Hampton Neil Dansie (born 2 July 1928) is a former

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 officiall ...

er and long-term administrator 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 ...

Early life

Nicknamed "Nodder" due to his habit of nodding in agreement when in conversation, Dansie was born in

Nuriootpa, South Australia Nuriootpa ( ) is a town in South Australia and the major commercial centre of the Barossa Valley, about an hour's drive north of the state capital, Adelaide. The name of the town is reputed to be the local Aboriginal word for "meeting place". ...

, the grandson of Sam Dansie, a leading country cricketer who represented a

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

team against the touring

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

side.Pollard, J. (1988) ''Australian Cricket: The Game and its Players'', Angus & Robertson Publishing, North Ryde. Dansie moved to

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 ...

with his family as a child and excelled in a wide range of sports, including

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

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 ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. He made his first grade cricket debut for

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 (SAC ...

aged 15, one of the youngest ever debutants in the South Australian Grade Cricket League. His football career also developed, making his senior debut for

Norwood Football Club Norwood Football Club, nicknamed the Redlegs, is an Australian rules football club competing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in the state of South Australia. Its home ground is Coopers Stadium (Norwood Oval), which is ...

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 the ...

(SANFL) in 1946."Neil Dansie", ''CKCricket Heritage'' Accessed 12 January 2009 Dansie played 39 games for Norwood before retiring in 1949, aged just 21, in order to concentrate on his cricket. In January 1949 Dansie was the last player to bat with

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 ...

in an official match, when Bradman played his final innings for Kensington against

Port Adelaide Cricket Club Port Adelaide Cricket Club is a cricket club in Adelaide, South Australia. Its home oval is the Port Reserve, Port Adelaide. The club was founded in 1893. Port Adelaide has played in the South Australian Grade Cricket League since 1897. Histor ...

at Alberton Oval. When Bradman was given out caught behind on 38, the large crowd booed the umpire and promptly adjourned to the neighbouring Alberton Hotel.

First-class cricket

Dansie made his first-class cricket debut on 27 January 1950 on the

WACA Ground The WACA (formally the WACA Ground) is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association. The WACA has been referred to as Wester ...

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 ...

, making 36 and 13. Dansie quickly gained a reputation as a hard-hitting batsman with a liking for the pull, sweep and cut shots and a steady off-spin and leg-spin bowler, as well as being known as one of the great characters of South Australian cricket, including gaining the title of being the world's fastest eater.Shiell, A. (2008) "'Nodda' Dansie celebrates 80", ''The Independent Weekly'', 27 June 2008. Dansie's best batting performance was 185 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 , established_ ...

at the Gabba in January 1951 and took five wickets for 61 against Queensland in December 1960.

Lancashire League

In 1955, Dansie signed with Lancashire League club

Todmorden Todmorden ( ; ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Upper Calder Valley in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. It is north-east of Manchester, south-east of Burnley and west of Halifax, West Yorkshire, Hal ...

(for £550) on the advice of former Australian Test cricketer and

Bacup Cricket Club Bacup Cricket Club, based at Lanehead in Bacup, Lancashire, are a cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each compri ...

professional Arthur Richardson.''Lancashire Telegraph'', "Stubborn Dansie was irremovable", 23 July 2007 In his first season Dansie made 800 runs and took 44 wickets. Re-signed by Todmorden for the 1956 season, Dansie remained in

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 ...

in 1955/56 and worked at

Alf Gover Alfred Richard Gover (29 February 1908 – 7 October 2001) was an English Test cricketer. He was the mainstay of the Surrey bowling attack during the 1930s and played four Tests before and after the Second World War. He also founded and ran a ...

's indoor cricket centre, coaching children who hadn't played cricket before, experience which Dansie later used as a coach in South Australia. In the 1956 Lancashire League season Dansie made 713 runs and scored 67 wickets. A popular figure in Todmorden, Dansie was offered another contract but, having married Gwenda, Dansie returned to South Australia.

Cricket administration

Dansie retired from first-class cricket in 1967, after 124 matches and was awarded honorary membership of the

South Australian Cricket Association The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) is the peak body for the sport of cricket in South Australia. The association administers the Southern Redbacks based in Adelaide. SACA is the controlling body for the South Australian Grade Cri ...

. Following his retirement, Dansie turned to coaching and administration, coaching the Norwood reserves, South Australian Amateur Football League (SAAFL) team Payneham, the SAAFL state team and the All-Australian amateur team. Additionally, Dansie and his wife founded the

Newton Jaguars Netball Club The Netball South Australia Premier League, also referred to as the Netball SA Premier League is a state netball league organised by Netball South Australia. On a national level, the league is effectively a third level league, below Suncorp Super ...

. In 1976 Dansie was made a selector for the South Australian senior cricket side and all its under-age and women's teams, serving for 30 years. Dansie also served on the SACA board for 25 years, on the City of Campbelltown council and as president of the Australian Sportsmen's Association. Dansie also found time to work for the South Australian Education Department, including many years as the

bursar A bursar (derived from "bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education (f ...

Norwood Morialta High School Norwood International High School (NIHS) is a single-campus, co-educational, public high school located in the eastern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. Founded as Norwood District High School in 1910 on Osmond Terrace, Norwood, the schoo ...

Honours

Dansie was known as "The Patriarch of South Australian cricket", and the Neil Dansie Trophy for South Australia's most valuable player each season is named in his honour. He and his former teammate Les Favell are honoured in the Favell-Dansie Indoor Centre at the southern end of Adelaide Oval, behind the Sir Donald Bradman Stand. In 1991 he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to sport.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dansie, Neil 1928 births Living people Australian cricketers Australian cricket coaches South Australia cricketers Norwood Football Club players Kensington cricketers Australian rules footballers from Adelaide Australian cricket administrators Cricketers from Adelaide People from Nuriootpa, South Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sportsmen from South Australia Australian expatriate cricketers in the United Kingdom Australian expatriate sportspeople in England