Double Headers

99 Apart from these instances, the closest approach to a further double- header in Australia came during West Indies’ inaugural tour in 1930/31. The season’s fixture list scheduled Victoria to play Queensland in the Sheffield Shield in Brisbane from 31 January to 4 February 1931, and to play the West Indians at Melbourne on exactly the same dates. The two separate sides were selected, and the game at Melbourne duly went ahead, with what amounted to a Victoria Second XI holding out for a draw against the tourists thanks to an unbroken last wicket partnership of 30 in the fourth innings. Meanwhile the Shield side travelled to Brisbane, only to see their game abandoned without a ball bowled because of rain. So no double-header after all. Mention should also be made of a near-triple-header recorded by Victoria in 1912/13. At the same time as two Victorian sides were playing their double-header against NSW and Tasmania beginning on 24 January 1913, a Victoria Colts XI was playing NSW Colts at East Melbourne (also 24-25- 27-28 January). As Ray Webster has pointed out 82 , the Victoria Colts XI included five players who represented Victoria in first-class matches in the same season, and four others who played first-class cricket in the following season. Although there could be no question of the Colts side’s being given first-class status, it is arguable that it was a side of ‘first-class standard’, whatever that means; the outcome of a fixture between it and the Victoria side that played against Tasmania at the same time would surely not have been a foregone conclusion. Here are the three Victorian elevens that played on those dates – you may judge their relative merits for yourself: v NSW (Sheffield Shield) v Tasmania (first-class friendly) Colts v NSW Colts (not f-c) E.V.Carroll (24/13) H.O.Smith (3/2) A.E.Brown (0/6) H.H.G.Bracher (0/7) R.G.Johnstone (2/1) M.D.Hotchin (1/3) F.A.Baring (4/26) C.Dwyer (2/1) H.C.A.Sandford (1/9) J.A.Seitz (18/2) C.Kiernan (1/9) R.L.Park (1/35) W.W.Armstrong (197/72) W.I.Sewart (5/8) C.B.Willis (0/72) J.Ryder (4/173) P.A.Shea (0/3) A.E.Liddicut (3/59) E.L.Carroll (1/3) E.L.Spencer (1/1) J.M.Fitzpatrick (0/1) T.J.Matthews (53/14) R.L.Braid (3/2) F.G.Moule (0/0) W.Carkeek (82/13) R.H.Bailey (0/1) F.L.Lugton (0/5) H.W.Hart (6/4) J.L.McNaughton (2/6) W.Geddes (0/0) W.H.Cannon (1/6) J.R.H.Woodford (14/1) W.R.F.Macrow (5/0) Lost by 8 wickets Lost by 54 runs Drawn. Their opponents included T.J.E.Andrews and Arthur Mailey Bold type indicates once or future Test cricketers. The figures given for each player are the number of first-class matches played before, and excluding, the match on 24 January 1913, and the number of first-class matches played after, and including, the match on that date. A final batch of Australian near-misses is considered in Chapter 10. 82 Ray Webster: First-class cricket in Australia Vol. 1 1850/51-1941/42 (1991), page 499. Australia: First home of the geographical double-header