Full name Peter James Francis Hobbs Born Nickname Hobbsy, Arff Batting style Right-hand lower-order Bowling style Right-arm fast Height 5 ft 10 in Clubs Ewhurst, Cranleigh, Woking, Esher School XI 1991-1992 OC Career 1993-2004
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
HS
Runs
Ave
50
100
Ct
St
OCCC
33
27
4
58
335
14.57
2
0
14
0
Bowling averages
Overs
Mdns
Runs
Wkts
Ave
Best
5WI
SR
Econ
OCCC
196.3
25
760
36
21.11
4-10
0
32.7
3.9
Notes
Major Tours: Australia 2003, India 2007, South Africa 2009 Minor Tours: Florida 2001, Hong Kong 2005
Profile
Pete Hobbs promised so much when he first appeared. He immediately earmarked himself as OCCC material when he collided with - and knocked over - a sightscreen while playing for the School on Speech Day, and later that season on debut bowled as fast a spell as has been seen in recent years. He headed south for Southampton University, and while there his body was replaced with that of a geriatric. What we got back bore little resemblance to the fit young man of three years earlier. As a batsman, Hobbs is best against slow or gentle medium-pace, and he is a powerful hitter of the ball. Bring on anything quick and a swish followed by a jaunty walk back to the pavilion is guaranteed. As a bowler he can still be genuinely fast - as he showed in Australia - but the occasions he turns up at a ground without a tweak or a hangover are rare, and he has mumbled about becoming a spinner. In the field, his lithe appearance hints at him being a dashing cover-point or a nonchalantly athletic slip. The reality is that he chugs around like a decrepit country parson, and hiding him usually presents the captain with his first dilemma of the day. Off the field, Hobbsy comes to life. Tales of his exploits when younger are legend, although a couple of swift ales can sink him, and he is usually destroyed in the early skirmished of any tour or cricket week. Despite all this, he is a wonderful man to have around, if only because he makes the genuinely older players feel better about themselves. It was a great loss to the club (if not local females) when Hobbs was deported to Australia in 2004.