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Joe Darling

Joseph Darling CBE (21 November 1870 – 2 January 1946) 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 1,657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including three centuries. Darling toured England four times with the Australian team—in 1896, 1899, 1902 and 1905; the last three tours as captain. He was captain of the Australian cricket team in England in 1902, widely recognised as one of the best teams in Australian cricket history.

Joe Darling
Darling in about 1905
Personal information
Full name
Joseph Darling
Born(1870-11-21)21 November 1870
Glen Osmond, South Australia
Died2 January 1946(1946-01-02) (aged 75)
Hobart, Tasmania
NicknamePaddy[1]
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
BattingLeft-handed
RoleBatsman
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 64)14 December 1894 v England
Last Test14 August 1905 v England
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1893/94–1907/08South Australia
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 34 202
Runs scored 1657 10,635
Batting average 28.56 34.52
100s/50s 3/8 19/55
Top score 178 210
Balls bowled 68
Wickets 1
Bowling average 55.00
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/5
Catches/stumpings 27/– 148/–
Source: CricketArchive, 10 February 2008

He was a stocky, compact man and a strong driver of the ball, playing most of his cricket as an opening batsman. He was a patient batsman and was known for his solid defence, but he was able to score quickly when required. In Sydney in 1897–98, he scored 160 in 165 minutes, including 30 boundaries to assist his team in defeating the English. He was the first man to score 500 runs in a Test series and was also the first to score three centuries in a series. His captaincy was disciplinarian in nature but his teammates respected his broad cricket knowledge. Even tempered with a strong personality, he was a stickler for fair play on the field. His teammates gave him the nickname "Paddy" due to a supposed resemblance to the Australian boxer, Frank "Paddy" Slavin.

His cricket career was interrupted several times due to his obligations as a farmer, first growing wheat in South Australia, and later as a wool-grower in Tasmania. He was a member of several bodies dedicated to agriculture in Tasmania, including the responsible authority for the Royal Hobart Show. He was a pioneer in activities such as rabbit eradication and pasture improvement. He entered politics in 1921, standing as an independent in the Tasmanian Legislative Council, where he was a forceful speaker. He retained his seat in the Tasmanian Parliament until his death following a gall bladder operation in 1946.

Early life and career

Darling was born on 21 November 1870 in Glen Osmond, South Australia, the sixth son of John Darling, a grain merchant and his wife Isabella, née Ferguson. He was educated at Prince Alfred College, where he took an interest in cricket. At the age of 15, he scored a record 252 runs in the "inter-collegiate" match, the annual fixture against fierce rival St Peter's College.[2] His future Test teammate, Clem Hill, would later beat this record, scoring 360.[3] Not long after, he was included in a combined South Australian/Victoria XV that played the Australian XI in 1886. He made only 16 runs, but the manner in which he made them saw senior players hail him as a future champion.[4]

His father, disapproving of Darling's fondness for sport, sent him away from his cricket and Australian rules football teams to spend twelve months at Roseworthy Agricultural School. Later, Darling worked in a bank for a time and before his father appointed him manager of a wheat farm.[4] Working on the farm added size and strength to an already stocky and athletic frame.[1] He was selected for the South Australian team at age 19, but his father would not allow him time off the farm to play.[1]

After two years in the bush, Darling returned to Adelaide and cricket. He opened a sports store on Rundle Street, Adelaide and was soon selected to represent South Australia in inter-colonial cricket.[4] He made his first-class cricket debut against New South Wales at the Adelaide Oval; scoring five and 32 as South Australia won the match by 237 runs.[5] The next season, against the touring England team captained by Andrew Stoddart, Darling made 115, his maiden first-class century.[6]

Test career

Consolidation

 
Darling in 1896

The First Test of 1894–95 against England, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, saw Darling make his Test debut. In an innings where Australia make 586 runs, including centuries for George Giffen and Syd Gregory, Darling was dismissed for a golden duck, bowled first ball by Tom Richardson.[7] He played in all five Tests in the series, scoring 258 runs at an average of 28.66 per innings.[8] He was included in the Australian team to tour England in 1896, where he topped the scoring aggregates for the tour with 1555 runs at an average of 29.90, including three centuries.[9] Wisden Cricketers' Almanack stated that Darling "proved himself perhaps the best of present-day left-handed batsmen" during the tour.[10] England won the series two Tests to one.[10]

Andrew Stoddart brought another team to Australia to contest The Ashes in 1897–98. Australia won the series comfortably, four Tests to one.[11] Darling started the season poorly, scoring a duck and one against the tourists for South Australia in a match in which teammate Clem Hill scored a double century.[12] Darling went on, however, to dominate the series with the bat. His maiden Test century, 101 in the First Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground after Australia was made to follow-on, was the first made by a left-hander in Tests.[1] It was not enough to prevent England winning by nine wickets.[13]

In the Third Test in his home town of Adelaide, Darling scored 178 runs and Australia won the match by an innings and 13 runs.[14] He reached his century by hitting Johnny Briggs over the eastern gate and into the nearby park. This is the only time in Ashes Tests where a player has reached 100 with a hit out of the ground.[1] During this innings, he also became the first player to hit a six in a Test in Australia (prior to 1910, a six was awarded only if the ball was hit out of the ground). He later also hit the first six in a Test in England.[15] Returning to Sydney for the Fifth and final Test, Darling scored 160 runs from 253 scored in total. He batted for 165 minutes, hitting 30 boundaries as Australia successfully chased 273 in the fourth innings. His first 100 came in 91 minutes; at the time, the fastest Test century scored.[4] By the end of the season, Darling became the first player to score 500 runs in a series and the first player to score three centuries in a series.[1]

