Famous Cricketers No 77 - W.L.Murdoch

position to know than most, expressed the view that Murdoch was an even greater captain off the field than on it. Murdoch was clearly not the batsman for Sussex in the 1890s he had been for New South Wales and Australia in the previous decade and there were some, W.G.Grace included, who felt that he had not scored as heavily as his ability warranted. Nevertheless, during his first six years with the county he was generally well worth his place in the side irrespective of his qualities as a captain. Until 1899, when his form completely deserted him and after eight games (three won, one drawn, four lost) he handed the captaincy over to Ranjitsinhji and retired from county cricket. Grace, whose London County had been granted first-class status for the 1900 season, was one of Murdoch’s closest friends and possibly the two had discussed joining forces while Murdoch was still with Sussex. He appeared for London County in the third match of that inaugural season and remained with them until first-class status was relinquished in 1904. Only Grace with 63 appearances and 3,483 runs bettered Murdoch’s 47 appearances and 1,843 runs. Unsuccessful in their attempt to gain admission to the County Championship, London County matches seldom attracted the public in large numbers but by all accounts the cricket was played seriously, fun to play and seldom dull to watch. Great names such as Ranjitsinhji, Fry and Jessop turned out for the club but not least of the pleasures must have been seeing the two middle-aged, over weight but still highly skilled not to say high spirited titans from an earlier era. Unlike Grace who continued to play first-class cricket after the demise of London County, Murdoch ended his first-class career with the club’s final game (against Warwickshire at Crystal Palace). Murdoch as a Batsman Charles Bannerman had his supporters but the majority of contemporary sources agree that until the advent of Victor Trumper, Murdoch was the finest batsman ever produced by Australia. 5’10" (177.8cm) with an early tendency to corpulence, he lacked Trumper’s elegance but once he had honed his technique by close study and experience on English wickets, he was certainly the most technically correct. Primarily a front foot player, the off-drive, square and late cuts and a half cut, half drive past cover point were his most profitable strokes, supplemented by quick feet, a strong defence and endless patience. Brought up in an era when most bowlers concentrated on and outside off stump, he was less prolific on the leg side. In his early years he made much use of the full-blooded hit off the front foot in the general direction of square leg but in his later career, like Grace, he accumulated a lot of runs by hard pushes between mid-on and square leg and he was (with Lord Harris) one of the last to play the “dog” or under leg shot. This stroke - safer than perhaps it looks on good wickets against anything but fast bowling - was the successor to the even more old fashioned draw and, like the draw, no doubt had its origins in the archaic doctrine of the firmly rooted back foot. The pioneer cricket photographer W.A.Rouch produced an excellent study of Murdoch playing the stroke but oddly enough Murdoch himself makes no mention of the shot in the instructional book he produced in 1894. Taking his cheerful outlook with him on to the field, Murdoch is said to have smiled a lot while batting and excelled at instilling confidence in his batting partners. Although a good judge of a run, he disapproved of short singles. As with most batsmen, there were of course chinks in the armour. According to A.G.Steel there was a tendency in the first few overs to mistime a fast straight ball while Lord Harris claimed to detect vulnerability early on in the area of slip - easier to get away with in the 1880s and 1890s when any more than two slips was a rarity. Nevertheless, the two bowlers who claimed his wicket most frequently were William Attewell and J.T.Hearne, both of whom relied mainly on off-spinners or off-cutters. 7