Ronald Morrisby
Encyclopedia
Ronald Orlando George Morrisby (born 12 January 1915 in Hobart, Tasmania, died 12 June 1995 in Hobart, Tasmania), was a former Australian cricket
er who played first-class cricket
for Tasmania
from 1931 until 1952. He can be considered one of the most outstanding Tasmanian batsman of his era, and was unlucky never to be selected to play test cricket
for Australia, despite having toured India
with the national side. Morrisby was the 29th player to captain
the Tasmanian first-class team, but was never able to lead them to victory. An exciting batsman with a preference for playing off the back foot, he played for South Hobart Cricket Club
in the Tasmanian Grade Cricket
competition, and still holds many records in that competition, including being the all-time leading run scorer.
competition, having score 1099 runs in the 1950-51 season. His highest season average of 77.71 is also still the highest ever. Morrisby is also the all-time leading run-scorer in that competition, with his career total for South Hobart Cricket Club
, a staggering 16,000 runs exactly. His highest score of 197 against Sandy Bay Cricket Club
(his own team South Hobart, and Sandy Bay were later to merge) is the second highest score ever made in the Tasmanian grade competition. He also scored 180*, and passed 150 on six occasions, but never managed a double century in his entire career. Morrisby also holds the record for the highest ever first wicket partnership, when he and Jim Atkinson
put on an unbeaten stand of 286 against New Town Cricket Club
in the 1931-32 season. He was the highest season aggregate run-scorer in an incredible 13 separate seasons. Morrisby helped South Hobart to five premierships during his career, before finally retired from club cricket in 1960 at the age of 45.
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, unusually on Christmas Day, 25 December 1931. It was eighteen days before his seventeenth birthday. He was disappointingly bowled for 3 by Arthur Liddicut in his first innings, but a fine 67 in the second showed that he was of first-class cricket
material. Morrisby took over the Tasmanian captaincy from Sydney Putman during the 1937-38 season, and held on to the post until his retirement in 1952. Putman was in fact the fourth non-permanent holder of the post during the 1930s, and so Morrisby can be considered the first permanent captain of Tasmania since Jim Atkinson
stood down in 1934.
Off the back of an excellent season in 1934-35 in the Tasmanian competition, Morrisby was somewhat surprisingly called up for the Australian team's tour on India
in 1935-36, led by Frank Tarrant
. He had an excellent tour, scoring 2 centuries, and 3 half-centuries, and played in all four un-official Test matches (only first-class status) against India. His highest ever first-class score of 145 came against Patiala in Punjab
. Having been set a competitive 352 to chase, Morrisby top-scored, including sharing a second-wicket partnership of 274 with New South Welshman, Wendell Bill. Including his matches for Tasmania in that year, Morrisby had the best first-class season of his career in 1935-36, scoring 811 runs at 40.55, with 2 centuries and 5 half-centuries.
As with most cricketers of his era, Morrisby's first-class career was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II
. He only ever managed to score one additional century after the 1935-36 tour of India, which had proved to be the highlight of his first-class career, and that came in a match against the touring Indians in the 1947-48 season. The stopped in Tasmania to play two tour matches, and in the second at the NTCA Ground
on 16 January 1948, Morrisby made 130 in a remarkable Tasmanian total of 458 all out, chasing the Indians first innings score of 7 for 457 declared. The match was rain-affected, and ended in a draw, but is notable in that it was the first-class debut of Emerson Rodwell
, who was to become the next great Tasmanian batsmen of the following generation. Morrisby continued playing first-class cricket until the 1951-52 season, when he retired at the age of 37. In 51 matches, Morrisby had accumulated 2596 runs at an average of 32.45 including 3 centuries, and 14 half-centuries, with a high score of 145. Ronald Morrisby also umpired in a match between Southern Tasmania Cricket Association and the North-West Tasmania Cricket Association in 1955-56.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for Tasmania
Tasmanian Tigers
The Tasmanian cricket team, nicknamed the Tigers, represents the Australian state of Tasmania in cricket tournaments. They compete annually in the Australian domestic senior men's cricket season, which currently consists of the first-class Sheffield Shield, the limited overs Ford Ranger Cup, and...
from 1931 until 1952. He can be considered one of the most outstanding Tasmanian batsman of his era, and was unlucky never to be selected to play test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
for Australia, despite having toured India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
with the national side. Morrisby was the 29th player to captain
Tasmanian cricket captains
The Australian state of Tasmania has one of the longest traditions of cricket-playing in the southern hemisphere. Cricket is recorded as having first been played in Tasmania very shortly after the arrival of British settlers on the island on 12 September 1803, however it wasn't until nearly fifty...
the Tasmanian first-class team, but was never able to lead them to victory. An exciting batsman with a preference for playing off the back foot, he played for South Hobart Cricket Club
South Hobart/Sandy Bay Cricket Club
South Hobart/Sandy Bay Cricket Club , also known as "The Sharks", is a Grade level cricket club representing both South Hobart and Sandy Bay in Tasmania's Grade Cricket Competition...
in the Tasmanian Grade Cricket
Tasmanian Grade Cricket
Tasmanian Grade Cricket, or the Tasmanian Grade Competition, refers to the hierarchically graded cricket competitions played in Tasmania, Australia...
competition, and still holds many records in that competition, including being the all-time leading run scorer.