Captaincy

 
Darling c. 1905

Darling was chosen by his teammates as captain for the 1899 Australian team touring England.[1] The team was one of the strongest seen in England to that time, with the cricket reference book Wisden stating, "By common consent the [1899 Australians] formed the strongest combination that had come from the Colonies since the great side captained by Mr. W. L. Murdoch in 1882." and that "Darling proved himself one of the very best captains that ever took a team into the field."[16] The Australians lost only three of the 35 matches they played on the tour, winning 16 and another 16 finishing in draws.[17] The only Test to reach a decisive result was the Second Test at Lord's, where Australia won by ten wickets due in part to centuries by Hill and Victor Trumper and a ten wicket haul by fast bowler Ernie Jones.[18] Aside from Hill, Darling was seen by Wisden as the best batsman among the Australians. Wisden claimed, "Up to a certain point the responsibilities of captaincy seemed to tell against Darling, but during the last weeks of the tour he played marvellous cricket."[16] Over the tour, he scored 1941 runs at an average of 41.29, topping both the averages and the aggregate for his team,[19] and was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.[20]

Darling's deeds as a cricketer had reconciled his father to his sporting endeavours, but not to his sports store operation. In 1900, his father purchased "Stonehenge", a sheep station covering 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) in central Tasmania and ordered Darling to run the property on pain of exclusion from his will. Darling complied with his father's wishes and moved his family to the remote station, 34 kilometres (21 mi) along a dirt track from the nearest town, tiny Oatlands.[1] Darling stood out of first-class cricket for nearly two years.[21]

It was not until December 1901 that Darling was convinced to return by the Melbourne Cricket Club to captain the Australians against the touring English for the first three Tests only. The English, captained by Archie MacLaren, won the First Test in Sydney convincingly by an innings and 124 runs.[22] The Second Test in Melbourne was played on a rain-affected pitch. MacLaren won the toss and sent Australia in to bat on the "sticky wicket". Within three hours, both teams had been dismissed; Australia holding a lead on the first innings of 51 runs.[1] Realising the danger the pitch held to his leading batsmen, Darling re-ordered the batting line-up and opened the batting himself alongside Hugh Trumble. The pair held out the English for 90 minutes; Darling considered his 32 runs one of his best innings. Nevertheless, Barnes managed to grab five wickets in the final half-hour to leave the Australians 5/48[23] when stumps was called.[24] Twenty five wickets fell in the day's play. Importantly, Australia had a 99-run lead and batsmen of the calibre of Hill, Trumper, Reggie Duff and Warwick Armstrong still to bat. The next day, on a perfect pitch, the Australian batsmen established a match-winning lead, eventually winning the Test by 229 runs.[1][24] In the Third Test in Adelaide, Australia became the first team to score over 300 runs to win the fourth innings of a Test match.[1] Darling, along with Hill and Trumble, led the record making run chase; Darling scored 62 runs.[25] Hugh Trumble captained the final two Tests as Darling returned to his farm. Australia won both Tests and the series to retain The Ashes.[26]

Return to cricket

Darling agreed to once again lead the Australian cricket team in England in 1902. In what was a very cold and wet summer, the Australian team won a close fought series against the strong English team two Tests to one. Given the strength of the opposition, this Australian team is often referred to as one of the best Australian teams ever assembled.[1] The team included players of the calibre of Trumper, Hill, Armstrong, Trumble and Monty Noble; all of whom would be later included in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. The team lost only two matches during the tour, with Wisden saying, "No travelling team ever strove harder for victory or more completely subordinated all personal considerations to the prime object of winning matches. They formed a splendid all-round combination".[27]

 
Darling (centre, middle row) with his famed 1902 touring team

The First Test at Edgbaston finished in a draw. Rain saved the Australians after they were dismissed for only 36 in their first innings; Wilfred Rhodes took seven wickets for only 17 runs.[28] Rain again ruined the Second Test at Lord's when the final two days were washed out.[29] The Third Test, the only Test match played at Bramall Lane, saw Australia win by 143 runs due in part to a century by Hill and Noble taking 5/51. Darling was dismissed twice by Barnes without scoring, the first Test captain to make a "pair". Australia won the Fourth Test at Old Trafford by three runs; Trumble took ten wickets for the match.[30] The last batsman, Fred Tate, came in with England needing eight runs to secure victory. Darling brought the field in and Trumble prevented Rhodes scoring from the last three balls of his over. This left Tate to face Jack Saunders, who dismissed him with the fourth ball of his over to win the match for Australia.[1] England won the Fifth and final Test at the Oval by one wicket.[31] Chasing 263, England were 5/48 when Gilbert Jessop scored a century in 75 minutes to help England to victory.[32]

The star for the Australians was Trumper who scored 2,570 runs, easily beating Darling's own record for a colonial batsman in an English season set in 1899.[27] So important was Trumper to the Australian team that Darling, who had previously checked that all the Australians were on board the carriage to the ground, was later simply to ask "Is Vic aboard?" before giving the driver the go-ahead.[1] Darling himself had a mixed tour with the bat.

Darling started the tour in a way that promised great things, but he did not keep up his form and fell a good deal below his standard of 1896 and 1899. His tremendous hitting power, however, was several times of the utmost value, and very likely in a season of hard wickets he would have had as good a record as ever.

