Warwick Armstrong
Darling Point, New South Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | The Big Ship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Right-arm leg spin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Test debut (cap 80) | 1 January 1902 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last Test | 16 August 1921 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1898/99–1921/22 | Victoria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 18 December 2007 |
Warwick Windridge Armstrong (22 May 1879 – 13 July 1947) was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921, and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two. Armstrong was captain of the 1920–21 Australian team which defeated the touring English 5–0: one of only three teams to win an Ashes series in a whitewash. In a Test career interrupted by the First World War, he scored 2,863 runs at an average of 38.68, including six centuries, and took 87 wickets. He was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2000.
Armstrong was a large man (6 foot 3 inches – 1.9 m tall and 21
A talented
Early life
Armstrong was born in the rural
Armstrong attended Cumloden School, a respected sporting member of the Schools Association, a group of smaller private schools in Melbourne. By 1893, he had found himself a spot in the school XI and came to the attention of the press, catching the eye of journalists Reginald Wilmot and Tom Horan.[3] Armstrong joined the nearby Caulfield Cricket Club and played in a senior premiership with the club at the age of 15.[4]
The next year, the St Kilda Cricket Club, one of the leading clubs in Melbourne's pennant competition, gave the youthful Armstrong a trial. In the 1896–97 season, Armstrong fell out with St Kilda and returned to Caulfield.[5] His last years of school were at University College.[6]
Leaving school at 19, Armstrong joined his father's former club,
Armstrong began regular Sheffield Shield cricket in the 1899–1900 season. In his first match against New South Wales in January 1900, he dismissed Syd Gregory with his second delivery and scored 45 runs in the second innings.[10] In the Pennant season for South Melbourne, Armstrong scored 665 runs at an average of 95; this included 145 and six for nineteen against the Melbourne Cricket Club, the largest club in Melbourne whose team included many Test and first-class cricketers.[11]
Representative cricket
Early career
Following his feats against it in 1899–1900, Armstrong was recruited for the next season by the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC). For the next twenty years, on and off the pitch, Armstrong's fortunes were tied to the club, a leading cricketing light in Australia and a bastion of the city's rich and powerful.[12] He scored his maiden first-class century, 118, against South Australia, facing the very fast and physically dangerous bowling of Ernie Jones, and by the end of the 1900–01 season he was a permanent member of the Victorian team.[13]
The England cricket team, organised and captained by Archie MacLaren, toured Australia to compete for the Ashes in the summer of 1901–02. The English were considered a poor and undermanned team, but it surprised all by winning the first Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground by an innings and 124 runs.[14] Before the second Test, Armstrong had an excellent all-round performance against New South Wales, dismissing Test players Victor Trumper and Syd Gregory, and then scoring 137 in reply.[15] When the team for the Melbourne Test was announced, Armstrong was selected, making his début with Reggie Duff from New South Wales.[16]
Armstrong made a steady start to Test cricket. Batting at No. 9 on a sticky wicket, he made four not out in the first innings, in an Australian total of 116. In reply, England could only score 61. With the wicket still treacherous, Australia rearranged their batting order to save the better batsmen until conditions improved. The two debutants, Duff and Armstrong, were positioned at 10 and 11, and shared a 120-run partnership for the last wicket, Duff scoring 104 and Armstrong 45 not out. Australia won the Test by 229 runs.[17] Armstrong played in the remaining Tests in the series, narrowly heading the averages with 159 runs at an average of 53, and Australia went on to win comfortably by four matches to one.[18]
Armstrong was selected as part of the
On the return trip to Australia, the touring team stopped in
Plum Warner's English team toured Australia in 1903–04, the first to do so under the auspices of the Marylebone Cricket Club. The strong English team defeated Australia three–two, retrieving the Ashes.[27] Armstrong did not have a good series. He was tormented by Rhodes, who dismissed him eight times in ten meetings for Victoria and Australia that summer. As a result, he was dropped from the Australian XI after the Third Test.[28]
Returning to club cricket, Armstrong found form, scoring 438 in only 455 minutes for Melbourne against University, from a total score of 699 for eight.[29] In the 1904–05 season, Armstrong scored 460 runs at 57.5 for Victoria to secure selection for the 1905 tour of England.[24]
Consolidation and conflict
The 1905 Australians left for England, leaving behind the beginnings of a conflict between players and administrators over control of cricket that would poison the sport in Australia for the next ten years. While previous tours of England had been underwritten by the Melbourne Cricket Club and organised by the players, the new Australian Board of Control was asserting its right to control Australian cricket.[30]
Armstrong, finding himself promoted to number five in the batting order, started the tour well with 112 against Nottinghamshire and 248 against Gentlemen of England at Lord's.[31] In the first Test at Trent Bridge, Australia's lack of effective bowling options had Armstrong forced to bowl wide outside the leg stump in an early form of leg theory bowling to prevent the England batsmen from scoring quickly. Bumbling and taciturn, Armstrong maintained an accurate line and length, and put a strangle on both England's run-scoring and the crowd's entertainment. It was a recurrent pattern for the rest of the series, and lead to what was seen by spectators and the press as dull cricket. Batsmen like the imperial Archie MacLaren would kick the ball away contemptuously, but lissome Johnny Tyldesley proved that runs could still made if a batsman employed more enterprise. Hopping away to leg to make room for himself, Tyldesley cut and drove the leg-spinner to great effect in a strategy later used by Don Bradman against the bodyline menace.
