When his father died in 1880, Hirst lived with his sister Mary Elizabeth Woolhouse and her husband John Berry in Kirkheaton.

[note 1][2] After leaving school at 10 years of age, Hirst first worked for a hand-loom weaver in a local cottage, and then at a dyeing firm.

He took 98 wickets at an average of 15.98,[12] and his best figures came in a match against Lancashire, a feat appreciated by Yorkshire supporters as the fixture[note 2] was always highly competitive.

[12] He established himself as an opening bowler for Yorkshire, assuming the role from Ted Wainwright and developing a good partnership with Bobby Peel.

[19] Although primarily regarded as a bowler, and while Wisden later described his batting as being in "temporary decline" in 1895,[5] Hirst also scored 710 runs at an average of 19.18, with three fifties.

Hirst hit a century against Leicestershire and nine other scores over fifty; this improvement in his batting took him past 1,000 runs for the first time, and his average of 28.05 was substantially higher than he had achieved previously.

They considered a powerful bowling attack to be vital to the team's success, more so than a strong batting line-up, and expressed the opinion that Hirst should concentrate on one discipline rather than dividing his energy.

Previously, the ball occasionally swung through the air without his deliberate intention after he released it, but he now discovered a method to control the "swerve" in certain atmospheric conditions.

[7] Although both were invited, neither Hirst nor Rhodes toured Australia in the winter of 1901–02 with Archie MacLaren's team, as the Yorkshire committee wanted both players to be well rested before the new season.

The summer was very wet, resulting in many rain-affected pitches, known as sticky wickets, which favoured slower bowlers and made batting difficult.

[12] He took fewer wickets than the previous year, partly as he was often used for a few overs early in an innings by Yorkshire before giving way to slow bowlers Rhodes and Schofield Haigh, who topped the national first-class bowling averages for the season.

Fred Tate was one of the twelve and the selectors probably included him as they believed MacLaren could not possibly choose him in the final eleven over another player and so would be forced to field the side they wanted.

[40] The pitch was soft, which would have favoured the bowling of Tate, but Wisden reported that while this offered some justification for dropping Hirst, "it meant playing a bowler pure and simple in preference to a first-rate all-round man, and the result proved anything but happy.

This, coupled with other players' absences, was partly responsible for a poor start to the season by Yorkshire, and although the team recovered, it could achieve only third place in the County Championship.

[50] Wisden was less convinced, and the report on the tour said that, as a bowler, "Hirst, though by no means the failure he had been with Mr Stoddart's team six years before, fell far below his English form.

"[51] While commenting on his batting record, the Wisden report noted: "The Australian wickets [i.e. pitches] in fine weather are rather too fast to suit the pulling and hook strokes of which he is such a master in England.

He survived to score 60 not out and his partnership with Tom Hayward guided England to victory after wickets had fallen early chasing a target of 194.

[58] During the third Test, Hirst took three wickets and, with innings of 58 and 44,[7] was one of the few successful England batsmen in a poor performance which enabled Australia to win the match.

[7] Warner described Hirst as a very consistent batsman throughout the tour,[60] and noted that while he was a less effective bowler in Australian conditions than at home, he was often unlucky.

[12] Hirst remained a first-choice member of the Test team, playing all three matches against South Africa that summer in a series which England won 1–0, with the other two games drawn.

Although unsuccessful with the bat, achieving 46 runs in five innings with a top-score of 17,[23] in a low-scoring second Test, Hirst was one of the few batsmen to handle the googlies of Aubrey Faulkner.

[14] Hirst completed another double, scoring 1,598 runs at 38.97 and taking 174 wickets at 14.05,[11][12] but was not selected for any other representative games until the end of the season.

[11][12] In 1912 Yorkshire regained the County Championship;[89] Hirst's form that season was not as good as in previous years, but he batted well before poor weather and a knee injury interrupted his cricket.

[11][12] Although both Australia and South Africa toured England, Hirst did not play any Tests and, for the first time since 1904, was not selected for the Players side in any of their matches.

[11][91] His bowling was not as effective and he was no longer Yorkshire's main attacking bowler, as Alonzo Drake and Major Booth headed the averages.

[11][12][93] His batting remained effective and he produced some good performances when his team were in difficult circumstances, although his two centuries were against the weaker bowling attacks of Northamptonshire and Somerset.

[11] In June, he was selected in a match to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the current Lord's ground, playing for the Rest of England against the MCC side which had toured South Africa the previous winter.

[109] At Yorkshire Hirst worked with young players in the cricket nets at Headingley,[110] took charge of indoor trials during the winter,[111] and travelled with the team as coach on a tour to Jamaica in 1936.

[113] One of Hirst's most notable achievements as a coach was improving the bowling of George Macaulay to the point where he became a key member of the Yorkshire team.

[9][118] The main dangers to the batsmen were the risk of being bowled or hitting the ball with a defensive shot and being caught by specially-placed fielders on the leg side.