The date of 11 June 2024 has passed and the regular 'On This Day' writers keep discussing those who have made common records of scoring 100, taking 5 wickets and the like but no one paid attention to a record made exactly 100 years ago.

Who had the shortest Test career? The answer to this question may still be found somewhere but the answer to the question of who had the shortest first class cricket career is not found. Keith Walmsley's famous book Brief Candles: McMaster, Hyland and Other One-Match Wonders is there on such short careers. The record of the shortest first class cricket career was made 100 years ago and on its centenary everyone forgot it.

This record was made by Frederick James Hyland, a famous cricketer from Hampshire County, England, known as Fred. A career of just one match, which in reality was not even a day or an hour, let alone a single session – and for this amazing reason, among those with short careers, he is the only non-test cricketer on whom Keith Walmsley wrote an entire chapter in his book.

Fred was in a lot of discussions on many issues. His only first class career match was against Northamptonshire. The match was short because it was stopped due to rain after just two overs and there was no play after that. Fred fielded in those two overs but according to the details of these two overs recorded in different books, Fred did not even touch the ball. In this way, such a first class career ended in less than 10 minutes, in two overs, without touching the ball. All this happened on 11 June 1924, i.e. it has been 100 years.

According to new research, the first class cricket career of more than 9 thousand cricketers is of just one first class match – very few of these are remembered and Fred is one of them. Another interesting name on the issue of short career is that of Josiah Coulthurst – he was in the Lancashire team for a match in 1919, the toss took place but it started raining and he did not even get a chance to come to the ground. That is why there is a difference between him and Fred. Fred came to the ground and actually participated in the match. There are some more such interesting stories of those who appeared on the 'stage' of first class cricket only once and were never in the news again.

After all, a cricketer who played first class cricket must have done something to reach this position. Fred (born 16 December 1893) was the 7th child in his family – so he neither received much attention nor any special facilities in the labourer family. Fred played cricket in his leisure time but became a gardener for work. He got married to Ada Fluke in 1917 and coincidentally one of Ada's brothers was also a gardener. Together they opened a fruit and flower shop.

Fred now started playing club cricket. In 1923, his name shone in club cricket (for Ringwood Cricket Club in 1923 and 1924) and Hampshire County Cricket Club called him to play in a trial match at the beginning of the 1924 season. After playing well in this match, he was included in the team for the County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Northampton. At that time, the team was chosen by the captain, not by any selection committee and in the absence of their regular fast bowler, Fred was selected by Lionel Tennyson to play in the match as a fast bowler.

You have read the story after this above. Hampshire fielded and Kennedy and Newman bowled two overs. The score card is that Northamptonshire 1-0 and there was no further play. Fred never played first class cricket again after this. He was with the team in the next two matches but was not in the playing eleven. Since he knew both cricket and gardening – he soon became a groundsman and along with that he kept running a nursery and flower shop. It is also on record that he ran a pet shop in Northwich High Street. He died in Cheshire in 1964.

In this match, rain reduced the game to two overs of 6 balls on the first day and now it is written in a new way as a record that this is the shortest first class match in cricket history, according to the number of balls bowled. Similarly, new cricket historians write Fred's record as the shortest on-field career. The current situation is that Fred is the only cricketer whose first class cricket career is less than 50 balls – after him is D Cleaver of Central Districts in New Zealand, who played a match of just 50 balls against Northern Districts in Napier in 2010-11.