JBMAC
State Captain
More luck than good judgement though. Just randomly done.No set order
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Gone....NOT Forgotten!
- Thread starter JBMAC
- Start date
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
This is an awesome thread; I only just found it. Bookmarked; I'll be coming in here to have little reads whenever the mood takes me.
Thanks JBMAC!
Thanks JBMAC!
fredfertang
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I, and other staff members, wrote loads of these things for a project Richard was running which it seems likely has gone out of the window with his ceasing to log on so rather than waste them I'll put a few up in here if anyone is interested - for some reason I got tasked with all the really old ones so if anyone pre WW2 interests you, from any of the Test playing countries, I almost certainly did them, so just shout
Quaggas
State Captain
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fredfertang
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Yep, did him
“Dave” Nourse was known, affectionately, as the Grand Old Man of South African Cricket. His first class career extended over fully 40 seasons and his Test career, which consisted of 45 consecutive matches, lasted from 1902 to 1924.
Nourse’s reputation was made as a batsman. He was a left hander who averaged almost 43 over his long career and even at the advanced age of 54 he was still good enough to score a double century in a Currie Cup game in 1931/32.
In addition to his main role as a batsman Nourse was also a useful orthodox slow left armer who took more than 300 wickets in his career at the respectable average of 23 runs each.
At Test level Nourse’s overall record was a little disappointing, his batting average being fractionally less than 30 with only one century, and that being recorded as late as 1921 against Australia. His bowling was also relatively ineffective at the game's top table his 41 wickets costing more than 37 apiece.
Dave Nourse tried his hand at many occupations at various times being a soldier, railway guard, billiard marker, saloon keeper, commercial traveller, manager of an athletic outfitters and finally coach to Cape Town University. He was also an all round sportsman who represented Natal at rugby union and soccer. Dave Nourse's son, Dudley, was, at his peak just after the Second World War, and for a brief period was one of the finest batsman in the world. Dave Nourse died, aged 70, in Port Elizabeth in 1948.
“Dave” Nourse was known, affectionately, as the Grand Old Man of South African Cricket. His first class career extended over fully 40 seasons and his Test career, which consisted of 45 consecutive matches, lasted from 1902 to 1924.
Nourse’s reputation was made as a batsman. He was a left hander who averaged almost 43 over his long career and even at the advanced age of 54 he was still good enough to score a double century in a Currie Cup game in 1931/32.
In addition to his main role as a batsman Nourse was also a useful orthodox slow left armer who took more than 300 wickets in his career at the respectable average of 23 runs each.
At Test level Nourse’s overall record was a little disappointing, his batting average being fractionally less than 30 with only one century, and that being recorded as late as 1921 against Australia. His bowling was also relatively ineffective at the game's top table his 41 wickets costing more than 37 apiece.
Dave Nourse tried his hand at many occupations at various times being a soldier, railway guard, billiard marker, saloon keeper, commercial traveller, manager of an athletic outfitters and finally coach to Cape Town University. He was also an all round sportsman who represented Natal at rugby union and soccer. Dave Nourse's son, Dudley, was, at his peak just after the Second World War, and for a brief period was one of the finest batsman in the world. Dave Nourse died, aged 70, in Port Elizabeth in 1948.
fredfertang
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Found that one eventually:-
NC O'Neill
It cannot have assisted “Norm” O’Neill to have been saddled with the description of the “New Bradman” when he, on debut, brought a breath of fresh air to the first Test match of the controversial Ashes Series in 1958/59. England had held the Ashes, since regaining them at home in 1953 for the first time in 20 years, and had held on to them comfortably in the following two series. Australian batsmanship had, over that difficult period, become over cautious and the cricketing public were delighted to be brought to their feet by the 21 year old O’Neill. A tall right handed batsman, O'Neill was a particularly strong player off the back foot. He was a powerful driver, quick on his feet to spinners and never allowed bowlers to tie him down. His 71 in 2 hours on the final day of that first Test was typical of the man.
Unfortunately despite his gifts O’Neill was a nervous starter and was also prone to making mistakes when well set. As his career wore on he also put on a considerable amount of weight which affected the speed of his footwork and just seven years after his debut his Test career was over, his returns having been gradually diminishing series on series.
In his pomp O’Neill had been magnificent. He struck three superb centuries in India and Pakistan in 1959/60 and amidst the drama that was seen at the end of the match it is often overlooked that in the tied test against the West Indies at Brisbane in 1960/61 he had scored a magnificent 181, in the course of which he had repeatedly hooked the fearsome West Indian fast bowler Wesley Hall to the boundary.
On the first of two Ashes tours that O’Neill embarked on, in 1961, he played extremely well scoring almost 2,000 runs at more than 60 runs per innings, and he finished the Test series with a typically ebullient 117 at The Oval which Wisden described as “A sheer joy to watch”. At this stage O’Neill had, in just three years, scored five centuries in his first 23 Tests and was averaging almost 54. This was very much the high point of O’Neill’s career as in his remaining 19 tests he averaged just 36 and did not reach his century again.
