FOR CLUB AND COUNTRY by Ken Williams MCC Library Volunteer LIBRARY 2000 © The Melbourne Cricket Club Library Published by the MCC Library Melbourne Cricket Ground Yarra Park, East Melbourne 3002 First Published 2000 ISBN 0 9578074 0 6 Printed by: Buscombe Vicprint Typeset in: Garamond, Frutiger Designed by: George Petrou Design CONTENTS FOREWORD 2-3 RIGG, Keith Edward 45-46 BLACKHAM, John McCarthy 4-5 NAGEL, Lisle Ernest 46-47 COOPER, Bransby Beauchamp 6 DARLING, Leonard Stuart 48-49 MIDWINTER, William Evans 7-8 EBELING, Hans Irvine 50-51 KELLY,Thomas Joseph Dart 9-10 FLEETWOOD-SMITH, Leslie O'Brien 52-54 SPOFFORTH, Frederick Robert 10-12 IVERSON, John Bryan 54-57 ALLAN, Francis Erskine 13 McDONALD, Colin Campbell 57-58 ALEXANDER, George 14-15 KLINE, Lindsay Francis 59-60 BONNOR, George John 15-16 GUEST, Colin Ernest John 60-61 McDONNELL, Percy Stanislaus 17-18 WATSON, Graeme Donald 62-63 MOULE, William Henry 19 SHEAHAN, Andrew Paul 64-65 COULTHARD, George 20-21 WALKER, Maxwell Henry Norman 66-67 BRUCE, William 22 MOSS, Jeffrey Kenneth 68 TRUMBLE, John William 23 JONES, Dean Mervyn 69-70 WALTERS, Francis Henry 24 APPENDIX ONE: 71-77 McILWRAITH, John 25 Other Melbourne Cricket Club EDWARDS, John Dunlop 26 Test representatives. TRUMBLE, Hugh 27-28 APPENDIX TWO: 78-79 McLEOD, Robert William 29-30 Players to represent Victoria GRAHAM, Henry 30-31 whilst playing members of the McLEOD, Charles Edward 32-33 Melbourne Cricket Club ARMSTRONG, Warwick Windridge 34-35 APPENDIX THREE: 80 HAZLITT, Gervys Rignold 36-37 Melbourne Cricket Club RANSFORD, Vernon Seymour 38-39 First XI players who played first class HENDRY, Hunter Scott Thomas Laurie 40-41 cricket whilst not playing members PONSFORD, William Harold 42-44 of the club. 5 FOREWORD Members entering the pavilion will at some stage have paused in the foyer to view the photographs of the Melbourne Cricket Club representatives who have played Test cricket for Australia. This booklet provides a summary of the Test match performances of each of these players, as well as an outline of their careers in all first class cricket (especially for Victoria) and in 1st XI games for the Melbourne Cricket Club. Players are listed in order of their first Test appearance. The Club has a long and proud tradition of providing members of Australian Test teams. Indeed, the very first Australian Test team which met England on this ground in March 1877 contained three Melbourne Cricket Club players, Jack Blackham, Bransby Cooper and Bill Midwinter and up to the Second World War it was unusual for an Australian Test team not to contain at least one player from the club. This was perhaps only to be expected during a period when the great majority of the Australian team came from Victoria and New South Wales and, to a lesser extent, from South Australia. Since the war, as Australia’s Test players have tended to be drawn more widely from across the six states of the Commonwealth, it is inevitable that the club’s contribution to the Test team has declined, though it may come as a surprise to some to learn that Dean Jones has been the only player to represent the club while playing Test cricket for Australia in the last twenty years. The definition as to what constitutes a Melbourne Cricket Club Test representative has varied slightly. It is now accepted that, in order to qualify, a player must have played for the club in the same season that he played for Australia, but the list also includes a few nineteenth century players who, though playing for Melbourne at some point of their career, did not represent the club in the season or seasons in which they played Test cricket. The players concerned are F. E. Allan, J. D. Edwards, F. R. Spofforth, J. W. Trumble and F. H. Walters. Research has indicated that one player who has previously been regarded as a Melbourne Cricket Club Test representative, did not in fact play for the club. Henry “Tup” Scott, who played eight Tests for Australia between 1884 and 1886, played club cricket with St Kilda, East Melbourne and University, but never for Melbourne. Confusion may have arisen because he was captain of the 1886 Australian team to England, which was sometimes called the Melbourne Cricket Club Australian Team, as it was organised and financed by the club, managed by its secretary Ben Wardill and wore the club’s colours. On the other hand, it has been discovered that George Coulthard, not previously claimed as one of the club’s Test representatives, was definitely a Melbourne player *2 FOREWORD at the time of his Test appearance in 1881-82. His details are included in this booklet. He seems