Armstrong's tactics were ultimately futile, a
When the team returned to Australia, the rift between the players and the Board of Control widened. The dispute saw the English postpone their tour, scheduled for 1906–07.
Armstrong found employment with the Department of Home Affairs and, as a result, declared himself unavailable for the next match against South Australia. He was mortified when he found that he had been included in the team and that the Victorian Cricket Association (VCA) had approached his employer to ask for leave on his behalf, despite his having explicitly instructed the VCA secretary otherwise. Armstrong refused to play and was called to face a disciplinary hearing at the Young and Jackson Hotel. Rightly indignant, he was left unpunished.[37]
The scheduled tour postponed from the previous season kicked off with the arrival of an English team weakened by the withdrawals of a number of leading players.[38] The first Test saw an Australian victory, Armstrong bowling 53 overs and taking four for 92.[39] More squabbling, this time over expenses, followed between Armstrong and the VCA, and the former withdrew from the Boxing Day match against New South Wales. Armstrong sought a £1 per diem, but the VCA held fast at ten shillings. It then mounted a campaign in the Melbourne press, attempting to portray Armstrong as avaricious and once again called him to front a disciplinary commission. Following threats of suspension, Armstrong was forced to apologise to the VCA.[40] The fracas did not affect his form, however: the second Test, starting on New Year's Day, saw Armstrong score 31 and 77 and take five wickets for 89. Despite his efforts, England won a hard-fought Test by one wicket.[41]
Australia took the third Test in Adelaide, and a patient 133 in 289 minutes from Armstrong in the fourth saw Australia clinch the series and win back the Ashes.[42] The margin was four–one, but both teams were criticised by reporters for slow scoring and negative cricket.[38]
Once again, the selection and management of the Australian team to tour England in 1909 caused friction between leading players and the Board of Control.[43] Clem Hill, unwilling to tour on the terms offered by the Board, withdrew his name from consideration.[44] Regardless, the tour was a success, both for the Australians, who won the series two-one, and for Armstrong, who made 1,451 runs at an average of just under 44 and took 133 wickets at an average of 16.40[45] Wisden Cricketers' Almanack described his role in the tour as "to keep the side together by means of his impregnable defence, and he did exactly what was required, only on rare occasions giving free play to his hitting power. When he likes to let himself loose there is no harder driver in the world".[46]
Armstrong, along with Monty Noble, Tibby Cotter and Bert Hopkins returned home via Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), Penang and Singapore, where they were lavishly entertained and comfortably billeted by the elite of the Colony. Their hosts took the cricketers on a trip to the British protectorate of Perak for a shooting expedition where Armstrong contracted malaria. He would suffer relapses throughout the rest of his life.[47]
Rebellion
Armstrong was appointed captain of an
The Melbourne Cricket Club found Armstrong a job as "pavilion clerk". His duties were broadly defined in order to allow him to meet his representative cricket obligations.[49] These included matches against the touring South Africans, scheduled to play five Tests in 1910–11. The first Test saw Australia win by an innings and 114 runs thanks mainly to an innings on 191 from Hill and eight wickets to Bill Whitty.[50] Armstrong nearly missed the second Test in Melbourne with a case of mumps. He recovered, and although still unwell managed to score 75 and take 4–134 from 48 overs.[51] In the fourth Test, Armstrong compiled another century, 132 including a partnership of 154 with Hill.[52] Australia won the series comfortably, winning four of the five Test matches with their only loss at Adelaide by 38 runs.[53] Returning to cricket after his self-imposed exile, Victor Trumper was the leading player for the Australians during the series scoring 661 runs at an average of 94.[51]
