a lifelong committed Christian. He was a Sunday School teacher as a young man and first came to notice as a cricketer when he played for a church team. The boys lived in the family house which contained the bakery and slept in a loft above the bakehouse itself.
Herbert left school in 1908 when he was 13, and was apprenticed to a boot and shoe company as a "clicker" who fastened boot soles to uppers. In 1911, his prowess at cricket earned him an offer of clerical employment in a local textile mill, where he learned bookkeeping, a skill that served him well when he launched his own business career.
Sutcliffe became seriously interested in cricket at the age of eight, soon after he returned to Pudsey during his mother's final illness. He formed an ambition to follow his father and two uncles and play for Pudsey St Lawrence. His first club was a Wesleyan church team in the neighbouring village of Stanningley, where he was first seen as a bowler rather than a batsman. In one match in 1907, he took all 10 wickets in an innings.
In 1908, now aged 13, he began playing for Pudsey St Lawrence's second team. In the following year Sutcliffe made his first-team debut. Two of his team-mates were Major Booth and Henry Hutton, father of Len Hutton.
In 1911, now aged 16, Sutcliffe switched his allegiance to the rival Pudsey Britannia club where, he is quoted as saying, "my batting improved by leaps and bounds". This move came about because of the offer of clerical employment at the textile mill, which was owned by Ernest Walker who was also the Britannia club captain. Sutcliffe later said that Walker allowed him more time for cricket practice than he could get from his bootmaking job.
The following season, Sutcliffe's progress was noted by Yorkshire County Cricket Club and he was invited to take part in the county team practice sessions at Headingley. He was welcomed by the great George Herbert Hirst, who gave him much encouragement and advice. Soon afterwards, he was invited to play for the Yorkshire 2nd XI team.
Sutcliffe was coached at Headingley by Hirst and the club's 2nd XI coach, Steve Doughty, who placed great emphasis on the importance of pad play (the use of the pads to intercept the ball and prevent it hitting the wicket when this would not risk being out leg before wicket). Although Doughty's approach was criticised by Sutcliffe's colleagues at Pudsey Britannia, Sutcliffe himself had no regrets about the time he spent mastering the technique and later explained that swing bowling had been so well developed by bowlers in every county team that it was impossible for any batsman to keep his wicket by relying on his bat alone. The long-term benefit he derived was a very strong defence that he later used to great effect on treacherous pitches.
By 1914, Sutcliffe had become the most accomplished player in the Bradford League in which Pudsey Britannia played. He was playing for both Yorkshire 2nd XI and Pudsey Britannia at this time. In August, just as the First World War was beginning, he appeared for the 2nd XI at Beverley against an East Riding XI and opened the batting for the first time as a Yorkshire player. He made a half-century in the second innings, and the Cricket Argus commented that "he was confident and stylish in... his best performance for the second eleven". The Argus went on to say that Sutcliffe, with youth on his side, "looks every inch a cricketer (with) a variety of good strokes". In the Bradford League, Sutcliffe scored a then-record 727 runs in the season, which was beaten in 1916 by his future England opening partner Jack Hobbs.
Military service and demobilisation
Sutcliffe was called up in 1915 and served first with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, stationed at York, and then with the Sherwood Foresters. He was later commissioned into the Green Howards, now part of the Yorkshire Regiment, as a Second Lieutenant, but he did not see active service and was not posted to France until after the Armistice was signed.
Sutcliffe played cricket during the war for the Officer Cadet Battalion in Scotland, captaining his team in matches against Glasgow University and other Scottish teams. He still managed to play in the Bradford League on occasion, but he said that he sometimes did so under an assumed name after taking unofficial leave.