Thomas Edmund O'Dwyer (5 November 1919 – 1 September 2005) 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 15 first-class matches 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 ...

between 1946 and 1960. He is best known as the last player to dismiss

Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...

in a first-class match in Australia. O'Dwyer was born in

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the Parishes of Barbados, parish of Saint Michael, Barbados, Saint Mic ...

, to John and Isabel (née Priest) O'Dwyer. His father was manager of the local

Lands Department The Lands Department is a government department under the Development Bureau responsible for all land matters in Hong Kong. Established in 1982, it comprises three functional offices: the Lands Administration Office The Lands Administration O ...

office. O'Dwyer's family moved 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 ...

when he was five, and he attended St. Patricks College (now part of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

). He began playing cricket with the North Perth C-grade team, and later played for Subiaco and

Mount Lawley Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, Co ...

in the WACA District competition.Conversation: Tom O’Dwyer, ‘bowling baritone’ and special minister of Eucharist - Man of prayer who bowled the Don in ’48
– Catholic Weekly. Retrieved 8 May 2012. Bowling

left-arm orthodox spin Left-arm orthodox spin or left-arm off spin, also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of spin bowling in cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven ...

, O'Dwyer made his first-class debut for Western Australia against the touring Marylebone Cricket Club team in October 1946, and took two

wicket In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three Stump (cricket), stumps and two Bail (cricket), bails at each end of the Cricket pitch, pitch. The Fielding (cricket), fielding team's playe ...

s on debut, dismissing Joe Hardstaff

leg before wicket Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a Batting (cricket), batter can be dismissal (cricket), dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an Appeal (cricket), appeal by the Fielding (cricket), fielding side, the umpire (cricket), ...

and having Bill Edrich caught. The following season, he was a member of Western Australia's inaugural

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

side against

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, taking 5/47 in South Australia's first innings to record his first five-wicket haul. Later in the 1947–48 season, the Australian side touring England stopped in Perth and played a match against Western Australia, with O'Dwyer becoming the last bowler to dismiss

Don Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...

in a first-class match in Australia, having him caught by Tom Outridge. O'Dwyer retired at the conclusion of the 1960 season to concentrate on his work, having played a total of 15 first-class matches, in which he scored 305 runs at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 16.05, and took 41 wickets at an

of 34.51.Tom O'Dwyer player profile
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 May 2012. His best bowling figures were taken against

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in February 1948, taken seven wickets for 79 runs in Queensland's first innings.Queensland v Western Australia
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 May 2012. Outside of cricket, O'Dwyer worked in the insurance business, and was also involved with the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and the

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the service of the poor. Started by Frédéric Ozanam and Emmanuel-Joseph Bailly de Surcy and named ...

. He died in Perth in September 2005.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:ODwyer, Tom 1919 births 2005 deaths Australian Roman Catholics People from Bridgetown, Western Australia Western Australia cricketers Cricketers from Western Australia