An elegant, stylish batsman who promised much when he announced his arrival in the England team with 106 against the West Indies at The Oval in 1973, Frank Hayes was ultimately unable to live up to the expectations raised by his undoubted talent. He played eight more Tests, but apart from his debut century, aggregated only 138 runs from his other 16 innings. Though unafraid of pace, he was unfortunate to play all his nine Tests against a powerful West Indies side, and remained at county level a player of obvious class. He came to prominence on debut with Lancashire, making 94 and 99 in his first two matches, and impressed in the 1973 Test trial, leading to his debut at the Oval. He toured the West Indies in 1973-74, and was recalled to the Test side to face the West Indies in 1976, but his England career suffered from selection politics. A strong back-foot player, he also drove well, and could score rapidly. In 1977 he hit the hapless Malcolm Nash (who had already conceded six sixes to Garry Sobers) for 6-4-6-6-6-6 in a single over. He captained Lancashire from 1978 to 1980, and scored more than 15,000 runs for the club.
Dave Livermore