The English team returned to Australia the following season to compete for the Ashes with Pelham Warner once again captain of a very strong English team that included bowlers Sydney Barnes and Frank Foster. Warner suffered from an illness early in the tour and handed the captaincy to Johnny Douglas. After losing the first Test, England won the remaining four Tests comfortably.[54] In the second Test at Melbourne, Armstrong played one of his best Test innings. Facing exceptional bowling from Foster and Barnes, he made a nerveless 90, including 14 boundaries, before being dismissed by Foster.[55]
While this series took place, the Board of Control made plans to usurp the commonly accepted rights of the players to appoint a manager when touring England.[56] The hostility between the players and the board saw a fist fight break out between Clem Hill and Peter McAlister at a selection meeting.[57] When the Board announced that George Crouch would be manager of the Australian team for the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England, rather than the player's choice, Frank Laver, outright rebellion ensued. Armstrong, Hill and Trumper, along with Hanson Carter, Tibby Cotter and Vernon Ransford (known as the "Big Six") announced that they would be unavailable to join the touring party. The team, under the captaincy of Syd Gregory, left without these players.[56] The tour was not a success on any front: the Australians winning only eight games and losing nine in a wet season and Crouch on return to Australia reported to the Board that "some of the players had conducted themselves so badly in England as to lead to the team being socially ostracised."[58]
International cricket was placed on hold as a result of the outbreak of the Great War. Armstrong had been named captain of the Australian team to tour South Africa in 1914–15, however the tour was unable to take place.[59] Armstrong chose not to enlist in the military during the war and kept his own counsel on the subject. He continued to work and play cricket for Melbourne Cricket Club, participating in the occasional fund-raising fixture.[60]
Captain
When international cricket resumed after the Great War, Armstrong, now over forty years of age, was appointed
Armstrong remained unpopular with the Board of Control. Despite Armstrong's triumphs, it was reported that he was only appointed captain of the 1921 Australian team to tour England by "the narrowest possible margin".[68] On the voyage to England, Armstrong attempted to lose some weight by spending some time each day in the stokehold of the ship. On arrival, however, he weighed in 4 pounds (2 kg) heavier.[69] Against English teams badly affected by the Great War, the Australians dominated the series. Armstrong marshalled his troops well, utilising Gregory and Ted McDonald to devastating effect. Australia won the first Test in two days, the second Test by lunch on the third day and the third Test and the Ashes by 5.00 pm on the third day.[70] Throughout the tour, Armstrong fought a series of running battles against the Board appointed manager, Syd Smith, on behalf of his men. Smith, looking to cut overheads, had suggested boarding with wealthy cricket devotees; Armstrong dismissed the idea.[71]
The fourth Test at
By the fifth Test, the Australian team was in sight of being the first Australian team to remain unbeaten throughout a tour of England. Once again, much of the first day was lost to rain. Determined not to lose, Armstrong attempted to delay commencement after the rain and was heckled by English supporters.
Despite the two losses, the tour was a triumph for Armstrong. Personally, he achieved the 1,000 runs and 100 wickets milestone for the third time in an English summer. About his captaincy, former rival Frank Foster said, "I honestly think that Australia have got to thank one man, one man only for their success. That man is Warwick Armstrong, probably one of the best captains ever sent to England from Australia".[77] On return to Australia, Armstrong was greeted by large enthusiastic crowds and acclaimed at many public receptions.[78] At one reception, he was presented with a £2,500 cheque by the Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes.
