William Thomas "Poley" Evans (9 April 1876 – 19 July 1964) was an Australian sportsman. He captained

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_ ...

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 ...

and represented Australia in

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

. He was born in

Indooroopilly Indooroopilly is a riverside suburb 7km west of the Brisbane CBD, Queensland, Australia. In the , Indooroopilly had a population of 12,242 people. Geography Indooroopilly is bounded to the south and south-east by the median of the Brisbane Riv ...

and died at

Buranda Buranda is a neighbourhood in the southern Brisbane suburbs of Greenslopes and Woolloongabba in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The location is an important transport hub for southern Brisbane. Logan Road and Ipswich Road pass ...

, Queensland.

Rugby union career

Evans, who played on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, won two caps for Australia at rugby in 1899 as a winger in the national side. His debut game was against

Matthew Mullineux Matthew Mullineux MC (8 August 1867 – 13 February 1945) was an English rugby union scrum-half who, although not capped for England, was selected for two British Lions tours. He gained one cap during the 1896 tour to South Africa and cap ...

's first British Lions to tour Australia at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

on 24 June 1899, the inaugural rugby Test match played by an Australian national representative side. He scored a try in that match and is listed on rugby records by the name 'Poley' Evans. Four weeks later he played in the second Test in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. His performance in that match was noted as ''excellent'' by the press. He made a state appearance for

that year against those same tourists. Poley's younger brother

Lew Evans Llewellyn John Evans (born 19 February 1881) was a rugby union player who represented Australia. Evans, a fly-half, was born in Brisbane, Queensland, and won three international rugby caps for Australia, his first against New Zealand, at Sydne ...

also represented for Australia from 1903 to 1904.

Cricket career

Evans, who often batted with the tail, made just one first-class century. It came against New South Wales at the

Brisbane Cricket Ground The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

in 1908, when he came in at number nine in the batting order and scored 103 not out. When he returned to cricket in 1902 it was as a wicket-keeper and he kept wicket for all but one of his first-class matches from that point. Queensland didn't play in the

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 ...

during Evans's career so most of his appearances were in Brisbane, when they took on touring states. He regularly captained Queensland and even had the honour of captaining an Australian XI for a first-class match against South Africa in 1910. When Evans made his first-class debut in 1899, it was as an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

. Bowling right arm overarm, he took 7/70, despite his opponents the South Australians amassing 582 runs. It was the first ever time the two states had met at first-class level and thus Evans has the distinction of being the first Queenslander to take a five wicket haul against South Australia.

Published references

* Collection (1995) ''Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby'', HarperCollins Publishers Sydney * Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead - Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, William 1876 births 1964 deaths Australian cricketers Queensland cricketers Queensland cricket captains Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Cricketers from Brisbane Wicket-keepers Rugby union players from Brisbane Rugby union wings