Melville James "Mel" McInnes (30 August 1915 in Prospect, South Australia – 23 July 1996 in

Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

) was an Australian cricket Test match umpire. He umpired 16

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

between 1951 and 1959. His first match was 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 the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

on 22 to 25 December 1951 (the first Test to include play on Christmas Day), won by the West Indies after dismissing Australia for 82 in the first innings. McInnes' partner in this match was Ron Wright. McInnes' first international match was the England against

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 ...

match in January 1951. He no-balled

Doug Wright Douglas Wright (born December 20, 1962) is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2004 for his play ''I Am My Own Wife''. Early years Wright was born in Dallas, Texas. He attended and ...

three balls in succession for overstepping, and this courageous act may have led to his first Test appointment the following year. His last match – also at Adelaide and with Ron Wright as his partner - was between Australia 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 30 January to 5 February 1959. This was won by Australia by 10 wickets largely due to 170 by Colin McDonald and 9 wickets to

Richie Benaud Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who, after his retirement from international cricket in 1964, became a highly regarded commentator on the game. Benaud was a Test cricket all-rounder, blending l ...

. McDonald pulled a thigh muscle and had resumed batting with a runner, when a Run out appeal was made at the bowler’s end. McInnes had moved to the same side as the runner to view the action, and after giving McDonald out to the appeal, had to reverse his decision, as the runner was behind him and out of his view. In the 1979 Australia Day Honours McInnes was awarded an

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 ...

medal (OAM) for his umpiring services. According to his '' Wisden'' obituary he "won a solid reputation for his judgement, impartiality and bearing, but became mired in controversy on the 1958-59 tour f Australia by Englandwhen he was blamed by the English press after some bad decisions and for not stamping out

throwing Throwing is an action which consists in accelerating a projectile and then releasing it so that it follows a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a remote target. This action is best characterized for animals with prehensile l ...

and dragging among the Australian fast bowlers". (Presumably ''Wisden'' had bowlers

Ian Meckiff Ian Meckiff (born 6 January 1935) is a former cricketer who represented Australia national cricket team, Australia in 18 test cricket, Test matches between 1957 and 1963. A left-arm Fast bowling, fast bowler, he is best known for two matters tha ...

and Gordon Rorke in mind with this comment.)

Johnnie Moyes Alban George "Johnny" Moyes (2 January 1893 – 18 January 1963) was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Victoria. Following his brief playing career, Moyes, a professional journalist, later gained greater fame as a writer and comme ...

in 1959 thought "McInnes, in my opinion, ranks with Hele and

Crockett Crockett may refer to: People and fictional characters *Crockett Gillmore (born 1991), American National Football League player *Crockett Johnson, pen name of David Johnson Liesk (1906-1975), American cartoonist and children's book illustrator *C ...

as the finest Australia has produced … McInnes adopted the English idea of never rushing into a decision and perhaps that is why he makes so few mistakes". McInnes stood six feet four and a half inches tall, and played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

for

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

and cricket for

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (mining ...

before enlisting in the AIF in 1940. He served as a captain in the Middle East and in New Guinea. He worked in the state public service.

References

* Moyes, A. G., ''Australian Cricket: A History'', Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1959. * Pollard, Jack, ''Australian Cricket: 1948-1995, The Packer Years''. Sydney, The Book Company, 1995. * ''

Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack ''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 ...

'', 1997 edition (obituary, p. 1410)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McInnes, Mel 1915 births 1996 deaths Australian Test cricket umpires Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers

See also

References

External links