Paper presented to the Canberra District Historical Society- 13 May 2014. National Archives of Australia. Menzies Room. Alured Tasker Faunce and William Davis: The Founder and the Champion of Early Cricket and its Values in the Queanbeyan-Canberra Region Prof. Thomas Faunce I wish first to acknowledge the Ngunawal people, the traditional owners of this land and pay respects to their elders past and present. I should also like to mention that it is just over 50 years since my father himself addressed the Canberra District Historical Society. The Queanbeyan v Goulburn Cricket Match, March 1859 An interesting place to begin an investigation of the origins of cricket in the Queanbeyan-Canberra region is a match report from the Goulburn Herald on 2nd March 1859. The match was between the Queanbeyan and Goulburn cricket clubs and was played at Goulburn on the recreation ground in front of the Commercial Bank. Play began a little later than anticipated at 11am under clear blue skies and before a small crowd.1 Prominent in the match report amongst the players for the Queanbeyan side were the names of two young cricketers ‘Faunce’ and ‘Davis,’ on this occasion Alured Dodsworth Faunce for batting and William Davis for bowling. These family names figure prominently in the historical records of the origins of cricket in the Queanbeyan-Canberra region. This 1859 report also reveals how, even at that early time, the question of who was responsible for founding and championing cricket on the Limestone Plains was an issue of some consequence. Yet, whilst the vital contribution of the ‘squire of Ginninderra’ William Davis to the early days of cricket in the Queanbeyan-Canberra 1 Goulburn Herald 2 March 1859 p2 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/118243834?searchTerm=woodward%27s%20Hotel%20and%20Futter%20and%20Davis& searchLimits=l-title=364|||l-publictag=Cricket|||sortby=dateAsc region was expressly mentioned on this occasion, the even earlier role in this context of Queanbeyan’s first police magistrate Alured Tasker Faunce appears to have been passed over. Captain AT Faunce was the father of 19 year old Alured Dodsworth Faunce who had just played so well alongside William Davis for Queanbeyan in this 1859 match against Goulburn. The match report pays closer scrutiny as it gives a lively account of the spirit in which such games were played. “Goulburn having won the toss sent in Queanbeyan first. After the lapse of about half an hour, the whole eleven had succumbed to the bowling and fielding of their antagonists, having succeeded in scoring only 18, of which 4 were byes off Richards bowling. Faunce, one of the best players, was caught out by A. Chisholm, the first ball; H. Davis was bowled out by the second ball, bowled by Richards; and Byer was caught out by A. Chisholm, on receiving the first ball. The rest of the innings calls for no particular remarks. The players were far too cautious, and lost several runs in consequence. Goulburn then went in, and, after a splendid innings, retired with a score of 129; of which 5 only were byes, and 1 wide. As if to make amends for Faunce's mishap, C. Chisholm's stumps were lowered by the very first ball delivered by W. Davis. The backers of Goulburn, who were quite elate with their prospects of success, became somewhat depressed, though still confident. Roberts succeeded Chisholm, and after making a decent score of 9 retired before the bowling of W. Davis. A ball off the bat of Gillespie, the crack player of the Goulburn eleven, was caught after touching the ground, but so closely on its rise, that it was supposed to have been handled before it reached the ground, and Gillespie was alleged to be out. The umpire, however, decided otherwise, but this little contretemps made Gillespie play with less caution than before, and he was cleverly caught out by W. Davis the very next ball. Notwithstanding the speedy conclusion of his innings, we adhere to our opinion that, Gillespie is fit to play in any eleven that these colonies can produce. A. Chisholm then went in, and after seeing several of his colleagues out, retired with the magnificent score of 37. The rest of the innings calls for no particular comment. The fielding of the Queanbeyan players was particularly bad; not one of the Goulburn side being put out by the fielders, the only one, Gillespie, who was not bowled out, being caught out by W. Davis, one of the bowlers. Luncheon now supervened, after which the Queanbeyanites went in, wanting 111 to tie. W. Campbell went in first, and was very nearly going out last, seeing nine of his colleagues yield. His score, 48, was the highest obtained on either side. S. Davis who first faced Campbell, was bowled out by Gillespie without securing a notch. He was succeeded by Massey, who made one splendid hit towards the creek, for which he got 6, but was soon caught out by I. Davis without further adding to the score. Faunce then went in, and the prettiest play throughout the match ensued, Campbell and Faunce for some time doing almost as they liked with the balls, and scoring rapidly. Faunce finally was bowled out by Richards, with 21 against his name. With the exception of one slogging hit by W. Davis, for which he got 5, the rest of the innings deserves no particular comment…Goulburn won in one innings. 