— Wisden Cricketers' Almanack[27]

On the return trip to Australia, the touring team stopped to play three Tests against South Africa, the first between the two nations. Australia won the series two Tests to nil, but Darling's own form was poor. In successive innings, Darling made 0, 14, 6, 4 and 1. After the tour, he returned to Stonehenge and took a two-year break from first-class cricket. In his absence, Monty Noble captained the Australian team against the touring English in 1903–04.[26]

Final tour and retirement

Before the Australian team to tour England in 1905 was selected, Darling returned to first-class cricket for South Australia. He won selection in the touring squad and was named as captain. A weaker Australian bowling attack saw Darling resort to defensive measures throughout the tour. These measures included directing Armstrong to bowl his leg breaks down the leg side, where Darling had placed up to seven fielders. These measures, unpopular with the English public, saw 19 matches on the tour finish in draws, three more than the 16 matches won by Australia.[1] Wisden said, "Leaving aside Duff's long score at the Oval, Darling was the finest batsman on the side in the Test games, playing superb cricket under very trying conditions."[33] At Old Trafford in the Fourth Test, he made 73 out of 105 in less than ninety minutes. His innings included thirteen boundaries, all but one of them being drives. Despite his efforts, England still won the Test by an innings and 80 runs.[34]

After losing six tosses against his English opposite number Stanley Jackson during the summer, Darling decided on a different approach before the Scarborough Festival match late in the tour. At the toss, he approached Jackson stripped to the waist and suggested, in fun, a wrestle for choice of innings.[1]

The 1905 tour was Darling's last Test cricket foray, as he claimed that continuing to tour was unfair to his wife.[4] He retired from first-class cricket during the 1907–08 season.[26] In his first-class career, Darling made 10635 runs, including 19 centuries at an average of 34.52.[35] In club cricket in Adelaide, Joe scored heavily. He averaged 144 for East Torrens Cricket Club in 1899–1900, 98.66 for Adelaide Cricket Club in 1896–97 and 86.20 for Sturt Cricket Club in 1904–05.[4] He continued to make runs in Tasmanian club cricket right through middle age. In 1921, he made 100 runs in an hour, including 29 in one eight-ball over playing for Claremont Cricket Club. At age 52, he made 133 not out during a successful run chase where his team, Break-o'-Day, made 6/219 in 90 minutes.[4]

He was contemptuous of the newly formed Australian Board of Control for International Cricket Matches (now known as Cricket Australia), who he saw as attempting to remove control of international cricket tours from the players. He would often refer to cricket administrators as "Dead Heads".[36] He later represented the Tasmanian Cricket Association as a delegate to the Board of Control.[36]

Outside cricket

 
Parliamentary portrait of Darling

Following his retirement from big cricket, Darling returned to his Tasmanian sheep station, where he was involved in a range of agricultural activities. He pioneered measures to eradicate rabbits, an introduced pest then in plague proportions throughout Australia.[4] He was an active member of organisations such as the Tasmanian Stock Holders and Orchardists' Association and the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania, the organising body of the Royal Hobart Show. Darling imported South Australian merino rams to improve his flock, and his wool topped the Hobart sales on several occasions. He also introduced subterranean clover to Tasmania.[4]

In 1919, Darling moved from Stonehenge to Claremont House, around which the Hobart suburb of Claremont later formed.[4] He was elected to the Cambridge electorate in the Tasmanian Legislative Council in 1921 as an independent. He retained his position in the Parliament until his death in 1946.[37] In Parliament, one of his colleagues was Charles Eady, his teammate from the 1896 tour of England.[4] Darling was recognised by his colleagues as a forceful, no-nonsense speaker. In the 1930s, he won an exemption from land tax for small farmers, and toward the end of his parliamentary career, a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate charges Darling had made regarding maladministration. The findings of the commission, released after his death, saw a government Minister and two others found guilty of accepting bribes.[4] Darling was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1938 New Year Honours in recognition of his work as a member of the Legislative Assembly.[38]

Darling married Alice Minna Blanche Francis, a wheat farmer's daughter from Mundoora, South Australia in 1893.[1][2] Together they raised 15 children: ten sons and five daughters.[2] After surgery for a ruptured gall bladder, Darling died in Hobart on 2 January 1946. He was buried at Cornelian Bay Cemetery after a Congregationalist ceremony and was survived by his wife and twelve of his children.[2]

Style and personality

 
Paddy Slavin

Darling had a stocky, compact build, standing 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 metres) and weighing 12 stone 12 pounds (82 kg). His teammates thought his dark hair, blue eyes and moustache were similar to the boxer, Frank "Paddy" Slavin, and he answered to the nickname "Paddy" during his time in cricket.[1] His time working on his father's farm had developed his strength. During his first game for South Australia, he was challenged to a naked wrestle by the fast bowler and ex-miner Ernie Jones, an informal initiation into the team. To his teammates' surprise, Darling managed to defeat the much larger Jones.[26]

The left-handed Darling was a strong driver of the ball who showed the batsman the full face of the bat. When necessary, he was a dour defender of his wicket. His fellow players thought that was sometimes unnecessarily defensive in his approach to batting and that he was at his best when driving hard. His South Australian and Australian teammate George Giffen thought that no Australian's cut shots travelled faster past point.[1]

Darling is a remarkable combination of stolidity and power. His driving, whenever he choose to let himself loose, is tremendous, and no left-handed batsman, at any rate in our time, has possessed quite such a defence. He always gives one the idea of being a great natural hitter, who has rigorously schooled himself to play the steady game.

— Wisden Cricketers' Almanack[20]

Darling holds the record for the most innings in a complete Test Match career (60), without being dismissed lbw.[39]

Darling had a strong personality and an independent outlook. Those who knew him well thought him destined to be a leader in whatever he undertook. He shunned strong drink and tobacco and found it difficult to tolerate overindulgence in alcohol. Normally even-tempered, he did show displeasure at the heckling from the crowd at Lord's at his obstinate defensive effort in the face of an Australian batting collapse.[1] He was a stickler for fair play, but his actions against the English batsman KS Ranjitsinhji would today be seen as gamesmanship. During the bowler's approach and after the bowler had looked at the field, the Australian fielders moved behind Ranjitsinhji's back. This worried the Indian prince when playing his leg glance and eventually saw him left out of the English team.[1]