Ironically, after a difficult period, in his last series in the West Indies O’Neill had begun to look his old self again and in particular in the last Test had contributed 51 and 74 not out with all his former style. He had also, in that series, at long last made a contribution with the ball taking nine valuable wickets with his brisk leg spin. O’Neill had always been a useful performer with the ball at First Class level but prior to that series had been unable to take that form into the Test arena. He must have had high hopes of gaining a place in the side for the 1965/66 Ashes but a poor start to the domestic season, and a lingering row over comments which appeared in English newspapers regarding the action of West Indian fast bowler Charlie Griffiths which were attributed to him, doubtless contributed to his non-selection and he was never able to win his place back.
After he left the First Class game O’Neill sold cigarettes for Rothmans and he moved from Sydney to Perth where, in time, his son Mark enjoyed a number of years of first class cricket without ever achieving international recognition. By that time Norm had returned to Sydney where he commentated on radio. He died in March 2008 at the age of 71 having been battling throat cancer for a number of years. His old captain, Bob Simpson, said of him “If God gave me an hour to watch someone I’d seen in my life, I’d request Norm O’Neill. He just had that style”.
fredfertang
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I agree - I'm writing a feature on the Mohammads at the moment so give it a couple of weeks and that will be up on the front page
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
Bruce Mitchell?
He's a player that always comes up really, really high on any sort of era-adjusted statistical list I do, but I really don't know much about him at all other than what it says on cricinfo (which admittedly is a fair bio).
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fredfertang
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
cba to check but I hope I didn't just plagiarise the cricinfo one
Bruce Mitchell
Such was the promise that Bruce Mitchell had shown in the handful of First Class matches that he had played that he was selected for the party to tour England in 1929 at the age of only 20. Prior to the tour he had played only once on a turf pitch, however such was the ease with which he adapted he found his way straight into the Test side and would play in South Africa’s next 42 matches.
First and foremost Mitchell was a batsman who was resolute in defence and relished any sort of a struggle, and his many fine performances in the second innings are testament to that. Mitchell could, when the opportunity arose, bat attractively, and is particularly remembered for his ability to drive the ball on the off side, but all of his major test innings were essentially defensive.
His record against Australia was markedly inferior to that against England as he averaged only 30 in ten games, never recording a century, however Australia were exceptionally strong, winning nine of those ten Test matches by very substantial margins and drawing the other. Despite his modest record Mitchell was certainly the most effective batsman that South Africa were able to deploy against them.
Against England it was a different story. Mitchell started slowly in 1929 and enjoyed only modest success on that tour but in five subsequent series against England he never averaged less than 50 and, in 1935, came within two runs of averaging 70 for the series. He scored, altogether, seven centuries and 16 half centuries against England. His finest moment was probably in 1947 at The Oval when an exciting game was left drawn with South African 423 for 7 chasing 451 for victory. Mitchell’s contribution were innings of 120 and 189 not out and he was on the field for all but 8 minutes of the match.
During the 1948/49 series Mitchell reached the age of 40 but his concentration, certainly, was not affected by age his innings of 99 in what proved to be his final test occupying 394 minutes in total and his 50, which took 253 minutes, was for many years the slowest in South African test history.
In 1949/50 the Australians toured South Africa and Mitchell was doubtless looking forward to the opportunity to take on an Australian side which lacked any wrist spinner of the quality of Grimmett, O’Reilly or even Fleetwood-Smith, who had all proved to be his undoing in past series. Sadly it was not to be - Mitchell played three times against the tourists prior to the first test but in five innings scored only 51 runs and he was not selected for the Test side. Mitchell clearly did not relish the thought of a cricket career without the challenge of Test matches and he promptly retired.
Over his First Class career as a whole Mitchell took enough wickets (249) at a low enough cost (25 apiece) to justify being described as an all rounder, although his long Test match career produced only 27 wickets at over 51 apiece. He was a leg spinner who, in his first First Class match, was picked for his bowling and did not disappoint by taking 11 wickets however his bowling never touched those heights again, and certainly in test cricket was nothing more than an occasional variation. That said in the 1935/36 series against Australia he did take a total of ten wickets four of them coming in the second Test in one remarkable spell at a cost of five runs including three wickets in one over. Later that series, in the fifth Test, he took five wickets in an innings for the only time but neither of those performances made any real difference to crushing Australian victories.
At the time of his death, in 1995, at the age of 86, Bruce Mitchell was the oldest surviving South African Test cricketer.
fredfertang
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
it's almost as if benchy were still with usCheers Tangy
Burgey
Request Your Custom Title Now!
Indeed. If I kicked off a court case that late of need leave.it's almost as if benchy were still with us
Just saying.
fredfertang
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
We only did Test players in Richard's project JB so I haven't done those guys, but I'll put them on the "to do" list