Famous Cricketers No 40 - Neil Harvey

Bowling O M R W BB Ave Tests 3 2 2 0 - - Other matches 19 5 41 4 3/9 10.25 1953 (6-ball) 22 7 43 4 3/9 10.75 Career (8-ball) 90.7 7 } 436 13 3/9 33.53 (6-ball) 32 10 1953/54 On his return fron England he failed to do himself full justice in the Sheffield Shield. In Victoria’s first Shield match of the season against Queensland he scored 97 in 157 minutes with a five and 8 fours adding 157 runs for the second wicket with J.Hallebone (108) in 157 minutes. His only hundred for the season, a chanceless 101 in 188 minutes with 7 fours, came against New South Wales at Melbourne in the next match. In the second innings of the game he brought his total runs for 1953 to 3506 at an average of 70.12, a figure only beaten among Australians by D.G.Bradman with 4368 in 1930 and 3838 in 1934. Victoria’s next Shield match, against South Australia at Melbourne, brought them their highest score of the season. Harvey (88 in 137 minutes with 12 fours) and brother Ray (110) added 160 in 124 minutes for the third wicket and the brothers Maddocks, Dick (115) and Len (45) added 119 for the sixth wicket. These four made 97.45% of the Victorian total of 403 between them. The Testimonial match for A.L.Hassett at Melbourne was noted for rapid scoring and Harvey’s contribution was 72 in 64 minutes with 9 fours. During the second innings of this match he became the twentieth Australian batsman to pass 10,000 runs in a first-class career. He repeated his earlier season 97 in the return match with Queensland this time scored in 143 minutes with a six and 8 fours. After this, apart from a 47 in 88 minutes with three chances in the return match with New South Wales, his season ended quietly. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 132. Victoria v Queensland, Melbourne, December 18, 19, 21, 22 (Victoria won by 254 runs) run out (K.A.Archer) 97 377 229 c and b K.D.Mackay 32 227-6d 121 133. Victoria v New South Wales, Melbourne, December 26, 28, 29, 30 (New South Wales won by nine wickets) c G.S.Trueman b A.K.Davidson 101 306 - - - - 461 lbw b K.R.Miller 2 222 3 0 24 0 71-1 134. Victoria v South Australia, Melbourne, January 1, 2, 4, 5 (Victoria won by 290 runs) c G.R.A.Langley b C.A.Watts 88 403 286 b K.G.Horsnell 16 300-9d 127 135. A.L.Hassett’s XI v A.R.Morris’s XI, Melbourne, January 15, 16, 18, 19 (A.R.Morris’s XI won by 121 runs) st D.Tallon b R.Benaud 72 415 - - - - 562 c G.B.Hole b R.R.Lindwall 37 425 2 1 2 0 399 2 136. Victoria v Queensland, Brisbane, January 22, 23, 25, 26 (Match drawn) c V.N.Raymer b R.G.Archer 97 287 561 st A.T.W.Grout b B.J.Flynn 14 255-5 137. Victoria v New South Wales, Sydney, January 29, 30, February 1, 2 (Victoria won by five wickets) c sub (R.B.Simpson) b R.R.Lindwall 15 234 182 1 c G.S.Trueman b K.R.Miller 47 268-5 319 138. Victoria v Western Australia, Perth, February 19, 20, 22 (Victoria won by ten wickets) lbw b R.H.Price 5 287 168 did not bat - 50-0 165 1 139. Victoria v South Australia, Adelaide, February 26, 27, March 1, 2 (Match drawn) c and b J.Drennan 15 401-7d 315 b J.Drennan 1 148-6 305-9d 20