Billy Murdoch

Billy Murdoch Australia (Aus)
Batting style	Right-handed batsman
Bowling type	n/a
	Tests	First-class
Matches	19	391
Runs scored	908	16953
Batting average	31.31	26.86
100s/50s	2/1	19.85
Top score	211	321
Balls bowled	0	764
Wickets	0	10
Bowling average	n/a	43.00
5 wickets in innings	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	0
Best bowling	n/a	2/11
Catches/stumpings	14/1	218/24
Test debut: 31 March, 1877 Last Test: 22 March, 1892 Source: Cricinfo

William (Billy) Lloyd Murdoch (18 October 1854 – 18 February 1911) was an Australian cricketer, captaining the Australian tours to England in 1880, 1882 (when the Ashes legend was born), and 1884.

Contents 1 Teams 1.1 International 1.2 Australian state 1.3 English county 2 Career highlights 2.1 Tests 3 Notes 4 References

Murdoch was born in Sandhurst (now Bendigo), Victoria to Gilbert Murdoch and his wife Susanna (née Fleigge). Early in the 1860s, the Murdochs moved to New South Wales, and Billy played for the Albert Club with Fred Spofforth. He made his first-class entry in 1875, at the time regarded as the finest wicketkeeper in Australia, and a highly-rated right-handed batsman. He played in the second Test match ever played, the 1877 clash against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Later that year, he qualified as a solicitor and opened up a practice, "Murdoch & Murdoch", with his brother Gilbert.

Murdoch established himself as one of the era's greatest batsmen over the next few years, leading Australia in several Test series against England. In 1881-82 he became the first man other than W. G. Grace to score a first-class triple century when, as captain, he made 321 for New South Wales against Victoria at the SCG.^[1] The innings comprised 38 fours, nine threes, 41 twos and sixty singles from all of ten Victorian bowlers. It was this knock which established him in the public reckoning as Australia's finest batsman. Murdoch was never far from controversy. His omission as wicketkeeper in the very first Test resulted in Australia’s premier fast bowler, Fred Spofforth, boycotting the match. In 1884 as captain of Australia he was involved in the players' strike, where the Australian players refused to play unless they received a greater share of the gate takings. He was also the batsman whose contentious runout caused friction between New South Wales and a visiting English team led by Lord Harris which also caused a spectator riot. His best Test performances more often occurred in England where both his Test hundreds were scored, 153 not out in the first Test in the old country in 1880 at The Oval and 211 at the same ground four years later. In both the 1880 and 1884 tours he headed the batting averages. In England he was regarded as a superb captain and enough of a gentleman to be invited to captain Sussex, which he did for several seasons. He was widely regarded the finest Australian batsman of his day, being bettered only by the English champion WG Grace. Murdoch was more of an off side player whose drives and cuts were regarded as among the best of his day but his leg side play as well as his ability against good spin was not apparently as good. Also, he was believed to be lacking against top-class pace bowling on difficult wickets; if conditions, were perfect, however, his batting often followed suit. Later in life Murdoch settled in England, and he and John Ferris became the first cricketers to represent two nations at Test level when the two former Australian team-mates represented England against South Africa in Cape Town in March 1892. He again visited England in 1890, but though he was top in the averages he had not had time to regain his true form. He then settled in England, qualified for Sussex, and captained it for several seasons. His style of play did not favour him in wet seasons, but he made many good scores over a period of about 15 years. Among these may be mentioned 155 for London County against Lancashire in 1903, and in the following year 140 for gentlemen versus players, though he was then in his forty-ninth year. Murdoch's standing as one of the greatest first-class batsmen of his era were strengthened by his statistics; 16,953 runs scored in 391 matches at the average of 26.86 at a time when batting averages were much lower than in modern times. He died in Melbourne, Australia in 18 February 1911; present at the Test match between Australia and South Africa, he was seized with apoplexy during the lunch interval and died later in the afternoon. His body was embalmed and brought back to England for burial at Bethnal Green in the east end of London.

Teams

International

• Australia
• England

Australian state

• New South Wales

English county

• London County
• Sussex

Career highlights

Tests

Test Debut: for Australia vs England, Melbourne, 1876-1877
Last Test: for England vs South Africa, Cape Town, 1891-1892

• Murdoch's best Test batting score of 211 was made for Australia against England, The Oval, 1884. It was the first double hundred in Test cricket.
• His Test captaincy record for Australia was: 16 matches, 5 wins, 7 losses, 4 draws

Notes

References

• Cricinfo Player Profile : Billy Murdoch
• HowSTAT! statistical profile of Billy Murdoch
• CricketArchive page on Billy Murdoch
• Serle, Percival (1949). "Murdoch, William Lloyd". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. 

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1949 edition of Dictionary of Australian Biography from
Project Gutenberg of Australia, which is in the public domain in Australia and the United States of America.

Preceded by Dave Gregory	Australian Test cricket captains 1884/5	Succeeded by Tom Horan
Preceded by Jack Blackham	Australian Test wicket-keepers 1877 - 1890	Succeeded by Affie Jarvis

Persondata
NAME	Murdoch, William Lloyd
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Billy
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Cricketer
DATE OF BIRTH	18 October 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bendigo, Victoria
DATE OF DEATH	18 February 1911
PLACE OF DEATH	Melbourne, Victoria