 Walter Reginald " Wally " Hammond ( 19 June 1903 – 1 July 1965 ) was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951 . Beginning as a professional , he later became an amateur and was appointed captain of England . Primarily a middle @-@ order batsman , Wisden Cricketers ' Almanack described him in his obituary as one of the four best batsmen in the history of cricket . He was considered to be the best English batsman of the 1930s by commentators and those with whom he played ; they also said that he was one of the best slip fielders ever . Hammond was an effective fast @-@ medium pace bowler and contemporaries believed that if he had been less reluctant to bowl , he could have achieved even more with the ball than he did . 