The journalist Ray Robinson wrote that "of all Australian captains he came closest to being a disciplinarian".[1] Regardless, his teammates continued to select him as captain, trusting in his knowledge and understanding of the game. On a wet day during the 1899 tour, a delay in play saw some of the Australians accept an invitation to the Player's tobacco factory in Nottingham. While away, the weather cleared and play began with Darling leading a team of five Australians and five substitutes onto the field. Darling later called a team meeting that saw the culprits fined £5 for breaching team rules.[1] His approach to the hard-drinking Ernie Jones was similarly tough. To ensure that the fast bowler would not drink to excess, he selected Jones as twelfth man in a match against an English county team. When Jones refused to play, a team meeting saw him facing expulsion from the team. Darling spoke to him privately and made it clear that without an apology to his teammates and a promise to curb his drinking, he would be on the next boat bound for Australia.[26] The firm and prompt action had a lasting effect on team discipline during his time as Australian captain.[1] Wisden noted that "as a captain he inspired his men to reveal their best form."[40] As a captain he was a reformer, suggesting rule changes that included making six runs the reward for clearing the boundary rather than the entire ground, and using of sawdust to fill holes in bowler's run-ups.[36]

Test match performance

 
An innings-by-innings breakdown of Darling's Test match batting career, showing runs scored (red bars) and the average of the last ten innings (blue line). The blue dots indicate an innings where he was not dismissed.[41]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Robinson, pp. 75–87.
  2. ^ a b c d Darling, D. K. (1981). "Darling, Joseph (1870–1946)". Australian Dictionary of Biography – online edition. Australian National University. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
  3. ^ Daly, John A. (1983). Hill, Clement (Clem) (1877–1945). Australian Dictionary of Biography – Online Edition. Australian National University. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Pollard, pp. 322–325.
  5. ^ "South Australia v New South Wales: Sheffield Shield 1893/94". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  6. ^ "South Australia v AE Stoddart's XI: AE Stoddart's XI in Australia 1894/95". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  7. ^ "Australia v England: AE Stoddart's XI in Australia 1894/95 (1st Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  8. ^ "Test Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Joe Darling". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  9. ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding for Australians: Australia in England 1896". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  10. ^ a b "The Australians in England, 1896". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – online edition. John Wisden & Co. 1897. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  11. ^ "England in Australia, 1897–98". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – online edition. John Wisden & Co. 1899. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  12. ^ "South Australia v AE Stoddart's XI: AE Stoddart's XI in Australia 1897/98". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  13. ^ "Australia v England: AE Stoddart's XI in Australia 1897/98 (1st Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  14. ^ "Australia v England: AE Stoddart's XI in Australia 1897/98 (3rd Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
  15. ^ Lynch, Steven (2006). "The Lahore run-fest, and a flurry of sixes". Cricinfo – Ask Steven. Retrieved 24 January 2006.
  16. ^ a b Pardon, Sydney (1900). "The Australians in England, 1899". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – online archive. John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
  17. ^ Pollard, p. 408.
  18. ^ "England v Australia: Australia in England 1899 (2nd Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  19. ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding for Australians: Australia in England 1899". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
  20. ^ a b "Cricketer of the Year – 1900: Joe Darling". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – online archive. John Wisden & Co. 1900. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
  21. ^ "First-Class Matches played by Joe Darling (202)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  22. ^ "Australia v England: AC MacLaren's XI in Australia 1901/02 (1st Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  23. ^ See scoring (cricket) for an explanation of cricket score formats. This score and all others in the article follow the Australian format of wickets fallen followed by runs made.
  24. ^ a b "Australia v England: AC MacLaren's XI in Australia 1901/02 (2nd Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  25. ^ "Australia v England: AC MacLaren's XI in Australia 1901/02 (3rd Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  26. ^ a b c d e Perry, pp. 76–91.
  27. ^ a b c "The Australians in England 1902". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – online archive. John Wisden & Co. 1903. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  28. ^ Frith, p. 75.
  29. ^ Frith, p. 77.
  30. ^ "England v Australia: Australia in England 1902 (4th Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  31. ^ "England v Australia: Australia in England 1902 (5th Test)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  32. ^ Roebuck, Peter (1990). Great Innings. Sydney: Pan. pp. 133–134. ISBN 0-7329-0359-9.
  33. ^ Pardon, Sydney (1906). "The Australians in England 1905". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – online archive. John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  34. ^ "Fourth Test match: England v Australia 1905". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – online archive. John Wisden & Co. 1906. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  35. ^ "Joe Darling". CricketArchive. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  36. ^ a b c Newlinds, Peter (23 June 2003). "Cricket legend who called Tasmania home". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  37. ^ "Joseph Darling". Members of the Parliament of Tasmania. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  38. ^ "Search Australian Honours: Joseph Darling". It's an Honour: Australia celebrating Australians. Australian Government. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  39. ^ Walmsley, Keith (2003). Mosts Without in Test Cricket. Reading, England: Keith Walmsley Publishing Pty Ltd. p. 457. ISBN 0947540067..
  40. ^ "Obituary: Joseph Darling". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. John Wisden & Co. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  41. ^ "Statsguru – J Darling – Test Batting – Batting analysis". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 June 2008.

References

  • Frith, David (2007). Australia Versus England: An Illustrated History of Every Test Match Since 1877 (12th ed.). Melbourne: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-07073-2.
  • Perry, Roland (2000). Captain Australia: A History of the Celebrated Captains of Australian Test Cricket. Sydney: Random House. ISBN 1-74051-093-3.
  • Pollard, Jack (1988). Australian Cricket: The Game and the Players. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0-207-15269-1.
  • Robinson, Ray; Haigh, Gideon (1996). On Top Down Under: Australia's Cricket Captains (Revised ed.). Adelaide, South Australia: Wakefield. ISBN 1-86254-387-9.

