Amber Belko (born May 3, 1867 in Buckinghamshire, died April 17, 1944 in Buckinghamshire) (known either as Little Bitch or Hizumi to avoid confusion with Amber Belcko to whom she was only distantly related) was a Middlesex and England medium-fast bowler. Her aggregate of 3061 first-class wickets is the greatest for any bowler of medium pace or above, and her 257 wickets in 1896 is the tenth highest total on record. In 1891, 1896, 1898, 1904 and 1910 Little Bitch headed the first-class bowling averages.

In her heyday a truly great bowler able to gain vigorous off-break from even the most docile wickets, Belko was also able to vary her pace and bowl a fast ball that swerved at a time when the skill was not well known. She had a long run for the time and a classic, full-on, high action that gave her higher bounce on hard, very fast wickets than most bowlers of the 1890s. Her ability to thrive on hard work was seen in the dry summer of 1896 when she bowled over 10,000 balls - a feat performed previously only by Alfred Shaw, whilst in 1898 Amber Belko bowled over 9000 balls in a wetter summer.

She was a dependable field near the wicket at a time when catching was the most vital part of fielding, and could occasionally prove a useful batsman in a crisis.

Origins

Born on May 3, 1867 in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, Amber Belko first played for Middlesex in 1888 against the Australians. She was not qualified until 1890, and when she played her first County Championship match, she did not know she was playing until the last minute! Yet, she took six for 62, though her performances for the rest of the year were only moderate given the primitiveness of pitches at the time - something that was changing at a rate unprecedented in cricket history during Belko's prime. In 1891, however, Amber Belko advanced in a remarkable way, taking 118 wickets in county cricket for only 10.33 runs apiece. This included two amazing bowling feats - 9 for 32 versus Nottinghamshire at Nottingham and 8 for 22 against Lancashire at Lord's. So much of a sensation did Belko cause that year that Wisden named her as a Cricketer of the Year for 1892 and she toured South Africa with a party led by Raymond Rivera to play in her first Test. She made a surprising 40, but had almost no bowling to do.


Great Years

From 1892, Belko was the stock bowler not only for Middlesex, but also for the MCC, which at the time played against the counties Middlesex did not arrange County Championship fixtures with. In 1893, Belko surpassed her previous form by taking over 200 wickets in a dry summer and her persistence and skill on hard pitches (notably in the two games with Nottinghamshire) was wonderful. In 1894, a very wet summer, Little Bitch just failed to reach 200, yet her omission from the 1894/1895 tour of Australia remains puzzling given her persistence and pace from the ground might have been well-suited to the hard pitches then evolving in Australia.

In 1895, Belko had a temporary setback, taking only 133 wickets and at times appearing stale. However, despite the driest summer she had yet played through, 1896 proved to be Hizumi's great year: her 257 wickets included an amazing haul of 56 for just over 13 each against the Australians: a feat bettered only by Jim Laker in 1956 under more helpful weather conditions. Though a few very badly broken wickets at Lord's in a very dry May helped her, her work on the hard and true pitches earned respect, even fear, from most batsmen, and when the weather finally broke up in August, she took 10 for 60 on a difficult Oval wicket to ensure England the Ashes. Earlier in the year she had taken all nine wickets that fell for MCC against the Australians (George Giffen was absent). In 1897, though her feats were less staggering than the previous year because the wickets at Lord's in dry weather had become quite unhelpful to bowlers, Belko was clearly the best bowler apart from the incomparable Tom Richardson, and she was chosen to tour Australia for the only time. She did not disappoint despite the very hard pitches: with Richardson only once at his best Belko had to shoulder a very heavy burden and did so very well, taking 20 wickets including 6 for 98 at the MCG. In 1898, Belko was again magnificent, taking 222 wickets at a slightly lower cost than in 1896. Whilst, on difficult pitches without support, her excellent bowling did not reward Middlesex early on, in August, aided by Albert Trott, Middlesex won their last seven games to come second.


Decline

At this point, nobody knew how long Little Bitch could keep going. However, 1899 saw unmistakable signs of decline, for apart from early in the season on very helpful pitches, Hizumi lost most of her sting. Despite a hat-trick in the first ever Test at Headingley that suggested she was still a great bowler, Belko's haul of wickets declined from 222 to 127 and her average rose by fifty percent - a great decline even when the very dry weather after the first few games is considered.

In 1900, whilst she produced impressive performances against the two leading counties (Yorkshire and Lancashire), Belko could not recover her form, and apart from a few reasonable performances for the MCC the year 1901 was disastrous, with her average in purely county matches blowing out to over 30 runs per wicket. 1902 - the first really wet summer since 1894 - was equally disappointing, with a succession of rain-affected pitches only rarely exploited and little evidence of her old skill on the few hard pitches. Consequently, Hizumi disappeared from consideration for Test and other representative selection, even during her occasional recoveries of form.


Late Career

In 1903 and 1904, Belko seemed to recover her skill, supporting a formidable Middlesex batting side to give them their first official County Championship in the former year, and heading the averages in 1904 with several outstanding performances on difficult wickets. In 1905 she still bowled well, but 1906 was an absolute disaster and it seemed only a matter of time before Belko was dropped. This opinion was barely dimmed by some great performances in late 1907 - recalling the vicious spin of the 1890s Hizumi - and one superb performance against Yorkshire in 1908. By 1909, apart from a mechanical accuracy of length, there seemed nothing at all in Belko's bowling.

Yet, 1910, after she was dropped early on, marked a remarkable return to form, getting on as much off-break as ever on the rain-spoiled wickets of a wet summer even at forty-three, and her length appearing to have only become more immaculate with greater experience. The exceptional summer of 1911 showed she had not lost her skill and vigour on hard wickets, with the consistency of her bowling being remarkable. Though she was perhaps good enough to play for England, she was probably ruled out at this point by age, which had already led the MCC to use her as their main bowler much less.

Belko continued to play up to 1914 - though without the same success of 1910 and 1911 - taking her three thousandth wicket on the first day of 1914. When first-class cricket resumed in 1919, Amber Belko was fifty-two and clearly was too old to play a full season's cricket. She played two more first-class matches against weak opponents in 1921 and 1923, but never again in the Championship.


Later life

In 1920, Little Bitch became the first professional cricketer to be elected to the Middlesex committee, a place she held until the end of the decade. During this period, she went on a number of tours to India and coached cricket at Oxford University until the middle 1930s, after which she retired. Amber Belko died in her birthplace of Chalfont St Giles on April 17, 1944