Ronald Orlando George Morrisby (12 January 1915 – 10 June 1995), was an Australian

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 ...

er who played first-class cricket for Tasmania from 1931 until 1952. He can be considered one of the most outstanding Tasmanian batsman of his era, and was unlucky never to be selected to play test cricket for

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 ...

, despite having toured India with an Australian side. Morrisby was the 29th player to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

the Tasmanian first-class team, but was never able to lead them to victory.http://www.tascricket.com.au/site/_content/document/00000019-source.pdf An exciting batsman with a preference for playing off the back foot, he played for South Hobart Cricket Club in the

Tasmanian Grade Cricket Cricket Tasmania Premier League, or Tasmanian Premier Cricket, refers to the hierarchically graded cricket competitions played in Tasmania, Australia. The Cricket Tasmania Premier League comes under the administration of the Tasmanian Cricket Assoc ...

competition, and still holds many records in that competition, including being the all-time leading run scorer.http://www.tascricket.com.au/site/_content/document/00000058-source.pdf

Club career

Ronald Morrisby still holds the record for the most runs in a single season in the

competition, having score 1099 runs in the 1950–51 season. His highest season average of 77.71 is also still the highest ever. Morrisby is also the all-time leading run-scorer in that competition, with his career total for South Hobart Cricket Club, a staggering 16,000 runs exactly. His highest score of 197 against Sandy Bay Cricket Club (his own team South Hobart, and Sandy Bay were later to merge) is the second highest score ever made in the Tasmanian grade competition. He also scored 180*, and passed 150 on six occasions, but never managed a double century in his entire career. Morrisby also holds the record for the highest ever first wicket partnership, when he and

Jim Atkinson James Archibald "Snowy" Atkinson (4 April 1896 – 11 June 1956) was an Australian rules footballer and first class cricketer. Family The son of Michael James Atkinson, and Margaret Atkinson, née Markland, James Archibald Atkinson was born i ...

put on an unbeaten stand of 286 against New Town Cricket Club in the 1931–32 season. He was the highest season aggregate run-scorer in an incredible 13 separate seasons. Morrisby helped South Hobart to five premierships during his career, before finally retired from club cricket in 1960 at the age of 45.

First-class career

Morrisby made his first-class debut against Victoria at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

, unusually on Christmas Day, 25 December 1931. It was eighteen days before his seventeenth birthday. He was disappointingly bowled for 3 by Arthur Liddicut in his first innings, but a fine 67 in the second showed that he was of first-class cricket material. Morrisby took over the Tasmanian captaincy from Sydney Putman during the 1937–38 season, and held on to the post until his retirement in 1952. Putman was in fact the fourth non-permanent holder of the post during the 1930s, and so Morrisby can be considered the first permanent captain of Tasmania since

stood down in 1934. Off the back of an excellent season in 1934–35 in the Tasmanian competition, Morrisby was somewhat surprisingly called up for the Australian team's tour on India in 1935–36, led by

Frank Tarrant Francis Alfred Tarrant (11 December 1880 – 29 January 1951) was an Australian cricketer whose first-class career spanned from 1899 to 1936, and included 329 matches. From Melbourne, Tarrant began his career with Victoria in Australia's Sheff ...

. He had an excellent tour, scoring 2 centuries, and 3 half-centuries, and played in all four unofficial Test matches (only first-class status) against India. His highest ever first-class score of 145 came against Patiala in Punjab. Having been set a competitive 352 to chase, Morrisby top-scored, including sharing a second-wicket partnership of 274 with New South Welshman,

Wendell Bill Oscar Wendell Bill (8 April 1910 – 10 May 1988) was an Australian cricketer. He played 35 first-class matches, mostly for New South Wales, between 1929–30 and 1935–36. Life and career Bill was one of the children of George Thomas Bill, ...

. Including his matches for Tasmania in that year, Morrisby had the best first-class season of his career in 1935–36, scoring 811 runs at 40.55, with 2 centuries and 5 half-centuries. As with most cricketers of his era, Morrisby's first-class career was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. He only ever managed to score one additional century after the 1935-36 tour of India, which had proved to be the highlight of his first-class career, and that came in a match against the touring

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

in the 1947–48 season. They stopped in Tasmania to play two tour matches, and in the second at the

NTCA Ground The North Tasmania Cricket Association Ground, better known as the NTCA Ground, is the oldest first-class cricket ground in Australia. It is a multi-use sports venue situated in Launceston, Australia. In 1851, the ground hosted Australia's fi ...

on 16 January 1948, Morrisby made 130 in a remarkable Tasmanian total of 458 all out, chasing the Indians first innings score of 7 for 457 declared. The match was rain-affected, and ended in a draw, but is notable in that it was the first-class debut of

Emerson Rodwell Edwin Emerson Rodwell, MM (12 April 1921 – 27 February 2011) was an Australian soldier, cricket player, umpire, commentator and administrator. He fought in World War II, in New Guinea, and Borneo, and was awarded the Military Medal. Rodwell w ...

, who was to become the next great Tasmanian batsman of the following generation. Morrisby continued playing first-class cricket until the 1951–52 season, when he retired at the age of 37. In 51 matches, Morrisby had accumulated 2596 runs at an average of 32.45 including 3 centuries, and 14 half-centuries, with a high score of 145. Ronald Morrisby also umpired in a match between Southern Tasmania Cricket Association and the North-West Tasmania Cricket Association in 1955–56.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrisby, Ronald 1915 births 1995 deaths Tasmania cricketers Cricketers from Hobart Australian cricketers D. G. Bradman's XI cricketers