The Fitzroy Urchin

Martin Chandler | 7:53am BST 07 October 2015

Published: 1999
Pages: 24
Author: Cardwell, Ronald
Publisher: The Cricket Publishing Company
Rating: 3.5 stars

It must be ten years ago now that I picked up my copy of The Fitzroy Urchin, and I remember thinking at the time a full biography of Neil Harvey was long overdue. A decade on and Harvey is 86, and still there is no chronicle of the life of the last surviving invincible. Australia does not want for good cricket writers, so I can only assume the project is on-going – I certainly hope so.

For now the best anyone who wants to learn more about the man, who is surely the most underrated batsman of all time, must look out for a copy of Harvey’s 1963 autobiography, My World of Cricket. Alternatively there is a booklet in the ACS Famous Cricketers series, or The Fitzroy Urchin. The ghosted autobiography is not the worst book of its type, but could not be described as vibrant. That is however the adjective that springs to mind on reading the first essay in The Fitzroy Urchin, but the brevity of the experience inevitably brings with it a sense of frustration.

There are two parts to Ronald Cardwell’s slim work. The piece that gives the name is a remarkable story, beautifully told, of the achievement of a 13 year old Harvey in scoring twin centuries to help take Fitzroy to the 1941/42 Melbourne third grade title. There is an accompanying photograph, which demonstrates just what a boy amongst men he was. After that there is a short and inevitably rather more workmanlike summary of Harvey’s later career.

The Fitzroy Urchin appeared in a limited edition of 112 copies, all numbered and signed by author and subject. It was one of the first limited editions I ever bought and wasn’t particularly expensive at the time. But it is a long time since I have seen a copy available, and I suspect therefore that it is now about as common as 13 year olds scoring twin centuries in the men’s game.