If ever there was a man singled out as a king of sport it was Mr. Armstrong, who had gone out to give the people of England a chance to regain the Ashes and who had returned, like Imperial Caesar, who came, saw and conquered.
Outside cricket
The 1921 tour was Armstrong's swan song in first-class cricket. On the journey back to Australia, he suffered a relapse of the malaria that had plagued him since his earlier visit to Malaya. This kept him from taking part in any of the matches in
In 1922, he wrote a primer on cricket titled The Art of Cricket published by Methuen & Co, London.[83]
In July 1913, he married Aileen O'Donnell, the daughter of a wealthy
Armstrong was an all-round sportsman, playing
Style and personality
Although slim as a young man, Armstrong grew into a big man, weighing 133 kilograms (293 lb) and being 190 centimetres (6 foot 3 inches) tall.[92] As a result, he acquired the nickname "The Big Ship".[93] His oversize shirt, measuring 26 centimetres (10 in) by 85 centimetres (33 in) and his shoes, 32 centimetres (13 in) long by 18 centimetres (7 in) wide are on display at the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.[94] A story told of Armstrong had a young boy following him around at a tour match in Southampton. Armstrong, thinking it a manifestation of hero worship, offered to sign the boy's autograph book. The boy turned to Armstrong and said, "Please, sir, you are the only bit of decent shade in the place."[95]
As a batsman, Armstrong was not a stylist. The Times, in describing Armstrong's batting after he scored his maiden century against Sussex in 1902 said, "Mr. Armstrong's methods were not attractive".[96]
His pose at the wickets gives an impression of awkwardness which is not dispelled when he shapes to play the ball and his strokeplay is essentially laboured ... His methods, however, are remarkably effective; they show a most admirable blend of aggression and caution, backed by the right temperament. His defence is very sound, watchful and painstaking, his strokeplay is limited in its variety, but very sound in its execution.
— Leslie Poidevin, journalist[96]
Armstrong was tireless as a
Armstrong was renowned for his gamesmanship and was willing to push the boundaries of what was considered acceptable behaviour in order to obtain an advantage for his team. In 1909, the English all-rounder Frank Woolley was making his Test début against the Australians at the Oval. Taking advantage of a rule that allowed bowlers to bowl trial balls or "looseners", Armstrong kept Woolley waiting nervously for more than fifteen minutes while he bowled trial balls alongside the pitch.[98] In a club game against St Kilda, Armstrong claimed a catch in the slips, only to have the umpire refuse the dismissal. It was the last ball of the over and as the field changed, Armstrong brusquely inquired why this was so. Informed that the ball had struck the batsman's pads, Armstrong then appealed for a leg before wicket dismissal, which the umpire then upheld.[99]
Armstrong was not a "walker"; he believed in waiting for the umpire to make a decision, once telling the English cricketer Arthur Gilligan, "The more you play this game, the more you will find out that you will be given out many times when you are not out and vice versa".[100] English professional cricketers took a dim view of Armstrong's approach to the game. Jack Hobbs, describing one instance said,
The chief offender was Warwick Armstrong, who got very nasty and unsportsmanlike, refusing to accept the umpire's decision. That upset me. I did not know if I was standing on my head or my heels with the consequence that two balls later I let one go, never even attempting to play it; and it bowled me. I still bear this incident in mind against Armstrong.[101]
Notes
- ^ Haigh, pp. 7–14.
- ^ Haigh, p. 17.
- ^ Haigh, p. 21.
- ^ Haigh, p. 22.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 23–26.
- ^ Haigh, p. 26.
- ^ Haigh, p. 29.
- ^ Haigh, p. 30.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 30–31.
- ^ Haigh, p. 35.
- ^ Haigh, p. 36.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 37–39.
- ^ Haigh, p. 40.
- ^ Wynne-Thomas, p. 52.
- ^ "New South Wales v Victoria: Sheffield Shield 1899/00". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
- ^ Haigh, p. 43.
- ^ "Australia v England : AC MacLaren's XI in Australia 1901/02 (2nd Test)". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
- ^ Haigh, p. 46.
- ^ Wynne-Thomas, pp. 232–233.
- ^ "Nottinghamshire v Australians: Australia in England 1902". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
- ^ "England v Australia: Australia in England 1902 (1st Test)". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
- ^ a b Wynne-Thomas, pp. 233–234.
