A campaign has been launched for a blue plaque to be placed on a house in Willesden to recognise the achievements of an England cricketer.
Steve Neal, the author of a new biography, Over and Out: Albert Trott: The Man Who Cleared the Lord’s Pavilion, has applied to English Heritage for a blue plaque on the cricketer’s former home in Balmoral Road.
Albert Trott, who played for Middlesex, Australia and England, lived in the house from 1897 until 1911.
He was a popular and charistmatic man and as member of local clubs was well-known on the streets of Willesden.
To date he is the only man known to have hit a ball over Lord’s pavilion when he received a delivery from fellow Australian Monty Noble in July 1899,
The same yearhe became the first player to take 200 wickets and score 1000 runs in an English first-class season, which he also achieved in the following year.
In 1907, he was the first player to take a double hat trick in a single innings in a first-class match. This has only been achieved by one other player since.
The biographer said: “There is no monument to Trott’s achievement at Lord’s cricket ground and there is no portrait of him in the pavilion.
It’s time that Albert Trott’s achievements on the cricket field were given a permanent public recognition.”
However Albert played as a poorly-paid professional and was sacked by Middlesex. He lost the house in 1911, and the same year his wife returned to Australia with their two daughters.
He took up umpiring but spent the next three years suffering ill-health and poverty before taking his own life, aged 41, in July 1914, a man “who was broke and broken”, Mr Neal said.
Albert is buried in Willesden Cemetery.
Mr Neal believes the manner of Albert’s death might be one of the reasons why his achievements have been overlooked.
He said: ““A blue plaque on his old house would be appropriate because of his long connection to Willesden.”
A spokesman for Lord’s Cricket Ground added: “There are no portraits of so many cricketers from that period. Albert Trott is celebrated at Lords on an ongoing basis with his bat. Hitting the ball over the pavillion is one of the most iconic things to ever happen here.
A spokeswoman for English Heritage said background research would be carried out before it goes to the Blue Plaques Panel.
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