Famous Cricketers No 77 - W.L.Murdoch

state of his birth, Murdoch is on record as being too attached to New South Wales to agree to play for their great rivals. Prospects of a fourth tour of England in 1890 (with Harry Boyle as manager) were enough to lure Murdoch from his retirement. John Watson had died in June 1889 and at least one Australian paper unkindly suggested that Murdoch would not have dared to return to the game had his father-in-law still been alive. Whatever the truth of the assertion, such was Murdoch’s reputation that with only one first-class innings in the 1889/90 season behind him he was not only selected for the touring party, he returned as captain. A Move to England It seems to have been during or just before this tour that Mr and Mrs Murdoch decided to settle in England. Why is unclear. It has been suggested that now that he was successful the Anglophile Billy had a wish to return “home”. Possibly, but it is surely equally likely that Jemima was the driving force. Financially she was now presumably largely able to please herself and with her interest in the theatre and the arts, it would not be so very odd if she found the prospect of life in Southern England more appealing than Melbourne as it was in the 1890s. The couple lived first in Richmond, Surrey then moved to Kensington and it was from here in February 1891 that he wrote to the 3rd Earl of Sheffield announcing his intention of living in Sussex - “I need hardly say how very pleased I shall be to represent Sussex in the cricket field as soon as I am allowed to do so.” It is clear from the letter that there had been earlier discussions. On the 1890 tour Murdoch had scored 93 against Lord Sheffield’s XI at Sheffield Park and 158 at Hove so the Sussex President was not lacking evidence as to Murdoch’s potential value. Nevertheless the move has its curious side. According to Murdoch’s old antagonist Alfred Shaw who was employed by Lord Sheffield as coach cum talent scout, his Lordship was not in favour of “importations”. Murdoch was elected a member of MCC in 1891 and while qualifying for Sussex played for the Club as well as appearing in festival matches and for various other XIs. He also played a good deal of minor cricket, notably for Lord Sheffield’s own team, Sheffield Park and for the prestigious Lyric Club on whose riverside ground in Barnes he played alongside old team mates F.R.Spofforth and J.E.Barrett as well as cricketing grandees such as C.I.Thornton, T.C O’Brien and G.F.Vernon. In an interview in The Cricket Field on July 16th 1892 Murdoch, by now living in Burgess Hill, is quoted as saying “English country life suits me very well”. Hardly surprising really as, apart from writing on cricket for the Daily Mail , he does not seem to have suffered from the inconvenience of having to work. At the time of the interview Murdoch harboured hopes of joining the 1893 Australian team but, despite the precedent of S.M.J.Woods in 1888, the tourists preferred not to call on him now he lived in England. There was considerable criticism of their decision, particularly in England. Wisden felt his presence would have been “an element of strength” and “his judgement, tact and strong will would have been invaluable in the management of the eleven” had he been captain. Instead Murdoch found himself directing one of the weakest bowling attacks on the county circuit with the further handicap of, in Hove and Eastbourne, two of the easiest batting wickets in England. With Brann, Newham, G.L.Wilson, Bean and Murdoch himself, C.B.Fry coming into the team in 1894 and Ranjitsinhji a year later, there were few if any stronger batting sides but with dismissing the opposition always a problem, results were not startling. In 1892 Sussex had finished 9th in the table (i.e. last) In Murdoch’s seven year reign they were 7th, 8th and from 1895 with an enlarged championship 11th, 14th (last), 6th, 11th and 5th. Disappointing results notwithstanding, his captaincy was widely praised, both for his tactical acumen and for his ability to get the best out of limited resources. Writing in his Book of Cricket (George Newnes 1899) Charles Fry, in a better 6