Barney O'Shaughnessy (28 February 1912 – 27 May 2007) was an Australian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played a single first-class match for

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Born in the isolated

Mid-West The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

town of

Wiluna, Western Australia Wiluna is a small town in the Goldfields-Esperance, Goldfields-Esperance region (since 2021) of Western Australia. It is situated on the edge of the Western Desert at the gateway to the Canning Stock Route and Gunbarrel Highway. It is the serv ...

, where his family managed a hotel, O'Shaughnessy was sent to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

for schooling, attending Christian Brothers' College as a boarder. Playing as a

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

and attacking batsman, he played cricket for the school in the Darlot Cup, and also captained the school's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team in 1931, his final year at the school. In one match, against Scotch College in November 1931, O'Shaughnessy scored exactly 100 runs, from 65 minutes of batting, including seven sixes and nine fours. O'Shaughnessy's only first-class match, for Western Australia, was against the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

on their 1932–33 tour of Australia. In the match, held at the

WACA Ground The WACA Ground () is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA). The WACA has been referred to as Western Australia' ...

in late October 1932, he opened Western Australia's bowling alongside

Ron Halcombe Ronald Andrewes Halcombe (19 March 1906 – 1 August 1993) was a first-class cricketer who represented South Australia and Western Australia in a career spanning from 1926/27 to 1939/40. A right-arm fast bowler, Halcombe moved from South Austr ...

in both innings, taking 0/50 in the first and 1/31 in the second innings. His only wicket was that of Leslie Ames, who he bowled for 19 runs.Barney O'Shaughnessy
– ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 December 2012. He batted at number ten in Western Australia's only innings, and scored a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

. O'Shaughnessy returned to Wiluna in 1933 to take over the Club Hotel, which his family had previously run. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, O'Shaughnessy enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

, along with several other sportsmen from Western Australia. He served as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in the 2/1 Guard Regiment, and was discharged in November 1944.O'SHAUGHNESSY, BARNEY
– WW2 Nominal Roll. Retrieved 2 December 2012. O'Shaughnessy eventually retired to Perth, dying in Nedlands in May 2007, at the age of 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OShaughnessy, Barney 1912 births 2007 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian cricketers Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian people of Irish descent Cricketers from Western Australia People educated at Christian Brothers' College, Perth People from Wiluna, Western Australia Western Australia cricketers 20th-century Australian sportsmen

See also

References