to have been excluded on the grounds that he was a club employee (he was engaged as a ground bowler) rather than a member. Special thanks are due to MCC librarian David Studham for his support, to fellow MCC Library volunteer Ray Webster for advice and assistance, to assistant MCC librarian Barbara Spiller and to Lee Semmens for his research on late nineteenth century club cricket. Ray and the compiler, together with interstate researchers Warwick Franks (NSW) and Rick Smith (Tasmania), are currently engaged on the Australian First Class Cricketers Project, which aims to produce a biographical and statistical record of each of the more than 3100 cricketers who have appeared in first class matches for Australian teams in Australia and overseas. The first of the four planned volumes, covering players with surnames starting with the letters A to D, is planned for publication in late 2000 or early 2001. Ken Williams March 2000 *3 BLACKHAM, John McCarthy Test career: 1876-77 to 1894-95. Wicket keeper, lower order right-hand batsman. ack Blackham was born on 11 May 1854 at North Fitzroy, JMelbourne, and died on 28 December 1932 at Melbourne, aged 78. Known as “The Prince of Wicketkeepers”, he was one of the greatest wicket keepers in the history of the game. By standing close to the stumps he rendered the position of longstop obsolete and his contemporaries, with the possible exception of Englishman Richard Pilling, could not match his skill in taking deliveries and whipping off the bails in one motion. He was also a determined lower order batsman with no pretensions to style, who could defend stoutly and hit forcefully. He played in the first-ever Test, at Melbourne, in 1876-77, and made the last of his 35 Test appearances in the First Test at Sydney in 1894-95. Despite receiving many painful knocks to the hands, face and body, Blackham missed only four of Australia’s first 39 Tests, three of these being in 1884-85 when he was one of those who stood down over the issue of gate money. He toured England eight times between 1878 and 1893, the last time as captain, a record equalled only by Syd Gregory. On the 1890 tour he dismissed 65 batsmen (38 caught & 27 stumped) – still a record for an Australian in England. He played several useful Test innings – at Sydney in 1882-83 his 57 and 58 not out contributed to an Australian victory and in his last Test he made his best Test score of 74, adding 154 in 76 minutes with Syd Gregory for the ninth wicket, still the Australian record for that wicket. During this Test a delivery forced back the top joint of his thumb and tore open an old injury and he did not play for Australia again. He captained Australia in eight Tests – once in the troubled 1884-85 series when Australia had four different captains and from 1891-92 until his retirement. A pessimist and worrier, he was not regarded as a particularly good captain, despite his immense knowledge of the game. Blackham played 45 first class matches for Victoria between 1874-75 and 1894-95, scoring 1599 runs at 22.84 and dismissing 90 batsmen (51 caught and 39 stumped). His only first class century was 109 for Victoria against NSW in 1884-85. His first class career ended a month after his last Test, when, attempting a comeback after his serious thumb injury, he seriously damaged the same thumb in a Shield match. He captained Victoria 27 times between 1881-82 and his retirement in 1894-95. In all first class matches he dismissed 455 batsmen – an Australia record until surpassed by Bert Oldfield in the 1930’s. *4 BLACKHAM, John McCarthy Blackham’s early club cricket was with Carlton and South Melbourne. He played for the Melbourne Cricket Club in 1876-77 and 1877-78, but did not reappear for them until 1884-85 when he topped the batting averages with 429 runs at 85.80. He represented the club up to 1896-97, but international commitments greatly limited his appearances. His highest score was 146 not out against University late in 1894-95, when, batting at no. 10, he added 163 for the last wicket with Micky Roche. He was made a life member of the club in 1909. In 1996 Jack Blackham was one of the original ten inductees to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. Test match record: 1876-77 to 1894-95 M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Runs Wkts Ave Best 5i 10m Ct/St 35 62 11 800 74 15.68 – 4 – – – – – – 37/24 First-class record: 1874-75 to 1894-95 M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Runs Wkts Ave Best 5i 10m Ct/St 275 442 61 6395 109 16.78 1 26 138 2 69.00 1/8 – – 275/181 *5 COOPER, Bransby Beauchamp Test career: 1876-77.