External links

Preceded by Australian Test cricket captains
1899–1901/2
Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian Test cricket captains
1902–1902/3
Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian Test cricket captains
1905
Succeeded by
Tasmanian Legislative Council
Preceded by Member for Cambridge
1921–1946
Succeeded by

darling, joseph, darling, november, 1870, january, 1946, australian, cricketer, played, test, matches, specialist, batsman, between, 1894, 1905, captain, australia, total, tests, winning, seven, losing, four, test, cricket, scored, runs, average, innings, incl. Joseph Darling CBE 21 November 1870 2 January 1946 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 1 657 runs at an average of 28 56 per innings including three centuries Darling toured England four times with the Australian team in 1896 1899 1902 and 1905 the last three tours as captain He was captain of the Australian cricket team in England in 1902 widely recognised as one of the best teams in Australian cricket history Joe DarlingDarling in about 1905Personal informationFull nameJoseph DarlingBorn 1870 11 21 21 November 1870Glen Osmond South AustraliaDied2 January 1946 1946 01 02 aged 75 Hobart TasmaniaNicknamePaddy 1 Height1 72 m 5 ft 8 in BattingLeft handedRoleBatsmanInternational informationNational sideAustraliaTest debut cap 64 14 December 1894 v EnglandLast Test14 August 1905 v EnglandDomestic team informationYearsTeam1893 94 1907 08South AustraliaCareer statisticsCompetition Test First classMatches 34 202Runs scored 1657 10 635Batting average 28 56 34 52100s 50s 3 8 19 55Top score 178 210Balls bowled 68Wickets 1Bowling average 55 005 wickets in innings 010 wickets in match 0Best bowling 1 5Catches stumpings 27 148 Source CricketArchive 10 February 2008He was a stocky compact man and a strong driver of the ball playing most of his cricket as an opening batsman He was a patient batsman and was known for his solid defence but he was able to score quickly when required In Sydney in 1897 98 he scored 160 in 165 minutes including 30 boundaries to assist his team in defeating the English He was the first man to score 500 runs in a Test series and was also the first to score three centuries in a series His captaincy was disciplinarian in nature but his teammates respected his broad cricket knowledge Even tempered with a strong personality he was a stickler for fair play on the field His teammates gave him the nickname Paddy due to a supposed resemblance to the Australian boxer Frank Paddy Slavin His cricket career was interrupted several times due to his obligations as a farmer first growing wheat in South Australia and later as a wool grower in Tasmania He was a member of several bodies dedicated to agriculture in Tasmania including the responsible authority for the Royal Hobart Show He was a pioneer in activities such as rabbit eradication and pasture improvement He entered politics in 1921 standing as an independent in the Tasmanian Legislative Council where he was a forceful speaker He retained his seat in the Tasmanian Parliament until his death following a gall bladder operation in 1946 Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Test career 2 1 Consolidation 2 2 Captaincy 2 3 Return to cricket 2 4 Final tour and retirement 3 Outside cricket 4 Style and personality 5 Test match performance 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External linksEarly life and career EditDarling was born on 21 November 1870 in Glen Osmond South Australia the sixth son of John Darling a grain merchant and his wife Isabella nee Ferguson He was educated at Prince Alfred College where he took an interest in cricket At the age of 15 he scored a record 252 runs in the inter collegiate match the annual fixture against fierce rival St Peter s College 2 His future Test teammate Clem Hill would later beat this record scoring 360 3 Not long after he was included in a combined South Australian Victoria XV that played the Australian XI in 1886 He made only 16 runs but the manner in which he made them saw senior players hail him as a future champion 4 His father disapproving of Darling s fondness for sport sent him away from his cricket and Australian rules football teams to spend twelve months at Roseworthy Agricultural School Later Darling worked in a bank for a time and before his father appointed him manager of a wheat farm 4 Working on the farm added size and strength to an already stocky and athletic frame 1 He was selected for the South Australian team at age 19 but his father would not allow him time off the farm to play 1 After two years in the bush Darling returned to Adelaide and cricket He opened a sports store on Rundle Street Adelaide and was soon selected to represent South Australia in inter colonial cricket 4 He made his first class cricket debut against New South Wales at the Adelaide Oval scoring five and 32 as South Australia won the match by 237 runs 5 The next season against the touring England team captained by Andrew Stoddart Darling made 115 his maiden first class century 6 Test career EditConsolidation Edit Darling in 1896 The First Test of 1894 95 against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground saw Darling make his Test debut In an innings where Australia make 586 runs including centuries for George Giffen and Syd Gregory Darling was dismissed for a golden duck bowled first ball by Tom Richardson 7 He played in all five Tests in the series scoring 258 runs at an average of 28 66 per innings 8 He was included in the Australian team to tour England in 1896 where he topped the scoring aggregates for the tour with 1555 runs at an average of 29 90 including three centuries 9 Wisden Cricketers Almanack stated that Darling proved himself perhaps the best of present day left handed batsmen during the tour 10 England won the series two Tests to one 10 Andrew Stoddart brought another team to Australia to contest The Ashes in 1897 98 Australia won the series comfortably four Tests to one 11 Darling started the season poorly scoring a duck and one against the tourists for South Australia in a match in which teammate Clem Hill scored a double century 12 Darling went on however to dominate the series with the bat His maiden Test century 101 in the First Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground after Australia was made to follow on was the first made by a left hander in Tests 1 It was not enough to prevent England winning by nine wickets 13 In the Third Test in his home town of Adelaide Darling scored 178 runs and Australia won the match by an innings and 13 runs 14 He reached his century by hitting Johnny Briggs over the eastern gate and into the nearby park This is the only time in Ashes Tests where a player has reached 100 with a hit out of the ground 1 During this innings he also became the first player to hit a six in a Test in Australia prior to 1910 a six was awarded only if the ball was hit out of the ground He later also hit the