Thomas Alfred Ward (2 August 1887 – 16 February 1936) was a South African

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 in 23 Test matches between 1912 and 1924. A wicket-keeper and useful batsman, Ward made his Test debut on 27 May 1912, the opening Test of the

1912 Triangular Tournament The 1912 Triangular Tournament was a Test cricket competition played between Australia, England and South Africa, the only Test-playing nations at the time. The ultimate winners of the tournament were England, with four wins in their six matches ...

, between

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

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 ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. Ward found himself facing the

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

ball of Australian bowler

Jimmy Matthews Thomas James Matthews (3 April 1884 – 14 October 1943) was an Australian Test cricketer. Bowling leg breaks, he is the only player to have taken two hat-tricks in the same Test match. International cricket career "Possibly the best all-rou ...

. Matthews had just got the wickets of Rolland Beaumont (31) and Sid Pegler ( LBW for 0). Facing his first ball in Test cricket, Ward was hit on the

pads Pads (also called leg guards) are a type of protective equipment used in a number of sports and serve to protect the legs from the impact of a hard ball, puck, or other object of play travelling at high speed which could otherwise cause injuries t ...

and was given out LBW, earning himself a golden duck on debut and giving Matthews his hat-trick. South Africa fell well short of the Australians' first innings total and were forced to follow on. In South Africa's second innings, Matthews again got two wickets in two balls,

Herbie Taylor Herbert Wilfred Taylor (5 May 1889 – 8 February 1973) was a South African cricketer who played 42 Test matches for his country including 18 as captain of the side. Specifically a batsman, he was an expert on the matting pitches which wer ...

(21) and Reginald Schwarz, caught and bowled for 0. Ward for the second time in his debut match found himself walking to the crease to face Matthews on a hat-trick. Matthews got Ward out caught and bowled giving Ward his second golden duck for the match (a

king pair This is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of cricket. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics. Certain aspects of cricket terminology are explained in more detail in cr ...

) and Matthews his second hat-trick. This is the only time in Test cricket history when two hat-tricks have been taken in the one match. Ward died in 1936 as a result of accidental

electrocution Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

while working at a gold mine in Transvaal.

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* 1887 births 1936 deaths Gauteng cricketers South Africa Test cricketers South African cricketers Wicket-keepers British people in colonial India British emigrants to South Africa {{SouthAfrica-cricket-bio-1880s-stub