2 The evening after the game the players adjourned to Woodward’s Hotel in Goulburn. The dinner comprised all the delicacies of the season, and was done ample justice to by those assembled; the usual dinner accompaniments of pledging and toasting growing more fast and furious as the generous juice of the grape spread its genial influence into the bosoms of the company. The usual festive decorations ornamented the room, and at one end was a banner with an appropriate cricketing motto emblazoned on it. 3 2 Ibid 3 Ibid After 8pm J. S. Futter, Esq., took the chair and proposed the usual loyal toasts of “the Queen,” “the Prince Consort, and the rest of the Royal family,” then the health of “the Governor-General,” particularly since Sir W. Denison had “shown himself ever since his arrival in this country a noble and zealous supporter of the old English game of cricket (cheers).” 4 The Chairman then alluded to the gallant soldiers and sailors fighting in the Crimea. But this time he went further than most such patriotic references. He specifically and pointedly referred to the cricketing prowess of the military. Mr Futter stated that: “it was his firm opinion that there had been no greater patrons of the art of cricketing than the officers of the army and navy, and in every garrison town you would find cricketing extensively cultivated.” 5 The hypothesis explored here is that there was significance in the Chairman stating on this occasion and at this point in his speech “there had been no greater patrons of the art of cricketing than the officers of the army.” Indeed, as we shall see, in uttering these words Mr Futter could have been discreetly saying more about the origins of cricket in the Limestone Plains than coheres with the version of events as presented by some more contemporary local cricket historians. Seated no doubt in the audience before Chairman Futter, was nineteen year old Alured Dodsworth Faunce who had batted so well in the second innings. Three years earlier in 1856 this AD Faunce had returned to Queanbeyan from Kings School in Sydney to take over as head of the house after the sudden death of his father Captain Alured Tasker Faunce while playing cricket for the Queanbeyan club. AD Faunce already had become a regular in the Queanbeyan side. The year before he had opened the batting and top scored in the first innings of a return match for Queanbeyan against Goulburn, where W Davis in the same Queanbeyan side took three wickets.6 But lets return to the 1859 match celebrations. The Chairman then toasted "the Queanbeyan Eleven." He referred to Queanbeyan, even then in 1859 as “as the oldest regular cricketing club in the Southern district.” [emphasis added] He stated that the Queanbeyan players had arrived “in regular cricketing style and dress, and as every cricket club ought to do” and “had it not been for their having challenged us, we should have had no club at all.” He added that Queanbeyan had “set the example for 4 Ibid 5 Ibid 6 Queanbeyan Age 16 Jan 1858 p2 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/118248583 the formation of other clubs.”7 In concluding, Mr Futter stated that Mr William Davis “had been the leading man in the formation of the Queanbeyan club.” In response W Davis, after paying his respects, observed that “every available man had been brought from the Queanbeyan district, whereas Goulburn had several more, as good as the present eleven, whom they could bring to the field.” 8 Perhaps a garbled and confused story is what you’re likely to get when you set a publican to be Chairman and let him talk post-game to a bunch of cricketers after the grape juice has been flowing for some time. Indeed, some of these comments by Chairman Futter seem quite contrary to the traditional notions about the origins of cricket on the Limestone Plains. After all Mr Futter here claimed that Queanbeyan was “the oldest regular cricketing club in the Southern district” and had “set the example for the formation of other clubs.” Futter also claimed that William Davis “was the leading man in the formation of the Queanbeyan Cricket Club” Later, Don Selth in his Cricket on the Limestone Plains, took a very different view of the origins of cricket on the Limestone Plains.