Profile of David Hemp by Dr.A.K.Hignell - Hon Statistician and Historian to Glamorgan CCC

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Player:

DL Hemp

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The elegant strokeplay of left-handed batsman David Hemp for Glamorgan, Warwickshire and Bermuda drew favourable comparison with David Gower.

 

Hemp made his Glamorgan debut in 1991 after a prolific record with Millfield School, the Welsh Schools sides, and the junior Glamorgan teams. He was a member of Glamorgan`s team that won the Sunday League in 1993, and there was confirmation of his potential in 1994/95 when he went on the England A tour to India and Bangladesh. This followed a fine season in 1994 when he amassed 1452 runs. Despite a career best 157 against Gloucestershire at Abergavenny, 1995 proved to be a quiet season for the Bermuda-born batsman, and then early in the 1996 season he sustained a nasty rib injury in a match at Cambridge, and spent several weeks on the sidelines.

 

In 1997 Hemp joined Warwickshire, and he subsequently established himself in their top order, playing for the Midlands county until returning to Glamorgan for the 2002 season. After a brief spell as Glamorgan`s opener, David reverted back to a berth in the middle order, and hit a century against Northants, as he and Matthew Maynard added a record 252 for the 2nd wicket. He also played a crucial innings of 37 in Glamorgan`s thrilling victory at Canterbury that secured the Norwich Union League title.

 

David enjoyed a good summer in both Championship and one-day cricket in 2004, and he passed 1000 runs again in first-class cricket. He played many important innings, especially in the Twenty20 Cup, whilst his calmly assured innings of 83* lead Glamorgan to a record-breaking victory at Chelmsford after Essex had scored 642 in their first innings, yet ended up on the losing side.

 

David was a deserved winner of the Player`s Player of the Year Award in 2004 as Glamorgan won the totesport title, reached finals day in the Twenty20 competition and won promotion back into Division One of the County Championship, with their stunning victory at Chelmsford, thanks to David`s batting, helping to clinch promotion.

 

He was in prolific form with the bat again in 2005, ending the season as both the county`s leading run-scorer, and their Player of the Year. In September 2006, David took over the Glamorgan captaincy after Robert Croft`s decision to stand down.

 

In 2005 David began qualifying to play for Bermuda, and he duly made his debut for the island in their matches leading up to the 2007 World Cup. He celebrated his appearance in the world's premier one-day competition with a fine half-century against India. In 2008 he was awarded a Benefit Year by Glamorgan, and he left the county's playing staff at the end of the season.

 

(September 2008)

 

(Article: Copyright © 2008 Dr.A.K.Hignell)