Edgar Arthur "Ted" McDonald (6 January 1891 – 22 July 1937) was a cricketer who played for

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Victoria,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, as well as being an

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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with Launceston Football Club, Essendon Football Club, and

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of City of Fitzroy, Fitzroy, the club is base ...

before totally concentrating on cricket. Despite a short international career, he was considered by many cricketers as well as commentators to be one of the best fast bowlers of his generation.

Cricket career

A very fast bowler with the ability to cause problems even on docile pitches, Ted McDonald was the unexpected bowling sensation of the 1921 Australian tour to England. He and Jack Gregory caused something approaching panic among the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

batsmen: John Evans' knees were allegedly knocking together when he went out to bat, and Andy Ducat was bowled when part of his bat, broken by McDonald's pace, hit the wicket. Where Gregory was able to swing the ball both ways, McDonald imparted vicious movement off the wicket. Like later fast bowling pairs, they were devastating in combination, taking 46 wickets in the series. McDonald played a few matches for Victoria before the First World War, but came to prominence immediately after it with eight wickets in an innings in a state match. He was picked for three Test matches in the 1920–21 series against England, which Australia won 5–0, but had little success, his six wickets costing 65 runs each. In England the following summer, though, he was an instant success, taking eight wickets in the first Test at Trent Bridge and contributing significantly to the victories at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

and

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

that won the series. McDonald was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1922 for his exploits of the previous summer. After the England tour, McDonald played in three Tests against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in the 1921–22 series in South Africa. Those, however, were his last Tests – all of his Test cricket was contained within the calendar year of 1921 – as he then took up an engagement as a professional with the Lancashire League club Nelson. By 1924, McDonald had qualified to play for Lancashire, initially, because of his League commitments, in midweek games only. Again, he was a sensation. In his first full season, 1925, he took 205 wickets, and in the five seasons from 1926 to 1930, Lancashire won the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

four times, the most successful period in the county's history. In all, he took 1053 wickets for Lancashire. His value to the county was recognised in the award of a benefit in 1929, an unusually fast reward, for he had been playing county cricket for only five seasons. McDonald's first-class career ended fairly suddenly. His form dipped in 1930, though he still took more than 100 wickets, but in 1931, he lost form almost entirely, taking just 26 wickets all season and being left out of the county team for half the matches. At the end of the season, he went back to the Lancashire League with Bacup.

Australian rules football

McDonald also played

for Launceston, and for Essendon Football Club (two matches in 1912) and

(46 matches from 1913 to 1919).

Death

McDonald died at the age of 46, when his car collided with another near Bolton, England, on the morning of 22 July 1937.Shaw, E.A., "One of the Greatest Fast Bowlers the Game Has Known", ''The (Brisbane) Telegraph'', (Friday. 23 July 1937), p.7.
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References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Ted 1891 births 1937 deaths Australia Test cricketers Australian cricketers Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Cricketers from Launceston, Tasmania Essendon Football Club players Fitzroy Football Club players Fitzroy Football Club premiership players Lancashire cricketers Australian expatriate cricketers in England North v South cricketers VFL/AFL premiership players People from Blackrod Cricketers from Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Players cricketers Road incident deaths in England Sir L. Parkinson's XI cricketers Tasmania cricketers Victoria cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year 20th-century Australian sportsmen

Cricket career

Australian rules football

Death

References

Further reading

External links