- ^ "South Africa v Australia: Australia in South Africa 1902/03 (2nd Test)". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
- ^ a b c "First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Warwick Armstrong". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
- ^ "First-class Bowling in Each Season by Warwick Armstrong". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
- ^ Haigh, p. 76.
- ^ Wynne-Thomas, p. 56.
- ^ Haigh, p. 81.
- ^ Haigh, p. 83.
- ^ Pollard, pp. 172–174.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 101–102.
- ^ Wynne-Thomas, p. 237.
- ^ Pardon, Sydney (1906). "The Australians in England 1905". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – online archive. John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
- ^ "Somerset v Australians: Australia in England 1905". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2007.
- ^ Wynne-Thomas, p. 60.
- ^ a b Haigh, p. 139.
- ^ a b Haigh, pp. 140–143.
- ^ a b Wynne-Thomas, pp. 62–63.
- ^ "Australia v England: Marylebone Cricket Club in Australia 1907/08 (1st Test)". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 151–156.
- ^ "Australia v England: Marylebone Cricket Club in Australia 1907/08 (2nd Test)". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
- ^ "Australia v England: Marylebone Cricket Club in Australia 1907/08 (4th Test)". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
- ^ Pollard, p. 175.
- ^ Wynne-Thomas, p. 243.
- ^ Wynne-Thomas, pp. 242–244.
- ^ "The Australians in England, 1909". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – Online archive. John Wisden & Co. 1910. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 184–188.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 189–193.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 196–197.
- ^ "Australia v South Africa: South Africa in Australia 1910/11 (1st Test)". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
- ^ a b Haigh, p. 203.
- ^ "Australia v South Africa: South Africa in Australia 1910/11 (4th Test)". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
- ^ "The South Africans in Australia, 1910–11". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – Online Archive. John Wisden & Co. 1912. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
- ^ Wynne-Thomas, pp. 66–68.
- ^ Haigh, p. 212.
- ^ a b Pollard, p. 183.
- ^ Robinson, p. 124.
- ^ "Australia in England 1912". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – Online Archive. John Wisden & Co. 1913. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
- ^ Haigh, p. 251.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 253–255.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 267–268.
- ^ "Result 5th Test, Sydney, Feb 25 – Mar 1 1921, England tour of Australia". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ "Statsguru – Australia – Tests – Results list". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
- ^ Brett, Oliver (6 January 2007). "Aussies complete Ashes whitewash". BBC News. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
- ^ "Test Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Warwick Armstrong". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-0983-0.
- ^ Robinson, p. 139.
- ^ Pollard, p. 209.
- ^ Haigh, p. 332.
- ^ Pollard, p. 210.
- ^ Haigh, p. 334.
- ^ Robinson, pp. 143–144.
- ^ Haigh p. 354.
- ^ Robinson, p. 144.
- ^ Haigh, p. 355
- ^ Wynne-Thomas, pp. 250–251.
- ^ Haigh, p. 362.
- ^ Haigh, p. 368.
- ^ Haigh, p. 370.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 374–379.
- ^ Haigh, p. 408.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 388–390.
- ^ "Catalogue". National Library of Australia. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011.
- ^ Haigh, p. 246.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 204–206.
- ^ Haigh, p. 406.
- ^ Fingleton, Jack: Masters of Cricket (Heinemann, 1958), p. 72.
- ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 34, 183. 14 July 1947. p. 16. Retrieved 10 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Warwick Wndridge Archived 22 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Billion Graves. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- ^ Main, pp. 9–10.
- ^ "Statsguru – WW Armstrong – Test matches – All-round analysis". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
- ^ Robinson, p. 136.
- ^ a b Robinson, p. 138.
- ^ Haigh, p. 20.
- ^ Robinson, p. 137.
- ^ a b Haigh, pp. 92–93.
- ^ a b Haigh, p. 339.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 180–181.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 319–320.
- ^ Haigh, p. 321.
- ^ Haigh, pp. 179–180.; from Hobbs, Jack, My Cricket Memories, Heinemann, London, 1924.
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- Wynne-Thomas, Peter (1989). The Complete History of Cricket Tours at Home and Abroad. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-55782-0.