International recognition came late to Eddie Hemmings - he was 33 when he made his debut - but he lingered on the fringes of the England side for the best part of a decade, making his final appearance a few weeks before his 41st birthday. Small and stout, Hemmings was a unlikely looking professional cricketer but he made up for that with wily offspin and durable lower-order batting. He was a slightly surprising choice for the 1982-83 Ashes tour, and his 95 as nightwatchman at Sydney was coupled with six wickets in the game.

He returned on the infamous tour of Pakistan in 1987-88, and thereafter his England career seemed over until John Emburey's three-year ban for touring South Africa brought Hemmings back into the mix. His Test career ended in Australia in 1990-91, but he carried on in first-class cricket until he was 46. In the 1989 NatWest Trophy final between Nottinghamshire and Essex, Hemmings needed to hit the last ball of the match, bowled by John Lever, for four - and did just that.
Cricinfo staff