Sir Murray Bisset (14 April 1876 – 24 October 1931) was a

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 ...

er who captained

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 ...

before moving to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

where he served as Chief Justice of Southern Rhodesia and briefly as

Governor of Southern Rhodesia The Governor of Southern Rhodesia was the representative of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarch in the self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia from 1923 to 1980. The Governor was appointed by The Crown and acted as the local h ...

Early life

Born in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

, Bisset was the fifth son of James Bisset, engineer and former Mayor of Wynberg, and Emily, née Jarvis, daughter of Hercules Jarvis (MLC, MLA) former Mayor of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

.Beyes, C.J. (1981) ''The Dictionary of South African Biography'', vol. 4, Butterworth & Co., Durban. He was educated at

Diocesan College The Diocesan College (commonly known as Bishops) is a private, English medium, boarding and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The school was established on ...

Rondebosch Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with shopping and business districts as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town. History Four years after the first Dutch s ...

. W. A. Bettesworth
"Chats on the Cricket Field: Mr Murray Bisset"
''Cricket'', 1 August 1901, pp. 305–6.

Cricket career

While still at school, Bisset gained a reputation as a batsman and a wicket-keeper who could stand up to the fastest bowlers.Martin-Jenkins, C. (1996) ''World Cricketers: A Biographical Dictionary'', Oxford: Oxford University Press. . He made his first class cricket debut for

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

on 18 April 1895 against

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, scoring 0 and five not out. Despite this setback, Bisset was a regular member of the Western Province side, scoring an unbeaten 124 against Transvaal in 1897, leading to his announcement as captain of the Western Province side for the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

final that year. He scored 5 and 63*, enough to secure his position as South African captain against the touring English side in 1898-99. Aged 22, Bisset remained Test cricket's youngest captain until

Ian Craig Ian David Craig (12 June 193516 November 2014) was an Australian cricketer who represented the Australian national team in 11 Tests between 1953 and 1958. A right-handed batsman, Craig holds the records for being the youngest Australian to ...

captained

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 ...

in 1957. Playing as a wicket-keeper batsman, Bisset scored 35 and 21* and took a catch and a stumping. Bisset also captained the Second Test of the series but, due to the vagaries of turn of the century international cricket it would be another 11 years before Bisset played his third and final Test. Bisset studied law and, following graduation, was admitted to the Cape Bar in 1899 and practised in the Cape before serving in the intelligence services during the

South African War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. Following his war service, In 1901, Bisset led the South African team to England in the face of fierce criticism that the tour was taking place during the war. Bisset starred on the tour, which did not include a Test, including 184 against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, his highest first-class score. Returning to South Africa, Bisset continued to play cricket when his burgeoning legal career allowed. He was recalled for the Fifth Test between South Africa and England at Cape Town in 1909-10, where he kept wicket and batted in the middle order. Following the match, Bisset retired to concentrate on his legal career. In all, Bisset played 40 first-class matches, scoring 1441 runs at 23.62 with two centuries, taking five wickets at 24.40 and taking 51 catches and 13 stumpings.

Political career

In 1914, Bisset was elected to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

as a

South African Party nl, Zuidafrikaanse Partij , leader1_title = Leader (s) , leader1_name = Louis Botha,Jan Smuts, Barry Hertzog , foundation = , dissolution = , merger = Het VolkSouth African PartyAfrikaner BondOrangia Unie , merged ...

representative for South Peninsula, holding his seat until his retirement from politics in 1924.''The Times'' "Obituary – Sir Murray Bisset", ''The Times'', 26 October 1931, p 19. While in parliament, Bisset unsuccessfully introduced a

Private Members Bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

in 1921 whereby a widow was lawfully entitled to marry her deceased husband's brother. Following his retirement from politics, Bisset moved to Southern Rhodesia, where he was appointed a senior judge in 1925 and served as Chief Justice of Southern Rhodesia from 1927 until his death. Knighted in 1928, Bisset had served as acting Governor of Southern Rhodesia in 1928 and was serving as governor again in 1931 while the Governor

Cecil Hunter-Rodwell Sir Cecil William Hunter-Rodwell (29 December 1874 – 23 February 1953) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Southern Rhodesia, British Guiana, and Fiji. Biography Born in England, Rodwell attended Cheam School and ...

was in England, when he died in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

. He was survived by his wife, Gladys, whom he married in 1905, and one son. Bisset's brothers

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

and Arthur Bisset, and brother-in-law Archibald Difford also played first-class cricket in South Africa.''Cricket Archive'
Murray Bisset

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisset, Murray 1876 births 1931 deaths Alumni of Diocesan College, Cape Town Sportspeople from Port Elizabeth Knights Bachelor South African knights South African Knights Bachelor Western Province cricketers Cricket players and officials awarded knighthoods Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) Governors of Southern Rhodesia South African expatriate judges Chief justices of Rhodesia South Africa Test cricket captains Wicket-keepers South African people of Scottish descent South African people of English descent