Sam Morris first black Test cricketer, West Indian heritage
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:10 am
I read somewhere once that a black man, of West Indian origin perhaps, played a Test match for Australia in the late 1800s. Is this right? It seems an incredible story in the era of the White Australia policy, asked Bernhard Sayer via Facebook
The man concerned was Sam Morris, who played one Test for Australia, against England in Melbourne in 1884-85, after the entire XI from the previous match withdrew in a dispute over payments. After taking two wickets (England's captain Arthur Shrewsbury and Billy Barnes) with his medium-pacers, Morris opened Australia's first innings but was out for 4. When they followed on, he went in at No. 10 and made 10 not out as the weakened side slipped to a ten-wicket defeat: the dispute was resolved after this, and Morris never played for Australia again. Morris was born in Tasmania - it seems likely that his parents arrived from the West Indies during the mid-19th century gold rush - and played club cricket in Melbourne, where he represented Victoria for around a decade. Morris was also the groundsman at the St Kilda club in Melbourne, continuing there until, sadly, he went blind in 1901. He died in 1931, aged 76. I'm not a historian but I think the "White Australia" policy was instituted later, perhaps around the time of the federation of Australia in 1901. link
The man concerned was Sam Morris, who played one Test for Australia, against England in Melbourne in 1884-85, after the entire XI from the previous match withdrew in a dispute over payments. After taking two wickets (England's captain Arthur Shrewsbury and Billy Barnes) with his medium-pacers, Morris opened Australia's first innings but was out for 4. When they followed on, he went in at No. 10 and made 10 not out as the weakened side slipped to a ten-wicket defeat: the dispute was resolved after this, and Morris never played for Australia again. Morris was born in Tasmania - it seems likely that his parents arrived from the West Indies during the mid-19th century gold rush - and played club cricket in Melbourne, where he represented Victoria for around a decade. Morris was also the groundsman at the St Kilda club in Melbourne, continuing there until, sadly, he went blind in 1901. He died in 1931, aged 76. I'm not a historian but I think the "White Australia" policy was instituted later, perhaps around the time of the federation of Australia in 1901. link
