Richard Benjamin Terry (25 November 1852 – 10 July 1910) was an Englishman who umpired the historic first Test match played between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 15 to 19 March 1877. His colleague was Curtis Reid. He also umpired in the second Test match, played two weeks later in Melbourne, partnered by

Sam Cosstick Samuel Cosstick (1 January 1836 – 8 April 1896) was an important figure in developing cricket in Victoria in its formative years. He is well known for umpiring in the second ever Test match, played between Australia and England in Melbour ...

Life and career

Ben Terry came from

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, and was engaged by the Melbourne Cricket Club as a professional bowler in 1875, having been recommended by

Robert Allan Fitzgerald Robert Allan "Fitz" Fitzgerald (1 October 1834 – 28 October 1881) was an English cricketer and administrator who served as Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Secretary. Fitzgerald was born at Purley House in Berkshire, but was brought up at Sha ...

, the secretary of

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

, and

Richard Daft Richard Daft (2 November 1835 – 18 July 1900) was an English cricketer. He was one of the best batsmen of his day, the peak of his first-class career (which lasted from 1858 to 1891) being the 1860s and early 1870s. Life and career Born ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. He arrived in Melbourne in January 1876, bringing more than 200 cricket bats to sell. In 1876-77, when he umpired the first two Tests at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

as part of his duties, his annual salary was 150 pounds; although his match performances for Melbourne were disappointing, he was highly regarded as a practice bowler. He remained as one of the club's professionals until after the 1880-81 season, then returned to Britain. He played three matches for Victoria from 1877 to 1881. He scored 60 runs at an average of 12 with a top score of 30, and took 6 wickets at an average of 15.66, with best figures of 3 for 23 against

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in his first match in 1877-78. He married Phoebe Wallington in Melbourne on 20 November 1877. After umpiring the two Tests, Terry continued to stand as an umpire in

first-class matches First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

in Melbourne, and occasionally Sydney, until 1881, when he returned to Britain. At the Australians' request, he also umpired a few of the matches played by the Australian touring teams to England in

1882 Events January–March * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in ...

and

1884 Events January–March * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London. * January 18 – Dr. William Price atte ...

. In 1882 he was the professional with the

Langholm Langholm , also known colloquially as the "Muckle Toon", is a burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Langholm lies between four hills in the valley of the River Esk in the Southern Uplands. Location and geography Langholm sits nort ...

Cricket Club in Scotland. In 1891 he was still a professional cricketer, living in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. In 1906 he was a "flourishing bookmaker" in Scotland. He died in Edinburgh in 1910.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terry, Ben English Test cricket umpires English cricketers Victoria cricketers Melbourne Cricket Club cricketers 1852 births 1910 deaths Cricketers from Nottingham

Life and career

See also

References

External links