- Frank Laver
Infobox Historic Cricketer
nationality = Australian
country = Australia
country abbrev = AUS
name = Frank Laver
picture = FLaverManager.jpg
batting style = Right-hand bat
bowling style = Right-arm medium
tests = 15
test runs = 196
test bat avg = 11.52
test 100s/50s = 0/0
test top score = 45
test balls = 2361
test wickets = 37
test bowl avg = 26.05
test 5s = 2
test 10s = 0
test best bowling = 8/31
test catches/stumpings = 8/0
FCs = 163
FC runs = 5434
FC bat avg = 25.04
FC 100s/50s = 6/18
FC top score = 164
FC balls = 23089
FC wickets = 404
FC bowl avg = 24.72
FC 5s = 19
FC 10s = 5
FC best bowling = 8/31
FC catches/stumpings = 147/0
debut date = 1 June
debut year = 1899
last date = 9 August
last year = 1909
source = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/240/240.html CricketArchiveFrank Jonas Laver (born
December 7 ,1869 ,Castlemaine, Victoria , diedSeptember 24 ,1919 ,East Melbourne, Victoria was anAustralia ncricket er who played in 15 Tests from 1899 to 1909.The son of Jonas Laver, grazier and timber merchant, and Mary Ann, née Fry, Frank Laver was the 78th player to represent Australia. He was a right-hand batsman and right-arm medium pace bowler. In his first season with the
East Melbourne Cricket Club , as a gangling six-footer from the country, he took 94 wickets and made three centuries, and held his place in the club for 25 years. In the1892/93 season he scored more than 1000 runs for his club, including a record 352 not out. Batting with his friend and fellow Test playerPeter McAlister in1903/04 season , Laver scored 341 in a club record score of 2 for 744 in one afternoon’s batting. Laver and McAlister later fell out over the management of overseas tours.Pollard described Laver as “crude and unorthodox, [who] could thrash even classy attacks. He was a plucky fieldsman whose bowling was highly suited to the heavy atmosphere and damp pitches of England.”
His first Test match was between Australia and England at
Trent Bridge ,Nottingham on1 June to3 June 1899 . This match, the first to be played at Trent Bridge, was drawn with England needing 135 runs to win and Australia requiring 3 wickets. Laver’s contribution was a modest 3 runs in each innings and a catch. The match was also notable as beingW. G. Grace ’s last Test, and the first forVictor Trumper andWilfred Rhodes .Laver’s fortunes turned in the next Test match, at Lord’s inLondon , where his three wickets in the second innings clinched an Australian victory by 10 wickets.In the 1905 tour of England, Laver was appointed player-manager by the Australian Board of Control, and finished second in the bowling averages, taking 115 wickets at an average of 18.19. Pollard described him as "a cricketer of character and perception, [who] could encourage aspiring players to great heights." He was again appointed player-manager for the 1909 tour of England. At the end of the tour Laver refused to produce his records of the trip, insisting that he kept books only for the players’ benefit.
In the Test match at Old Trafford,
Manchester on26 July to28 July 1909 , Laver had, in "Wisden’s" words "a great day against England", taking 8 wickets for 31 runs in the first innings. "English batsmen considered him a very good but not an exceptional bowler, and often wondered why they fared so badly against him", said "Wisden". This was a record performance in a Test match at Old Trafford, equalled byFred Trueman in 1952, untilJim Laker ’s extraordinary 10 for 53 and 9 for 37 in 1956.Laver’s last Test match was between Australia and England at
The Oval ,Kennington ,London on9 August to11 August 1909 , another drawn match with England needing 208 runs with 7 wickets in hand. Laver was 8 not out in his only innings, and took 0 wickets for 13 runs in 8 overs.When another manager was appointed to lead the Australians to England in 1912, six senior players declared that they were unavailable unless Laver was reinstated. The Board of Control remained unmoved and, in spite of a heated selectors’ meeting in which punches were thrown, Laver remained out favour with the Board. “Any suggestion that the players could have a free hand in selecting the manager was so much poppycock”, declared Moyes. However, he managed a non-Test tour of New Zealand in the
1913/14 season .Altogether, Laver played 163 first-class matches in his career between 1891 and 1914.
His nephew
Jack Laver played 13 first-class matches for Tasmania between 1946 and 1952.He married Katie Myrtle Adele Major at
Kiama, New South Wales in 1914, and had two children. He died of acerebral haemorrhage . At the time of his death he was living inKew, Victoria and his occupation was given as a manufacturer.ee also
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List of Australian Test cricketers External links
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* [http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/240/240.html Cricket Archive]
* [http://www.brightoncemetery.com/HistoricInterments/150Names/laverf.htm Frank Jonas Laver (1869-1919)] Gravesite at Brighton General Cemetery (Vic)References
* Moyes, A. G., "Australian Cricket: A History", Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1959.
* Pollard, Jack, "Australian Cricket: 1893-1917, The Turbulent Years". Sydney, The Book Company, 1995. (ISBN 0-207-15468-6)
* Pollard, Jack, "Australian Cricket: The game and the players". Sydney, Hodder & Stoughton, 1982. (ISBN 0-340-28796-9)
* "Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack ", 1920 edition (obituary)
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