Brian Morgan Hurn (4 March 1939 – 18 October 2015) was an Australian

first-class cricket 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 officia ...

er and politician who served as Mayor of

Barossa Council Barossa Council is a local government area in the Barossa Valley in South Australia. The council area covers 912 square kilometres and had a population of over 23,000 as at the 2016 Census. History It was proclaimed on 1 July 1996 following t ...

Early life

Born in Angaston in the

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major wine-producing region and tourist destina ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, Hurn first came to attention when he scored an unbeaten 108 in the inaugural Country Schoolboys Carnival in 1952. He attended the prestigious

Prince Alfred College , motto_translation = Do Brave Deeds and Endure , established = 1869 , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding , headmaster = David Roberts , chaplain = Reverend ...

in Adelaide.

Sports career

Hurn played first for the South Australian Colts side in the

South Australian Grade Cricket League South Australian Premier Cricket (previously known as South Australian District Cricket and South Australian Grade Cricket) is the semi-professional State league based in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. It is currently the highest level o ...

(the level below first-class cricket in South Australia) before switching to

Kensington Cricket Club The Kensington District Cricket Club ("The Browns") is a semi-professional cricket club in Adelaide, South Australia. It competes in the South Australian Grade Cricket League, which is administered by the South Australian Cricket Association (SA ...

.Page, p. 21. He made his first-class cricket debut for

on 1 November 1957, against

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby le ...

, scoring thirty and zero and taking three wickets for 67 runs (3/67) and 1/30. Hurn was still living in the Barossa at the time and was the last player living outside Adelaide to picked for the South Australian side until Rick Darling. in 1975. Described as "a fast-medium bowler with a side-on action", Hurn's best moment came in December 1958 when he took 5/62 against the touring English side, including leading batsmen

Ted Dexter Edward Ralph Dexter, (15 May 1935 – 25 August 2021) was an England international cricketer. An aggressive middle-order batsman of ferocious power and a right-arm medium bowler, he captained Sussex and England in the early 1960s. He captai ...

Colin Cowdrey Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, (24 December 19324 December 2000) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University (1952–1954), Kent County Cricket Club (1950–1976) and England (1954–1975). Univers ...

and

Tom Graveney Thomas William Graveney (16 June 1927 – 3 November 2015) was an English first-class cricketer, representing his country in 79 Test matches and scoring over 4,800 runs. In a career lasting from 1948 to 1972, he became the 15th player to scor ...

. Hurn continued to play for South Australia intermittently over the next decade, playing his final first-class match on 13 January 1967, against

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Ga ...

, making an unbeaten 79 (his highest first-class score) and four and taking 0/11. Following the end of his first-class career, he continued to play for Kensington until his retirement in the 1977/78 season. In all Hurn scored 4358 runs in Grade cricket at 21.79 and took 615 wickets at 16.93.Sando, p. 98. Hurn also played Australian rules football for the Angaston Football Club in the

Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association The Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association, more commonly referred to as the BL&GFA, is an Australian rules football competition based in the Barossa Valley, Gawler Region and Light Region of South Australia, Australia. Just 42 kilometres ...

, winning the Mail Medal for the competition's best player.

Political career

Hurn later served as Mayor of

from 1996 to 2014. He was awarded a National Medal in 1994 "for diligent long service to the community in hazardous circumstances", a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) in 1999 "for service to local government through the Barossa Council, and to the community of Angaston", an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 "for service to Country and Metropolitan Football and SANFL Clubs" and a Centenary Medal in 2001 "for service to the community through local government at regional and state levels."

Family

Hurn's son William played 135 games for

Central District Football Club Central District Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the South Australian National Football League. Based at Elizabeth in the City of Playford about 25 km to the north of Adelaide, South Australia the club's ...

in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as t ...

(SANFL) and his grandson Shannon Hurn currently captains West Coast in the Australian Football League (AFL). His granddaughter Ashton Hurn was elected to state parliament as the member for

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

at the

2022 South Australian state election The 2022 South Australian state election was held on 19 March 2022 to elect members to the 55th Parliament of South Australia. All 47 seats in the House of Assembly (the lower house, whose members were elected at the 2018 election), and half t ...

References

Sources

* Page, R. (1984) ''South Australian Cricketers 1877-1984'', Association of Cricket Statisticians: Retford, Nottinghamshire. * Sando, G. (1997) ''Grass Roots'', South Australian Cricket Association: Adelaide. . * Sexton, M. (2017) Chappell's Last Stand, Affirm Press: Melbourne. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurn, Brian 1939 births 2015 deaths Australian cricketers South Australia cricketers Mayors of places in South Australia People from Angaston, South Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Cricketers from South Australia People educated at Prince Alfred College Australian sportsperson-politicians Sportsmen from South Australia