Alban George "Johnny" Moyes (2 January 1893 – 18 January 1963) was a cricketer who played for

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Following his brief playing career, Moyes, a professional journalist, later gained greater fame as a writer and commentator on the game.

Cricket career

As a right-hand batsman Moyes scored 883 runs at an average of 29.43 and a highest score of 104 in 103 minutes, 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 ...

in his first season. His

leg break Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery causes the ball to spin from right to left (from the bowler's perspective) when the ball bounces on the ...

bowling took 5 wickets at an average of 53.60, with best figures of 2 for 22. He was considered good enough to be selected for the Australian tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1914, but this was cancelled because of the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He played for the Rest of Australia against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Victor Trumper Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...

was so impressed that he invited him to play as a guest for

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

in a club match. However, he was dismissed for a first ball

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

. Moyes served with distinction in the First World War with the Australian Imperial Force in England and France, earning the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. He played in a number of services' matches in England and played two matches for Victoria. Moving to Sydney as news editor and sports editor of leading newspapers, Moyes joined Gordon. In one club game he scored 218 runs in 83 minutes. He captained Gordon to a

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also ref ...

premiership in 1923–24, scoring 174 in the final. As a state selector for New South Wales in 1926/27 Moyes helped

Don Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...

get his first taste of interstate cricket.

Writing and radio career

Moyes became well known as a cricket commentator for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

between 1950 and 1963. Pollard describes him as "always bright and informative, a cheery character respected by players and listeners". He was a prolific author and wrote the first definitive history of Australian cricket in 1959. Other works included books on Australian batsmen, Australian bowlers, Bradman, Benaud, and many books of tours by Test nations. For his services to sport Moyes was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. Moyes died suddenly at his home, three days after commentating on the third Test of the 1962–63 series 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 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. A few days before he died he asked the England vice-captain

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 ...

to write a foreword to his book on the

1962–63 Ashes series Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita ...

Books by Johnny Moyes

* ''Cricket Notches'' (1935) * ''Bradman'' (1948) * ''A Century of Cricketers'' (1950) * ''The Fight for the Ashes 1950–51: A critical account of the English tour in Australia'' (1951) * ''With the West Indies in Australia, 1951–52: A critical story of the tour'' (1952) * ''The South Africans in Australia, 1952–53'' (1953) * ''Australian Bowlers: From Spofforth to Lindwall'' (1953) * ''Australian Batsmen: From Charles Bannerman to Neil Harvey'' (1954) * ''The Fight for the Ashes, 1954–55: A critical account of the English tour in Australia'' (1955) * ''Australian Cricket: A history'' (1959) * ''Benaud & Co.: The story of the Tests, 1958–59'' (1959) * ''With the West Indies in Australia, 1960–61: A critical story of the tour'' (1961) * ''Benaud'' (1962) * ''The Changing Face of Cricket'' (1963) * ''With the M.C.C. in Australia, 1962–63'' (1963) (completed by Tom Goodman)

References

;Footnotes ;Sources * Pollard, Jack, ''Australian Cricket: The game and the players''. Sydney, Hodder & Stoughton, 1982. () * ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'', 1964 (obituary)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moyes, Johnny 1893 births 1963 deaths Cricket historians and writers Australian cricket commentators Members of the Order of the British Empire Victoria cricketers South Australia cricketers Australian recipients of the Military Cross Australian military personnel of World War I People from Gladstone, South Australia Australian cricketers Cricketers from South Australia