Philip Mesmer Newland (2 February 1875 – 11 August 1916) was an Australian sportsman who excelled at Australian rules football,

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 str ...

and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

. He played

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

cricket 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 ...

as a

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. ...

and toured England with the Australian Test team in 1905.

Life and career

Newland was a member of the noted Newland family of South Australia. His father was author

Simpson Newland Simpson Newland CMG (2 November 1835 – 27 June 1925), pastoralist, author and politician, was a pioneer in Australia who made significant contributions to development around the Murray River. He was also an author of practical works and novel ...

and he was the brother of surgeon Henry Simpson Newland and politician Victor Marra Newland. Phil Newland was educated at

St Peter's College, Adelaide , other_name = The Collegiate School of St Peter , seal_image = St Peter's College, Adelaide Logo.svg , seal_size = 150 , image = SPSC chapel and memorial hall.jpg , image_size ...

, and the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, where he studied law. He was called to the Bar in 1899. Newland made his first-class and Sheffield Shield debut in 1899/00 but had to wait over two years to make his second appearance. He took part in every Shield campaign from 1902/03 to 1905/06 and usually batted in the lower order. His highest score of 77 was made on the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby le ...

, in a 106 run ninth wicket partnership with spinner Robert Rees. Up until 1904, when he retired from lacrosse, Newland represented South Australia in the sport and was earlier a leading player for

Adelaide University The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

. He was also an Australian rules footballer, playing with the

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 i ...

in the South Australian Football Association. Newland captained Norwood's 1904 premiership team, which had come back from 35 points at the last change to win. Newland toured England in 1905 as a reserve wicket-keeper and understudy to

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United Stat ...

. While in the United Kingdom he played in 10 first-class matches with the Australian team, but could only score 67 runs at 9.57 and effect 13 dismissals. His disappointing performances may have been as a result of an eye injury he received during the trip over, which was bad enough that he had to see an

oculist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

in London. He had earlier, in 1904/05, toured New Zealand and played two matches against the national team. At that stage, New Zealand weren't a Test playing country so the matches had only first-class status. Newland suffered from chronic poor health after the tour of England. He practised as a lawyer in the town of

Balaklava Balaklava ( uk, Балаклáва, russian: Балаклáва, crh, Balıqlava, ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklava Raion that used to be part of the Cri ...

, north of Adelaide, until his health deteriorated about two years before his death. He died at his home in

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End. Toponymy Knightsbridge is an ancien ...

, Adelaide, leaving a widow and four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newland, Phil 1875 births 1916 deaths People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide Adelaide Law School alumni Australian cricketers South Australia cricketers Australian rules footballers from South Australia Norwood Football Club players Australian lacrosse players Cricketers from Adelaide Wicket-keepers