Test bowler Tom Emmett. Hawke was formally appointed club captain for the 1883 season, though he was still at Cambridge, and held the post until 1910. He remains the most successful county captain ever, Yorkshire winning the County Championship a record eight times during his tenure. As a captain, Hawke was noted for taking a strong, and some would say paternalistic, interest in the welfare of his professional players. Certain aspects of this policy caused resentment but he was on the whole respected for it. Even so, he was strict on discipline and expelled the England bowler Bobby Peel from first-class cricket after he went out to play in a drunken state. During his playing career, Hawke became an influential figure in cricket administration. He was elected Yorkshire club president in 1898, while still captaining the team, and held the post until his death. He had a missionary-like zeal to develop cricket overseas and undertook nine tours as a player between 1887–88 and 1911–12, leading teams to Australia, India (twice), North America (twice), South Africa (twice), the West Indies and Argentina. All five of Hawke's Test appearances were made in South Africa. He captained the England team four times and was always on the winning side. After he retired from playing, Hawke became a major figure at MCC as well as at Yorkshire. He was appointed President of MCC for 1914 and retained the post, which is normally an annual appointment, through the First World War. He was appointed Honorary Treasurer of MCC from 1932 to 1937. As an administrator, he held considerable influence but came under some criticism. He was accused of inactivity at the time of the Bodyline controversy. Most famously, he was disparaged for his oft-quoted and oft-misquoted statement: "Pray God, no professional shall ever captain England". Hawke's biographer noted that "his blunders on numerous public forums were to blight his declining years". Hawke married in 1916 but he and his wife had no children. After 1924, when the lease on Wighill Park expired, the couple lived in North Berwick. His wife died in 1936 and Hawke himself died in hospital following a collapse at his home. He was succeeded as Baron Hawke by his younger brother. Personal and family life Martin Bladen Hawke was born on 16 August 1860 at Willingham Rectory, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. He was the sixth child, and eldest surviving son, of Edward Henry