OTD | Yorkshire’s great slow left-armer Hedley Verity died in a prisoner-of-war camp in Italy in 1943

Yorkshire and England cricketer Hedley Verity is regarded as one of the greatest slow left-arm bowlers in cricket history. Verity, who began his professional career in 1930, was forced to hang up his boots in 1939 following the outbreak of the Second World War. He died of wounds while a prisoner of war in Italy on 31 July 1943, around two months after his 38th birthday. 

Born in Headingley on 18 May 1905, Verity used to watch Yorkshire’s county cricket matches at Leeds from an early age. He got into the school cricket team and later sought a career in professional cricket. Verity made his first-class debut with Yorkshire on 21 May 1930 in a non-Championship match against Sussex.

In the 1931 and 1932 seasons, he achieved the rare feat of taking all 10 wickets in an innings. His bowling figures of 10/10 against Nottinghamshire in 1932 remain a record in first-class cricket for the fewest runs conceded while taking all 10 wickets. Verity took 1,956 wickets at an astonishing average of 14.90 and helped Yorkshire win the County Championship seven times in his ten seasons with the club. 

His remarkable performance in the domestic circuit earned him a place in the national team. He made his Test debut on 29 July 1931 against New Zealand at the Oval, where he took four wickets for 75 runs. He grabbed his maiden fifer against Australia in the 1932-33 series at Sydney. 

Verity emerged as one of the main forces in the English bowling unit. Before playing his last Test against the West Indies on 27 June 1939, the southpaw had bagged 144 wickets in 40 Tests at an average of 24.38, including five five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket hauls.

Following the outbreak of World War II, Verity joined the army. He was captured by the Germans in 1943 and later taken to Italy, where he reportedly died of his injuries and was buried. Verity was hit in the chest by shrapnel. 

Also read: Jim Laker took 19 wickets in a Test match against Australia in 1956