Billy Murdoch
Australia
Personal information
Full name	William Lloyd Murdoch
Born	18 October 1854(1854-10-18)
	Sandhurst, Victoria, Australia
Died	18 February 1911 (aged 56)
	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Role	Batsman & occasional wicket-keeper
Batting style	Right-hand
International information
Test debut (cap 13)	31 March 1877: v England
Last Test	22 March 1892: v South Africa
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1875–1890	New South Wales
1893–1899	Sussex
1900–1904	London County
Career statistics
	Tests	FC
Matches	18	391
Runs scored	896	16953
Batting average	32. The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. Events 1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid Year 1854 ( MDCCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Bendigo is a regional city in central Victoria Australia, located in the City of Greater Bendigo. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Mike Powell cricketerjpg|thumb|200px| Warwickshire batsman Mike Powell]] A batsman in the sport of Cricket is depending on context Any Cricket wicket keeperjpg|thumb|300px|A wicket-keeper in characteristic position ready to face a delivery This is a list of cricketers who have played at least one Test match for Australia. Events 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Year 1877 ( MDCCCLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The England cricket team is the national cricket team which represents England and Wales. Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year The South African cricket team, also known as The Proteas are a national Cricket team representing South Africa The New South Wales Blues (referred to as the Speed Blitz Blues for sponsorship purposes are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sussex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic Cricket structure representing the historic county of For the 18th century London club see: London Cricket Club London County Cricket Club was a short-lived cricket club founded by Test cricket is the longest form of the Sport of Cricket. It has long been considered the ultimate test of playing ability between cricketing nations First-class cricket refers to the class of Cricket matches of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players and officially adjudged first-class by Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively 00	26. 86
100s/50s	2/1	19/85
Top score	211	321
Balls bowled	0	764
Wickets	–	10
Bowling average	–	43. A delivery or ball in Cricket is a single action of Bowling a Cricket ball towards the Batsman. In the sport of Cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings Meanings of wicket Set of stumps Primarily the wicket Bowling average is a Statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the Sport of Cricket. 00
5 wickets in innings	–	0
10 wickets in match	–	0
Best bowling	–	2/11
Catches/stumpings	13/1	218/25
As of 26 February 2008 Source: CricketArchive

William (Billy) Lloyd Murdoch (18 October 1854 – 18 February 1911) was an Australian cricketer, who captained the Australian team on tours to England in 1880, 1882 (when the Ashes legend was born), 1884 and 1890. An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of Sports &ndash most notably Cricket and Baseball during For other uses see Stump (disambiguation Stump is a term used in the Sport of Cricket where has three different meanings Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid Year 1854 ( MDCCCLIV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. Murdoch was born in Sandhurst (now Bendigo), Victoria to Gilbert Murdoch and his wife Susanna (née Fleigge). Bendigo is a regional city in central Victoria Australia, located in the City of Greater Bendigo.

Early in the 1860s, the Murdochs moved to New South Wales, and Billy played for the Albert Club with Fred Spofforth. Frederick Robert "Fred" Spofforth (born in Balmain in the outskirts of Sydney on 9 September 1853, died in Surrey, 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. First-class cricket refers to the class of Cricket matches of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players and officially adjudged first-class by Year 1875 ( MDCCCLXXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Cricket wicket keeperjpg|thumb|300px|A wicket-keeper in characteristic position ready to face a delivery Mike Powell cricketerjpg|thumb|200px| Warwickshire batsman Mike Powell]] A batsman in the sport of Cricket is depending on context Any He played in the second Test match ever played, the 1877 clash against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Test cricket is the longest form of the Sport of Cricket. It has long been considered the ultimate test of playing ability between cricketing nations Year 1877 ( MDCCCLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The England cricket team is the national cricket team which represents England and Wales. Later that year, he qualified as a solicitor and opened up a practice, "Murdoch & Murdoch", with his brother Gilbert.

Billy Murdoch

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. William Gilbert Grace ( 18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English Cricketer who by his extraordinary skills made The New South Wales Blues (referred to as the Speed Blitz Blues for sponsorship purposes are an Australian first class cricket team based in The Victorian Bushrangers is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG is a sports Stadium in Sydney. ^[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. So unvanquishable was he that Tom Horan (with whom Murdoch would share many a fine batting stand in the years to come) was reduced to bowling leg-theory, the first known instance of that controversial tactic. Thomas Patrick Horan ( 8 March 1854 &mdash 16 April 1916) was a Cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia

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. This is a chronological list of Australian Wicket-keepers, that is Test cricketers who have kept wicket in a match for Australia. 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. The history of Test cricket between 1884 and 1889 was one of English dominance over the Australians. The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. 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. The Sydney Riot of 1879 was one of the earliest Riots at an international Cricket match

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. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Test matches in the period 1877 to 1883 were organised somewhat differently from international Cricket matches today The Oval PavilionJPG|250px|right|thumb|The Members Pavilion]] The Oval is an international Cricket ground in Kennington, London On the 1880 and 1884 tours he led the Australian 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. Sussex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic Cricket structure representing the historic county of He was widely regarded the finest Australian batsman of his day, being bettered only by the English champion WG Grace. Mike Powell cricketerjpg|thumb|200px| Warwickshire batsman Mike Powell]] A batsman in the sport of Cricket is depending on context Any William Gilbert Grace ( 18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English Cricketer who by his extraordinary skills made

Cigarette card of Murdoch as an England player. He is one of only a handful of players to play Tests for more than one country

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. John James Ferris (born 21 May, 1867 in Sydney, died 17 November 1900 in Durban) a left-arm swing bowler The South African cricket team, also known as The Proteas are a national Cricket team representing South Africa Cape Town (Kaapstad Xhosa: Ikapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year

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 the county 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. For the 18th century London club see: London Cricket Club London County Cricket Club was a short-lived cricket club founded by Lancashire County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen major county clubs which make up the English domestic Cricket structure representing the historic

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. Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively 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. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year His body was embalmed and brought back to England for burial at Bethnal Green in the east end of London. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Bethnal Green is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Murdoch's best Test batting score of 211 was made for Australia against England, The Oval, 1884. The Oval PavilionJPG|250px|right|thumb|The Members Pavilion]] The Oval is an international Cricket ground in Kennington, London Year 1884 ( MDCCCLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year It was the first double hundred in Test cricket. His Test captaincy record for Australia was: 16 matches, 5 wins, 7 losses, 4 draws

Billy Murdoch's Test career batting graph.

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. The Dictionary of Australian Biography, published in 1949, is a reference work by Percival Serle containing information on notable people associated with 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. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone The Dictionary of Australian Biography, published in 1949, is a reference work by Percival Serle containing information on notable people associated with