This bat is a unique memorial of Hobbs's annus mirabilis of 1925. The 1926 Wisden devotes six pages to his playing in that and previous years, stating that: "[his early achievments] counted for little compared with Hobbs' triumph in first equalling and then heading the number of centuries which stand to the credit of W.G. Grace ... Hobbs will go down to posterity as one of the greatest figures in cricket history. A masterly batsman under all conditions, possessed of exceptional grace of style, remarkable in the variety of his strokes, ready to run any risk for his side, and a superb field, he has been at once the wonder and delight of all cricketers of his generation."

A typed note mounted with the two scorecards reads: "J. B. Hobbs (The Master) 1882-1963. In this match scored his 126th and 127th centuries, thus passing W. G. Grace's previous record total of 125. In this season, at the age of 42 he scored 16 centuries and his aggregate of 61,237 runs have not at the moment been bettered ... 316 not out [in the later match against Middlesex] Highest score of his career, and the highest score made in a first class match at Lord's."

Illustrated above and in colour on our back cover.