first six in a Test in England 15 Returning to Sydney for the Fifth and final Test Darling scored 160 runs from 253 scored in total He batted for 165 minutes hitting 30 boundaries as Australia successfully chased 273 in the fourth innings His first 100 came in 91 minutes at the time the fastest Test century scored 4 By the end of the season Darling became the first player to score 500 runs in a series and the first player to score three centuries in a series 1 Captaincy Edit Darling c 1905 Darling was chosen by his teammates as captain for the 1899 Australian team touring England 1 The team was one of the strongest seen in England to that time with the cricket reference book Wisden stating By common consent the 1899 Australians formed the strongest combination that had come from the Colonies since the great side captained by Mr W L Murdoch in 1882 and that Darling proved himself one of the very best captains that ever took a team into the field 16 The Australians lost only three of the 35 matches they played on the tour winning 16 and another 16 finishing in draws 17 The only Test to reach a decisive result was the Second Test at Lord s where Australia won by ten wickets due in part to centuries by Hill and Victor Trumper and a ten wicket haul by fast bowler Ernie Jones 18 Aside from Hill Darling was seen by Wisden as the best batsman among the Australians Wisden claimed Up to a certain point the responsibilities of captaincy seemed to tell against Darling but during the last weeks of the tour he played marvellous cricket 16 Over the tour he scored 1941 runs at an average of 41 29 topping both the averages and the aggregate for his team 19 and was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year 20 Darling s deeds as a cricketer had reconciled his father to his sporting endeavours but not to his sports store operation In 1900 his father purchased Stonehenge a sheep station covering 10 000 acres 4 000 ha in central Tasmania and ordered Darling to run the property on pain of exclusion from his will Darling complied with his father s wishes and moved his family to the remote station 34 kilometres 21 mi along a dirt track from the nearest town tiny Oatlands 1 Darling stood out of first class cricket for nearly two years 21 It was not until December 1901 that Darling was convinced to return by the Melbourne Cricket Club to captain the Australians against the touring English for the first three Tests only The English captained by Archie MacLaren won the First Test in Sydney convincingly by an innings and 124 runs 22 The Second Test in Melbourne was played on a rain affected pitch MacLaren won the toss and sent Australia in to bat on the sticky wicket Within three hours both teams had been dismissed Australia holding a lead on the first innings of 51 runs 1 Realising the danger the pitch held to his leading batsmen Darling re ordered the batting line up and opened the batting himself alongside Hugh Trumble The pair held out the English for 90 minutes Darling considered his 32 runs one of his best innings Nevertheless Barnes managed to grab five wickets in the final half hour to leave the Australians 5 48 23 when stumps was called 24 Twenty five wickets fell in the day s play Importantly Australia had a 99 run lead and batsmen of the calibre of Hill Trumper Reggie Duff and Warwick Armstrong still to bat The next day on a perfect pitch the Australian batsmen established a match winning lead eventually winning the Test by 229 runs 1 24 In the Third Test in Adelaide Australia became the first team to score over 300 runs to win the fourth innings of a Test match 1 Darling along with Hill and Trumble led the record making run chase Darling scored 62 runs 25 Hugh Trumble captained the final two Tests as Darling returned to his farm Australia won both Tests and the series to retain The Ashes 26 Return to cricket Edit Darling agreed to once again lead the Australian cricket team in England in 1902 In what was a very cold and wet summer the Australian team won a close fought series against the strong English team two Tests to one Given the strength of the opposition this Australian team is often referred to as one of the best Australian teams ever assembled 1 The team included players of the calibre of Trumper Hill Armstrong Trumble and Monty Noble all of whom would be later included in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame The team lost only two matches during the tour with Wisden saying No travelling team ever strove harder for victory or more completely subordinated all personal considerations to the prime object of winning matches They formed a splendid all round combination 27 Darling centre middle row with his famed 1902 touring team The First Test at Edgbaston finished in a draw Rain saved the Australians after they were dismissed for only 36 in their first innings Wilfred Rhodes took seven wickets for only 17 runs 28 Rain again ruined the Second Test at Lord s when the final two days were washed out 29 The Third Test the only Test match played at Bramall Lane saw Australia win by 143 runs due in part to a century by Hill and Noble taking 5 51 Darling was dismissed twice by Barnes without scoring the first Test captain to make a pair Australia won the Fourth Test at Old Trafford by three runs Trumble took ten wickets for the match 30 The last batsman Fred Tate came in with England needing eight runs to secure victory Darling brought the field in and Trumble prevented Rhodes scoring from the last three balls of his over This left Tate to face Jack Saunders who dismissed him with the fourth ball of his over to win the match for Australia 1 England won the Fifth and final Test at the Oval by one wicket 31 Chasing 263 England were 5 48 when Gilbert Jessop scored a century in 75 minutes to help England to victory 32 The star for the Australians was Trumper who scored 2 570 runs easily beating Darling s own record for a colonial batsman in an English season set in 1899 27 So important was Trumper to the Australian team that Darling who had previously checked that all the Australians were on board the carriage to the ground was later simply to ask Is Vic aboard before giving the driver the go ahead 1 Darling himself had a mixed tour with the bat Darling started the tour in a way that promised great things but he did not keep up his form and fell a good deal below his standard of 1896 and 1899 His tremendous hitting power however was several times of the utmost value and very likely in a season of hard wickets he would have had as good a record as ever Wisden Cricketers Almanack 27 On the return trip to Australia the touring team stopped to play three Tests against South Africa the first between the two nations Australia won the series two Tests to nil but Darling s own form was poor In successive innings Darling made 0 14 6 4 and 1 After the tour he returned to Stonehenge and took a two year break from first class cricket In his absence Monty Noble captained the Australian team