George John Hodges (1841/1842 – 30 May 1899) was an Australian

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

Life and career

Hodges was born in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and moved to Australia in the 1860s. He umpired two

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 February 1884 and January 1885. In the match in Adelaide in February 1884 between

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

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 ...

he also acted as the Victorian team's manager. Hodges replaced Ted Elliott, who had died suddenly, a few days before the Test in

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 ...

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 ...

on 21 March 1885 to 25 March 1885. England won the match by an innings and 98 runs. Hodges' colleague was Jim Phillips, standing in the first of his 13 Tests in Australia. Some of Hodges' decisions in the Test caused such dissatisfaction among some of the English players that during the Australians' second innings he stood down and was replaced by

Tom Garrett Thomas William Garrett (26 July 1858 – 6 August 1943) was an early Australian Test cricketer and, later, a distinguished public servant. Early life Tom Garrett was the second son of a newspaper proprietor and politician who bore the same n ...

, who was playing in the Test for Australia. Phillips had earlier needed to be replaced during the match owing to illness. Hodges umpired no further first-class matches. Hodges was a committee member of the Richmond Cricket Club in the 1880s and 1890s. Hodges worked for

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

. He died in May 1899 of heart failure at his son's farm in

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

, which was at that time beyond the eastern suburbs of

. His wife Bessie died in 1916. They had two sons and two daughters.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, George 1840s births 1899 deaths British emigrants to colonial Australia Australian Test cricket umpires

Life and career

See also

References

External links