Tom Hartley (far right) spent many hours working in his family's garden center
«I have a feeling that Tom's time for making hanging baskets is over,” says Bill Hartley with a proud laugh.
In November, Bill's son Tom worked in the family flower and plant business for a week; Tom usually works in production. On Sunday, Tom produced something even better: 7-62 in his debut Test to give England victory in Hyderabad.
Tom is the sixth generation of the family to work at Hartley's Nurseries, a horticulture business in Lydiate, village in Merseyside. It was founded in 1890.
Growing up, Tom was drawn to “producing bedding plants, hanging baskets and plants for sale at the nursery,” Bill recalls. “He helped with watering and everything that was needed.”
If one of the foundations of Tom’s childhood was the family business, then another was sports. In 1974, Bill won a gold medal at the European Championships in Rome in the 400-meter relay; he also won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games that year. His wife Anne-Louise, Tom's mother, competed in horse riding. Annabelle, Tom's older sister, competed in swimming at school and university.
“I wanted to try to create a platform for him where he could just move forward in the best way he could,” Bill reflects. “He played different sports, played rugby, played football.”
Hartley's figures are 7 -62 in the second innings is one of the best figures a spinner has got on debut. Photo: AFP/Noah Seelam
Working with plants, “Tom could see how to solve the problems you need every day: attention to detail, good habits,” Bill recalls. “If you want to grow a good package of bedding plants, everything has to be in the right sequence at the right time. And it's really no different than training for any sport.
“Our job is to solve problems, isn't it? Well, that's his job. Because you have problems every day when you don't work, something doesn't work, or something goes wrong, or something like that. You have to find a way.”
Yet for all his sporting genes and drive for activity (though Bill never pressured his son to follow him into athletics), Tom's start to cricket was slow.
Everton's Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines were Tom's first athletes. heroes. Tom only started playing cricket at the age of 10 after being invited to play at Merchant Taylors School in Crosby.
«He came home from class and said we'd been given a bat, a ball and some stumps — 'Can I get a daddy bat?' That's all.”
Tom was not a child prodigy. “He was a late bloomer, he was one of those kids who was pretty weak when he was maybe 13 or 14.”
“He learned his work ethic in business.”
More than his skills, Bill stood out against Tom's temperament. Indeed, despite all his athletic achievements, Bill is jealous of his son's poise.
After a disappointing first innings, Hartley stormed to seven wickets on debut in his second season. Photo: AP/Mahesh Kumar A
“I wish I could be more like him. He doesn't get upset. He handles pressure well.
“He's a good guy and he's just worked incredibly hard. And he always strives to improve. Work ethic is probably the most important thing he learned from studying the business and watching what happens here.
“Especially as a spinner, you don’t always have good days and things don’t go the way you want them to. But he would come back, analyze what he had done, and watch the film. This approach helped him a lot.”
New Barmy Army song? «I want to dance with Tom Hartley»
Tom's cricket progressed as he went through a rapid growth spurt, from 15 to 19, and became stronger. As cricket replaced football, Hartley rushed to his local club, Ormskirk, three miles from the family home.
“I couldn’t praise them enough,” says Bill. “They gave him responsibility at an early age. By the time he was 13 or 14 years old, he was playing second team cricket — essentially men's cricket. And they gave him opportunities a bit like what Ben Stokes did.”
At 18, Tom was offered a chance to go to university to study marketing, hoping to join the family business. Before starting his studies, Tom spent a gap year in Australia playing club cricket in Melbourne. When he returned, Tom said: «Dad, I'd like to try cricket.»
In 2019, shortly before turning 20, Tom signed a one-year contract with Lancashire. The following year he broke into the club's first-class and T20 teams, but continued to play for Ormskirk as long as he could; in 2022 he played five Premier League matches for Liverpool.
Tom has close friends at the club and continues to visit whenever he can. Hours after touring England with seven wickets, Ormskirk offered all involved a free drink to celebrate the occasion. Old clips of Hartley singing «I Wanna Dance with Tom Hartley» or Whitney Houston's «I Wanna Dance with Somebody» with his teammates are testament to the respect with which he is held here.
Well, that's all.
Tom Hartley is already singing his own song Barmy Army 😂 pic.twitter.com/3JnbQsg9mu
— England's Barmy Army 🏴 Football Football 🏴 Football Football (@TheBarmyArmy) January 29, 2024 “After two goals I knew he was going to have a better day… but had no idea how good he was.”
Bill didn't host club parties; he was exhausted by alarm bells at 4 am during the four days of the Hyderabad Test, subsisting on herbal tea.
“I was hopeless at work, doing nothing. Four days passed in a blur. I really walked around in a daze. You hit every ball with him, but you can’t do anything.”
For Bill, it’s a completely different stress than playing an elite sport himself.
“I used to be incredibly nervous. And then, when it shoots, you just forget about all this. Then when you run, especially around 400 meters, you give it your all. When you recover from a race, you get a kind of satisfaction from giving it your all. But when you watch someone else, it’s not like that, there’s no liberation.”
Tom Hartley's father, Bill, was a successful athlete. Photo: Getty Images/Tony Duffy
When Hartley bowled for the first time That day, when I was a Test cricketer, at first it looked like there would be no release either. His first goal was a six; he conceded 63 in nine overs.
“You just feel for him — but you can't do anything. And the only person who can change this is him. You just have to trust that he has the tools to get to the other side.»
Bill sent a message to his son after the punishment began. Despite the hot day, Bill believed that Tom would be supported by what was at the core of his entire cricket journey: his temperament.
“He's very strong, he carries himself very evenly; never gets too high, never gets too low. He is thoughtful and thinks a lot about things. I think that's why he was able to recover from what happened to him on the first day. He analyzed what he did and figured out how to use the pitch to greater effect by changing a few things in the second innings.” Bill noticed how Tom slowed down during the India chase.
“When I watched the first two balls, I saw that he had made changes to his run-up and the way the ball came out of play. I was sure he would have a much better day. But I had no idea he'd have a day like this.»
Now it's not just Tom who has to get used to his new situation; just like his father. “It doesn’t matter if you prepare your son for what happened, you can’t prepare parents either.”
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