Club career
Ronald Morrisby still hold the record for the most runs in a single season in the Tasmanian Grade CricketTasmanian Grade Cricket
Tasmanian Grade Cricket, or the Tasmanian Grade Competition, refers to the hierarchically graded cricket competitions played in Tasmania, Australia...
competition, having score 1099 runs in the 1950-51 season. His highest season average of 77.71 is also still the highest ever. Morrisby is also the all-time leading run-scorer in that competition, with his career total for South Hobart Cricket Club
South Hobart/Sandy Bay Cricket Club
South Hobart/Sandy Bay Cricket Club , also known as "The Sharks", is a Grade level cricket club representing both South Hobart and Sandy Bay in Tasmania's Grade Cricket Competition...
, a staggering 16,000 runs exactly. His highest score of 197 against Sandy Bay Cricket Club
South Hobart/Sandy Bay Cricket Club
South Hobart/Sandy Bay Cricket Club , also known as "The Sharks", is a Grade level cricket club representing both South Hobart and Sandy Bay in Tasmania's Grade Cricket Competition...
(his own team South Hobart, and Sandy Bay were later to merge) is the second highest score ever made in the Tasmanian grade competition. He also scored 180*, and passed 150 on six occasions, but never managed a double century in his entire career. Morrisby also holds the record for the highest ever first wicket partnership, when he and Jim Atkinson
Jim Atkinson
James "Jim" Archibald Atkinson was an Australian rules footballer and first class cricketer.Atkinson played his football with Fitzroy in the VFL. He was a defender and in 1922 was a member of Fitzroy's premiership winning side as well as winning their Club Champion award. Atkinson was club captain...
put on an unbeaten stand of 286 against New Town Cricket Club
New Town Cricket Club
New Town Cricket Club , also known as "The Bucks", is a Grade level cricket club representing New Town in Tasmania's Grade Cricket Competition.NTCC play their home games at New Town Oval, in New Town, a suburb of Hobart....
in the 1931-32 season. He was the highest season aggregate run-scorer in an incredible 13 separate seasons. Morrisby helped South Hobart to five premierships during his career, before finally retired from club cricket in 1960 at the age of 45.
First-class career
Morrisby made his first-class debut against VictoriaVictorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, unusually on Christmas Day, 25 December 1931. It was eighteen days before his seventeenth birthday. He was disappointingly bowled for 3 by Arthur Liddicut in his first innings, but a fine 67 in the second showed that he was of first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
material. Morrisby took over the Tasmanian captaincy from Sydney Putman during the 1937-38 season, and held on to the post until his retirement in 1952. Putman was in fact the fourth non-permanent holder of the post during the 1930s, and so Morrisby can be considered the first permanent captain of Tasmania since Jim Atkinson
Jim Atkinson
James "Jim" Archibald Atkinson was an Australian rules footballer and first class cricketer.Atkinson played his football with Fitzroy in the VFL. He was a defender and in 1922 was a member of Fitzroy's premiership winning side as well as winning their Club Champion award. Atkinson was club captain...
stood down in 1934.
Off the back of an excellent season in 1934-35 in the Tasmanian competition, Morrisby was somewhat surprisingly called up for the Australian team's tour on India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in 1935-36, led by Frank Tarrant
Frank Tarrant
Frank Tarrant Frank Tarrant Frank Tarrant (in full Francis Alfred Tarrant (Melbourne, Australia, 11 December 1880 – 29 January 1951 in Melbourne) was an Australian all-rounder who played with great success for Middlesex in the County Championship in the years before World War I.His record is...
. He had an excellent tour, scoring 2 centuries, and 3 half-centuries, and played in all four un-official Test matches (only first-class status) against India. His highest ever first-class score of 145 came against Patiala in Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
. Having been set a competitive 352 to chase, Morrisby top-scored, including sharing a second-wicket partnership of 274 with New South Welshman, Wendell Bill. Including his matches for Tasmania in that year, Morrisby had the best first-class season of his career in 1935-36, scoring 811 runs at 40.55, with 2 centuries and 5 half-centuries.
As with most cricketers of his era, Morrisby's first-class career was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He only ever managed to score one additional century after the 1935-36 tour of India, which had proved to be the highlight of his first-class career, and that came in a match against the touring Indians in the 1947-48 season. The stopped in Tasmania to play two tour matches, and in the second at the NTCA Ground
NTCA Ground
The Northern Tasmania Cricket Association Ground, better known as the NTCA Ground, is a multi-use sports venue in Launceston, Australia. It is currently used mostly for club cricket matches and has a capacity of under 10,000....
on 16 January 1948, Morrisby made 130 in a remarkable Tasmanian total of 458 all out, chasing the Indians first innings score of 7 for 457 declared. The match was rain-affected, and ended in a draw, but is notable in that it was the first-class debut of Emerson Rodwell
Emerson Rodwell
Edwin Emerson Rodwell MM was an Australian soldier, cricket player, umpire, commentator and administrator. He fought in World War II, in New Guinea, and Borneo, and was awarded the Military Medal...
, who was to become the next great Tasmanian batsmen of the following generation. Morrisby continued playing first-class cricket until the 1951-52 season, when he retired at the age of 37. In 51 matches, Morrisby had accumulated 2596 runs at an average of 32.45 including 3 centuries, and 14 half-centuries, with a high score of 145. Ronald Morrisby also umpired in a match between Southern Tasmania Cricket Association and the North-West Tasmania Cricket Association in 1955-56.