withdraw on the opening day because of appendicitis. Hardinge scored 25 and 5 and was not picked again, although he did play twice in war-time matches for an England side against the Dominions in 1918. He was refused leave of absence to tour Australia in 1928–29 by his employer and had been unable to tour with England whilst he was playing professional football. As of 2017 his runs total puts him 46th on the all-time list of runs scored in first-class cricket. He is Kent's second leading run scorer after his contemporary Frank Woolley and second, also to Woolley, in the County's all time appearances list with 606, including a run of 101 consecutive County Championship appearances between 1924 and 1928. His 1928 run aggregate is the third highest in Kent's history and his highest score of 263 not out remains the ninth highest in the County's first-class history. In his early career Hardinge was considered a more promising bowler than batsman. He bowled slow left arm spinners well enough to take 371 career wickets in a Kent side which featured great spin bowlers such as Colin Blythe and Tich Freeman as well as Woolley and Bill Fairservice. He took six wickets for nine runs on a turning pitch at the Nevill Ground in Tunbridge Wells in 1929 and had a career best return of 7/64 against the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's in 1932. He was described by Wisden as one of the "finest outfields in the world". As well as playing for Kent, Hardinge played in six Gentlemen v Players matches, scoring 127 at The Oval in 1921 for the Players. He made first-class appearances for a number of other teams, including the Royal Air Force, and made his final first-class appearance for Kent in 1933 aged 47. Football career As a footballer, Hardinge played as an inside forward during the cricket off-season. He played for amateur clubs Eltham, Tonbridge and Maidstone United in Kent before signing for Newcastle United in 1905. After two and a half years there, mainly as a reserve, he moved to Sheffield United in 1907 for a fee of £350. There he flourished, playing 152 games in six seasons and scoring 46 goals, becoming one of the trickiest inside forwards in the game. Whilst at Bramall Lane he won one England cap in 1910 against Scotland at Hampden Park in the 1909–10 British