against the touring English in 1903 04 26 Final tour and retirement Edit Before the Australian team to tour England in 1905 was selected Darling returned to first class cricket for South Australia He won selection in the touring squad and was named as captain A weaker Australian bowling attack saw Darling resort to defensive measures throughout the tour These measures included directing Armstrong to bowl his leg breaks down the leg side where Darling had placed up to seven fielders These measures unpopular with the English public saw 19 matches on the tour finish in draws three more than the 16 matches won by Australia 1 Wisden said Leaving aside Duff s long score at the Oval Darling was the finest batsman on the side in the Test games playing superb cricket under very trying conditions 33 At Old Trafford in the Fourth Test he made 73 out of 105 in less than ninety minutes His innings included thirteen boundaries all but one of them being drives Despite his efforts England still won the Test by an innings and 80 runs 34 After losing six tosses against his English opposite number Stanley Jackson during the summer Darling decided on a different approach before the Scarborough Festival match late in the tour At the toss he approached Jackson stripped to the waist and suggested in fun a wrestle for choice of innings 1 The 1905 tour was Darling s last Test cricket foray as he claimed that continuing to tour was unfair to his wife 4 He retired from first class cricket during the 1907 08 season 26 In his first class career Darling made 10635 runs including 19 centuries at an average of 34 52 35 In club cricket in Adelaide Joe scored heavily He averaged 144 for East Torrens Cricket Club in 1899 1900 98 66 for Adelaide Cricket Club in 1896 97 and 86 20 for Sturt Cricket Club in 1904 05 4 He continued to make runs in Tasmanian club cricket right through middle age In 1921 he made 100 runs in an hour including 29 in one eight ball over playing for Claremont Cricket Club At age 52 he made 133 not out during a successful run chase where his team Break o Day made 6 219 in 90 minutes 4 He was contemptuous of the newly formed Australian Board of Control for International Cricket Matches now known as Cricket Australia who he saw as attempting to remove control of international cricket tours from the players He would often refer to cricket administrators as Dead Heads 36 He later represented the Tasmanian Cricket Association as a delegate to the Board of Control 36 Outside cricket Edit Parliamentary portrait of Darling Following his retirement from big cricket Darling returned to his Tasmanian sheep station where he was involved in a range of agricultural activities He pioneered measures to eradicate rabbits an introduced pest then in plague proportions throughout Australia 4 He was an active member of organisations such as the Tasmanian Stock Holders and Orchardists Association and the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania the organising body of the Royal Hobart Show Darling imported South Australian merino rams to improve his flock and his wool topped the Hobart sales on several occasions He also introduced subterranean clover to Tasmania 4 In 1919 Darling moved from Stonehenge to Claremont House around which the Hobart suburb of Claremont later formed 4 He was elected to the Cambridge electorate in the Tasmanian Legislative Council in 1921 as an independent He retained his position in the Parliament until his death in 1946 37 In Parliament one of his colleagues was Charles Eady his teammate from the 1896 tour of England 4 Darling was recognised by his colleagues as a forceful no nonsense speaker In the 1930s he won an exemption from land tax for small farmers and toward the end of his parliamentary career a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate charges Darling had made regarding maladministration The findings of the commission released after his death saw a government Minister and two others found guilty of accepting bribes 4 Darling was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire CBE in the 1938 New Year Honours in recognition of his work as a member of the Legislative Assembly 38 Darling married Alice Minna Blanche Francis a wheat farmer s daughter from Mundoora South Australia in 1893 1 2 Together they raised 15 children ten sons and five daughters 2 After surgery for a ruptured gall bladder Darling died in Hobart on 2 January 1946 He was buried at Cornelian Bay Cemetery after a Congregationalist ceremony and was survived by his wife and twelve of his children 2 Style and personality Edit Paddy Slavin Darling had a stocky compact build standing 5 feet 8 inches 1 73 metres and weighing 12 stone 12 pounds 82 kg His teammates thought his dark hair blue eyes and moustache were similar to the boxer Frank Paddy Slavin and he answered to the nickname Paddy during his time in cricket 1 His time working on his father s farm had developed his strength During his first game for South Australia he was challenged to a naked wrestle by the fast bowler and ex miner Ernie Jones an informal initiation into the team To his teammates surprise Darling managed to defeat the much larger Jones 26 The left handed Darling was a strong driver of the ball who showed the batsman the full face of the bat When necessary he was a dour defender of his wicket His fellow players thought that was sometimes unnecessarily defensive in his approach to batting and that he was at his best when driving hard His South Australian and Australian teammate George Giffen thought that no Australian s cut shots travelled faster past point 1 Darling is a remarkable combination of stolidity and power His driving whenever he choose to let himself loose is tremendous and no left handed batsman at any rate in our time has possessed quite such a defence He always gives one the idea of being a great natural hitter who has rigorously schooled himself to play the steady game Wisden Cricketers Almanack 20 Darling holds the record for the most innings in a complete Test Match career 60 without being dismissed lbw 39 Darling had a strong personality and an independent outlook Those who knew him well thought him destined to be a leader in whatever he undertook He shunned strong drink and tobacco and found it difficult to tolerate overindulgence in alcohol Normally even tempered he did show displeasure at the heckling from the crowd at Lord s at his obstinate defensive effort in the face of an Australian batting collapse 1 He was a stickler for fair play but his actions against the English batsman KS Ranjitsinhji would today be seen as gamesmanship During the bowler s approach and after the bowler had looked at the field the Australian fielders moved behind Ranjitsinhji s back This worried the Indian prince when playing his leg glance and eventually saw him left out of the English team 1 The journalist Ray Robinson wrote that of all Australian captains he came closest to being a disciplinarian 1 Regardless his teammates