A right-handed batsman, Sutcliffe was noted for his concentration and determination, qualities which made him invaluable to his teams in adverse batting conditions; and he is remembered as one of the game's finest "bad wicket batsmen".

Herbert Sutcliffe was born in Summerbridge, Nidderdale, West Riding of Yorkshire on 24 November 1894 at his parents' home, a cottage in Gabblegate (now called East View).

In 1911, his prowess at cricket earned him an offer of clerical employment in a local textile mill, where he learnt bookkeeping, a skill that served him well when he launched his own business career.

[16] The Yorkshire cricket historian Alfred Pullin wrote: "it was recognised long before the season ended that Sutcliffe had established his claim to be considered one of England's first-wicket batsmen".

[36] Heavy rain fell overnight and next day, as the sun shone, the pitch soon developed into a "sticky wicket" on which it was generally assumed that England would be bowled out cheaply and so lose both the match and the series.

Clem Hill reckoned that the state of the pitch was such that "odds of ten to one against an England success would be generous" and Hugh Trumble reportedly told Jack Hobbs that 70 would be a good total.

[47] Wisden recorded that "then it was that the wonderful skill of these two (Hobbs and Sutcliffe) showed itself so prominently for, with the ball turning and getting up almost straight, they put on 105 for the first wicket... the two batsmen rendered England splendid service by an historic stand and made victory probable".

[63] In the winter of 1932–33, Sutcliffe was a key member of the England team that toured Australia and New Zealand under the captaincy of Douglas Jardine, taking part in all five Tests of the infamous "bodyline" series.

Wisden in its tour summary stated unequivocally that "Jardine, while nothing like the batsman in Australia of four years earlier, captained the side superbly" but he "had one great difficulty which he never successfully overcame".

The difficulty was to find a suitable partner for Sutcliffe as opening batsman and Wisden continues by remarking on several experiments tried by Jardine throughout the tour but ends by saying that "no real successor to Hobbs was discovered".

England won by 338 runs but the match was overshadowed by the injuries sustained by Woodfull and Australian wicket-keeper Bert Oldfield and the subsequent heated telegrams and diplomatic row.

As shown by the adjacent graph, he is the only English batsman who has averaged more than 60 runs per innings in a completed career and his statistical record compares favourably with anyone except Don Bradman.

[79] Yorkshire completed another hat-trick of County Championships in 1939 and, although he was now 44 and certainly a "veteran", Sutcliffe enjoyed a remarkable sequence of four consecutive centuries in May and June which showed any doubters that he was still one of the best opening batsmen around.

The League team included Eddie Paynter, Manny Martindale and Learie Constantine, who scored a brilliant century in what Sutcliffe described as "a gem of an innings".

[87] In 1949, Sutcliffe was accorded honorary membership of MCC and joined what was then a select company of English professionals including George Hirst, Wilfred Rhodes and Jack Hobbs.

Similar in design to the Hobbs Gates at the Oval, they carry the inscription:[91] In honour of a great Yorkshire and England cricketerSutcliffe retained his interest in cricket for the rest of his life.

Immaculate in flannels, his hair burnished by the sun, the cynosure of all the women's and girls' eyes, a cricketer of manners, symbol of the new urban social consciousness, none the less he could be fitted into the Yorkshire scheme and body and atmosphere, after all.In his Wisden obituary, the editor wrote that "...neither Pudsey nor any other nursery could have claimed Herbert Sutcliffe as a typical product.

I got him out cheaply a few times, but he scored a few hundreds against my bowling, so I reckon we ended up just about square.Ian Peebles wrote of him:[99] Where he was unexcelled was in the courage, determination and concentration he brought to the job in hand.

As you bowled opening overs to the later Sutcliffe you noticed the entire development of every defensive art; the depressingly straight bat, the astute use of pads (as with Hobbs), the sharp detection of which out-swinger could be left; above all, the consistently safe playing down of a rising or turning ball on leg stump, or thighs.A.

A. Thomson wrote of him:[104] The fact is that for the whole inter-war period he was England's and Yorkshire's anchor-man, a personality as dependable as fallible human nature will allow, This does not mean that he was slow or stodgy...

His manner was suave; his hair immaculate; his voice quiet; but he revealed his truest self, after his 161 in the 1926 Oval Test, surely the most truly Sutcliffian innings of his life, when he said: 'Yes, Mr. Warner, I love a dogfight...' Although Sutcliffe as a boy was thought to have potential as a bowler, he specialised in batting to the extent that he only bowled 993 deliveries, with 31 maiden overs, in his entire first-class career.

A flavour of the Holmes-Sutcliffe partnership was captured by The Cricketer in a profile written in 1921:[107] There is usually a hum of expectancy when Holmes and Sutcliffe appear, their faces wreathed in smiles, and chatting happily together.

Holmes, proudly wearing his Yorkshire cap, walks with quick, short steps, shoulders erect and head in the air, doing his best to look as tall as (John) Tunnicliffe.

He strolls casually along by the side of Percy, keeping his weather eye open for the wicket-keeper's end and the honour of taking the first ball.Holmes and Sutcliffe shared 74 century stands in all first-class matches including 69 for Yorkshire.

[114] Sutcliffe readily acknowledged his debt to his "influential guide" by naming his eldest son after him and writing, in a booklet published in 1927, that he doubted if Hobbs had an equal and that, as a batsman, "he stands alone (and is) the best I have ever seen".

[116] Ian Peebles wrote that Sutcliffe's association with Hobbs "is judged, by results and all-round efficiency in all conditions", the greatest of all first-wicket partnerships and "will probably never be excelled".

[120] Hutton said that his shyness and the fact that he was twenty years younger than Sutcliffe made it difficult for him to approach his partner when he needed help, which he more readily got from Bill Bowes and Hedley Verity.

[125] But Sutcliffe was quoted as saying that he had "never played finer fast bowling" than that of the West Indians Learie Constantine, George Francis, Herman Griffith and Manny Martindale.

One of the toughest competitors he faced was the Australian leg spinner Clarrie Grimmett, "a tiny gnome of a man", who bowled with a roundarm action and made his Test debut at the age of 34, taking 11 wickets in his first match.

He suffered personal tragedy in April 1974 when his wife Emmie, then aged 74, died as result of severe burns following a fire at the family home in Ilkley.