Charles Bannerman
Encyclopedia
Charles Bannerman was an Australia
n Test cricket
er, a right-hand batsman, who played domestic cricket for New South Wales
.
Bannerman was born in Woolwich
, Kent
, England
, son of William Bannerman and his wife Margaret, née Murphy. Not long afterwards the family migrated to New South Wales
. He joined Warwick Cricket Club in Sydney
. He first played first-class cricket in 1870-71, and came to prominence by scoring 81 and 32 not out against Victoria
in 1874.
He played in the very first Test match
, held at Melbourne
in March 1877, and had the honour of facing the first ball ever bowled in Test cricket (the bowler being England's Alfred Shaw
). Dropped before he reached double figures, he went on to 165 when he was forced to retire hurt, his finger being broken by a ball from George Ulyett
. This was not only the first century
scored in a Test match, but remains, more than 130 years later, the highest score by an Australian batsman on debut.
Also, his 165 runs, out of Australia's total of 245, is still the highest proportion (67.35%) of a completed innings
in a Test match. No other Australian exceeded 20 in either innings, as Australia won this historic match by 45 runs. For his feat, spectators at the match collected £83/7/6 to present to him.
Bannerman played in the next two Tests, and in his brief Test career he scored 239 runs at an average of 59.75. On the first official tour of England in 1878 he topped the averages and scored the first century by an Australian in England, but no Test matches were played on this tour. He had a first-class batting average of 1,687 runs at 21.62. He retired after the first three Tests, officially through ill-health, but it was suggested that he could not cope with celebrity status, and that gambling debts and alcohol left him impoverished.
Between 1887 and 1902 he stood as umpire
in 12 Test matches in Australia. His first match was between Australia
and England
in Sydney
on 28 January to 31 January 1887, won by England by 13 runs after scoring a paltry 45 runs in their first innings. His colleague was Henry Rawlinson
, standing in his only Test match. His last match, at Melbourne in 1901/02 season, was also a close low-scoring affair, with Australia winning by 32 runs. On this occasion his colleague was Bob Crockett
standing in the first season of a long and illustrious Test umpiring career.
In two of the matches in which Charles Bannerman officiated, his brother Alick
was a player. No accusations of bias could be made - Alick scored only 23 runs in four innings.
In the fifth Test in the 1897/98 series Bannerman turned down a confident LBW appeal against Australian batsman Joe Darling
when the match was in a tense situation. The LBW seemed obvious but the bowler had run in front of the umpire who was unsighted and had to reject the appeal. Darling, then on 50, went on to 160, winning the match for Australia. After the game Bannerman lodged an official complaint against the English wicket-keeper who had accused him of cheating, and the player was rebuked.
In 1922-23 season the first radio broadcast of a cricket match anywhere in the world was a match played as a benefit for Charles Bannerman, from which he received £490. He died in Sydney
, Australia
survived by his widow Mary Ann, née King, two sons and three daughters; three of the children were the issue of his first marriage to Ellen, née Neale.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
er, a right-hand batsman, who played domestic cricket for New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
.
Bannerman was born in Woolwich
Woolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, son of William Bannerman and his wife Margaret, née Murphy. Not long afterwards the family migrated to New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. He joined Warwick Cricket Club in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. He first played first-class cricket in 1870-71, and came to prominence by scoring 81 and 32 not out against Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
in 1874.
He played in the very first Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, held at Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in March 1877, and had the honour of facing the first ball ever bowled in Test cricket (the bowler being England's Alfred Shaw
Alfred Shaw
Alfred Shaw was an eminent Victorian cricketer and rugby footballer, who bowled the first ball in Test cricket and was the first to take five wickets in a Test innings . He who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888...
). Dropped before he reached double figures, he went on to 165 when he was forced to retire hurt, his finger being broken by a ball from George Ulyett
George Ulyett
George Ulyett was an English all-round cricketer, noted particularly for his very-aggressive batsmanship. A well-liked man , Ulyett was popularly known as "Happy Jack", once musing memorably that Yorkshire played him only for his good behaviour and his whistling...
. This was not only the first century
Century
A century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
scored in a Test match, but remains, more than 130 years later, the highest score by an Australian batsman on debut.
Also, his 165 runs, out of Australia's total of 245, is still the highest proportion (67.35%) of a completed innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
in a Test match. No other Australian exceeded 20 in either innings, as Australia won this historic match by 45 runs. For his feat, spectators at the match collected £83/7/6 to present to him.
Between 1887 and 1902 he stood as umpire
Umpire (cricket)
In cricket, an umpire is a person who has the authority to make judgements on the cricket field, according to the Laws of Cricket...
in 12 Test matches in Australia. His first match was between Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
and England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
on 28 January to 31 January 1887, won by England by 13 runs after scoring a paltry 45 runs in their first innings. His colleague was Henry Rawlinson
Henry Rawlinson (umpire)
Henry Rawlinson was a Test match umpire. He officiated in one match between Australia and England in Sydney on 28 January to 31 January 1887, won by England by 13 runs after scoring a paltry 45 runs in their first innings...
, standing in his only Test match. His last match, at Melbourne in 1901/02 season, was also a close low-scoring affair, with Australia winning by 32 runs. On this occasion his colleague was Bob Crockett
Bob Crockett
Robert Maxwell Crockett , was an Australian Test match umpire.Crockett umpired a total of 32 Test matches, the highest number by an Australian umpire until passed by Tony Crafter in his last match in 1992...
standing in the first season of a long and illustrious Test umpiring career.
In two of the matches in which Charles Bannerman officiated, his brother Alick
Alick Bannerman
Alexander Chalmers Bannerman was an Australian cricketer who played in 28 Tests between 1879 and 1893....
was a player. No accusations of bias could be made - Alick scored only 23 runs in four innings.
In the fifth Test in the 1897/98 series Bannerman turned down a confident LBW appeal against Australian batsman Joe Darling
Joe Darling
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 34 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including...
when the match was in a tense situation. The LBW seemed obvious but the bowler had run in front of the umpire who was unsighted and had to reject the appeal. Darling, then on 50, went on to 160, winning the match for Australia. After the game Bannerman lodged an official complaint against the English wicket-keeper who had accused him of cheating, and the player was rebuked.
In 1922-23 season the first radio broadcast of a cricket match anywhere in the world was a match played as a benefit for Charles Bannerman, from which he received £490. He died in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
survived by his widow Mary Ann, née King, two sons and three daughters; three of the children were the issue of his first marriage to Ellen, née Neale.
See also
- History of Test cricket (to 1883)History of Test cricket (to 1883)Test matches in the period 1877 to 1883 were organised somewhat differently from international cricket matches today. The teams were rarely representative, and the boat trip between Australia and England, which usually lasted about 48 days, was one that many cricketers were unable or unwilling to...
- List of Australian Test cricketers
- Australian Test Cricket Umpires
- List of Test umpires