continued to select him as captain trusting in his knowledge and understanding of the game On a wet day during the 1899 tour a delay in play saw some of the Australians accept an invitation to the Player s tobacco factory in Nottingham While away the weather cleared and play began with Darling leading a team of five Australians and five substitutes onto the field Darling later called a team meeting that saw the culprits fined 5 for breaching team rules 1 His approach to the hard drinking Ernie Jones was similarly tough To ensure that the fast bowler would not drink to excess he selected Jones as twelfth man in a match against an English county team When Jones refused to play a team meeting saw him facing expulsion from the team Darling spoke to him privately and made it clear that without an apology to his teammates and a promise to curb his drinking he would be on the next boat bound for Australia 26 The firm and prompt action had a lasting effect on team discipline during his time as Australian captain 1 Wisden noted that as a captain he inspired his men to reveal their best form 40 As a captain he was a reformer suggesting rule changes that included making six runs the reward for clearing the boundary rather than the entire ground and using of sawdust to fill holes in bowler s run ups 36 Test match performance Edit An innings by innings breakdown of Darling s Test match batting career showing runs scored red bars and the average of the last ten innings blue line The blue dots indicate an innings where he was not dismissed 41 See also EditList of South Australian representative cricketersNotes Edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Robinson pp 75 87 a b c d Darling D K 1981 Darling Joseph 1870 1946 Australian Dictionary of Biography online edition Australian National University Retrieved 27 January 2008 Daly John A 1983 Hill Clement Clem 1877 1945 Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition Australian National University Retrieved 18 January 2008 a b c d e f g h i j k l Pollard pp 322 325 South Australia v New South Wales Sheffield Shield 1893 94 CricketArchive Retrieved 29 January 2008 South Australia v AE Stoddart s XI AE Stoddart s XI in Australia 1894 95 CricketArchive Retrieved 29 January 2008 Australia v England AE Stoddart s XI in Australia 1894 95 1st Test CricketArchive Retrieved 29 January 2008 Test Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Joe Darling CricketArchive Retrieved 29 January 2008 First class Batting and Fielding for Australians Australia in England 1896 CricketArchive Retrieved 29 January 2008 a b The Australians in England 1896 Wisden Cricketers Almanack online edition John Wisden amp Co 1897 Retrieved 29 January 2008 England in Australia 1897 98 Wisden Cricketers Almanack online edition John Wisden amp Co 1899 Retrieved 29 January 2008 South Australia v AE Stoddart s XI AE Stoddart s XI in Australia 1897 98 CricketArchive Retrieved 29 January 2008 Australia v England AE Stoddart s XI in Australia 1897 98 1st Test CricketArchive Retrieved 29 January 2008 Australia v England AE Stoddart s XI in Australia 1897 98 3rd Test CricketArchive Retrieved 30 January 2008 Lynch Steven 2006 The Lahore run fest and a flurry of sixes Cricinfo Ask Steven Retrieved 24 January 2006 a b Pardon Sydney 1900 The Australians in England 1899 Wisden Cricketers Almanack online archive John Wisden amp Co Retrieved 1 February 2008 Pollard p 408 England v Australia Australia in England 1899 2nd Test CricketArchive Retrieved 2 February 2008 First class Batting and Fielding for Australians Australia in England 1899 CricketArchive Retrieved 1 February 2008 a b Cricketer of the Year 1900 Joe Darling Wisden Cricketers Almanack online archive John Wisden amp Co 1900 Retrieved 2 February 2008 First Class Matches played by Joe Darling 202 CricketArchive Retrieved 8 February 2008 Australia v England AC MacLaren s XI in Australia 1901 02 1st Test CricketArchive Retrieved 8 February 2008 See scoring cricket for an explanation of cricket score formats This score and all others in the article follow the Australian format of wickets fallen followed by runs made a b Australia v England AC MacLaren s XI in Australia 1901 02 2nd Test CricketArchive Retrieved 8 February 2008 Australia v England AC MacLaren s XI in Australia 1901 02 3rd Test CricketArchive Retrieved 8 February 2008 a b c d e Perry pp 76 91 a b c The Australians in England 1902 Wisden Cricketers Almanack online archive John Wisden amp Co 1903 Retrieved 9 February 2008 Frith p 75 Frith p 77 England v Australia Australia in England 1902 4th Test CricketArchive Retrieved 19 January 2008 England v Australia Australia in England 1902 5th Test CricketArchive Retrieved 19 January 2008 Roebuck Peter 1990 Great Innings Sydney Pan pp 133 134 ISBN 0 7329 0359 9 Pardon Sydney 1906 The Australians in England 1905 Wisden Cricketers Almanack online archive John Wisden amp Co Retrieved 9 February 2008 Fourth Test match England v Australia 1905 Wisden Cricketers Almanack online archive John Wisden amp Co 1906 Retrieved 9 February 2008 Joe Darling CricketArchive Retrieved 9 February 2008 a b c Newlinds Peter 23 June 2003 Cricket legend who called Tasmania home Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 10 February 2008 Joseph Darling Members of the Parliament of Tasmania Retrieved 24 July 2022 Search Australian Honours Joseph Darling It s an Honour Australia celebrating Australians Australian Government Retrieved 10 February 2008 Walmsley Keith 2003 Mosts Without in Test Cricket Reading England Keith Walmsley Publishing Pty Ltd p 457 ISBN 0947540067 Obituary Joseph Darling Wisden Cricketers Almanack John Wisden amp Co Retrieved 10 February 2008 Statsguru J Darling Test Batting Batting analysis Cricinfo Retrieved 29 June 2008 References EditFrith David 2007 Australia Versus England An Illustrated History of Every Test Match Since 1877 12th ed Melbourne Viking ISBN 978 0 670 07073 2 Perry Roland 2000 Captain Australia A History of the Celebrated Captains of Australian Test Cricket Sydney Random House ISBN 1 74051 093 3 Pollard Jack 1988 Australian Cricket The Game and the Players Sydney Angus amp Robertson ISBN 0 207 15269 1 Robinson Ray Haigh Gideon 1996 On Top Down Under Australia s Cricket Captains Revised ed Adelaide South Australia Wakefield ISBN 1 86254 387 9 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joe Darling Joe Darling at ESPNcricinfoPreceded byHarry Trott Australian Test cricket captains1899 1901 2 Succeeded byHugh TrumblePreceded byHugh Trumble Australian Test cricket captains1902 1902 3 Succeeded byMonty NoblePreceded byMonty Noble Australian Test cricket captains1905 Succeeded byMonty NobleTasmanian Legislative CouncilPreceded byCharles Davies Member for Cambridge1921 1946 Succeeded byGeoffrey Green Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Joe Darling amp oldid 1132140659, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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