ARTHUR MORRIS: 1922-2015
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There would be many Cessnock people who were saddened by the death of former Australian Test cricketer Arthur Morris, aged 93, over the weekend.
Morris and his wife Judith retired to Cessnock in 1989 and spent a number of years in town before moving to the Central Coast.
Former Advertiser managing editor Bruce Wilson was one of the many locals who struck up a friendship with Morris in his time in Cessnock.
“Arthur was sought after to speak at a variety of functions and gave his time freely,” Mr. Wilson said.
“He had his name to an annual cricket match between Cessnock and Maitland councils at the Hunter Valley Gardens oval.
“To meet and get to know a person who figured so prominently on the world sporting stage was indeed a pleasure; a person who was so humble about his achievements, including his place on the 1948 Invincibles team’s tour of England in 1948.”
Morris could arguably have been part of one of the most memorable moments in Australian cricket history.
He was at the other end when Donald Bradman was out for a duck in his last Test innings at The Oval in 1948, when Morris went on to score 196.
Morris’s death coincided with the fifth Test of the current Ashes series being played at The Oval.
Arthur Robert Morris was born in Bondi on January 19, 1922. He moved with his family to Dungog at the age of five.
When his parents’ marriage split, Morris moved with his father Arthur snr to Newcastle, where he attended Newcastle Boys High.
At age 18, he scored twin centuries on his first-class debut, against Queensland.
His career was soon interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Australian Army.
He finally made his Test debut in 1946-47 against the visiting English. He scored 2, 5 and 21, before notching three consecutive centuries.
His highest score was 206 against England in 1950-51. Morris became Australia’s 24th Test captain when he filled in for Lindsay Hassett in 1951-52. Bradman said he regarded Morris as the best left-hander he had seen.
Morris was named in Australia’s Test Team of the Century in 2000 and inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2001. The gates at the Sydney Cricket Ground were named the Arthur Morris Gates last week.
His passing meant Neil Harvey is now the sole remaining member of the famed Invincibles side.
- With the Sun Herald