- Norman Callaway
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Norman Frank Callaway (5 April 1896 – 3 May 1917) was an Australian first class cricketer and Australian Imperial Force (AIF) soldier.
Born in Hay, New South Wales to Thomas and Emily, Callaway moved to Sydney and played for Sydney grade cricket teams Paddington and Waverley.
Contents
Club career
Callaway appeared for Paddington in Sydney Grade Cricket in 1913-14, playing alongside Monty Noble [1] On his first appearance at the age of 17 years and 175 days, he top scored with 41 against Balmain, followed by 16 and 26 (top score again) against University and 137 not out with 24 boundaries against Middle Harbor. Sydney Morning Herald went on a stream of praise for the hundred, calling it "a splendid innings, entirely free from blemish", and about the "crispness and strength of his driving", "straight bat" and "splendid judgment" [2] He scored 578 runs in the season for Paddington at an average of 41.28 and took three wickets. [3] In January 1914, Callaway scored an impressive 129, and a duck in the second innings, in a New South Wales Colts v Victorian Colts match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. [4]
At the beginning of the 1914-15 season, Callaway moved to Waverley where one of his team-mates was a young Alan Kippax.
Callaway made his first class debut aged 18 for New South Wales against Queensland at the SCG in February 1915.
Callaway's debut
New South Wales began their innings on the first day after Queensland was all out for 137. Callaway came in to bat at around 4 o' clock with the score at 17 for 3. Callaway and opener Frank Farrar added 41 runs. At the fall of Farrar, the NSW captain Charles Macartney joined Callaway. Macartney was usually a very attacking batsman but on this day he was not well and let Callaway lead the scoring.
"From the first ball he swung the bat with great power and precision at anything within striking distance", tells a report of the day, "and the ball hummed to all parts of the field at an extraordinary pace". Callaway's fifty came up in 67 minutes. At 41, he was missed by McAndrews at point off a tough chance. His second fifty took 27 minutes and the hundred was reached with a "magnificent straight drive that landed on the pickets at the southern end". At the end of the first day he was 125 not out in 130 minutes with 16 fours. He outscored Macartney by 112 runs to 57 during the time they were together.
Callaway grew careless as he passed 150. He was dropped four more times, at 149, 163, 175 and 180. Macartney was caught at mid on for 103 after their stand reached 256 in 155 minutes. Callaway completed his double century, in 206 minutes, just before lunch on the second day as NSW added 146 runs in the first session. Soon after, he was caught at first slip, via the gloves of stand-in wicket-keeper James Sheppard, off John McLaren for 207. He hit 26 fours in 214 minutes. Queensland were out for 100 in their second innings and lost by an innings and 231 runs.
The newspapers of the day raved about his batting. The Mercury called it the best cricket seen on the ground for the season. The Sydney Morning Herald praised the power of his strokeplay, gritty temparament and the ability to play a long innings. It further analysed his batting : "Callaway is not yet a stylist. He holds the bat near the end of the handle and plays the ball at an unusual distance from his body. This method, of course, imparts power to his strokes, though from the defense point of view, it appears to leave considerable openings".
The Sydney Cricket Ground had an outfield of thick grass which made it very difficult to score boundaries. The mighty Macartney had only five fours in his hundred (two of which were all run), yet Callaway hit 26 fours. Sydney Morning Herald conjectured that if the ground was in its normal condition, he would have made another 50. "He certainly should rise to great heights", the paper concluded, "all going well with him".[5] [6] [7] [8]
Remaining life
Before he played another first-class match, Callaway enlisted in the AIF and was posted to the 19th Battalion as a Private[9]. He died in the Second Battle of Bullecourt on 3 May 1917, aged 21 years and 28 days.[10] He was buried in Villers-Bretonneux, France.[11]
Callaway holds the record for the highest first-class batting average.
Notes
Some sources including the SMH reports of the day call Callaway the first batsman to score a double century on first class debut. The definition of first class matches have changed over time. As per the modern classification, Callaway is the second, after Tom Marsden who scored 227 for Sheffield and Leicester v Nottingham in 1826.[12][13]
References
- ^ "Norman Callaway Story", Murrumbidgee Cricket Council (accessed 23 May 2011)
- ^ "Colts play finely", Sydney Morning Herald, 22 Oct 1913. See a long description of the innings here (accessed 30 May 2011)
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald, 21 April 1913 (accessed 30 May 2011)
- ^ Argus, Jan 26, 1914 (accessed 30 May 2011)
- ^ "Brilliant Batting : Callaway 125 not out", Sydney Morning Herald, 20 February 1915 (accessed 21 May 2011)
- ^ "World's Record : Fine performance by Callaway", Sydney Morning Herald, 22 February 1915 (accessed 21 May 2011)
- ^ "Another Record Made", Sydney Morning Herald, 24 February 1915 (accessed 21 May 2011)
- ^ "Century by a Colt", Mercury, 20 February 1915 (accessed 21 May 2011)
- ^ World War I Nominal Roll, Australian War Memorial http://www.awm.gov.au/nominalrolls/ww1/page.asp?Folder=8&Page=24&Surname=callaway Accessed 29 May 2008.
- ^ Cricinfo "Norman Callaway" http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/australia/content/player/4515.html Accessed 29 May 2008
- ^ "Roll of Honour", Australian War Memorial, http://www.awm.gov.au/roh/person.asp?p=145-8069 Accessed 29 May 2008
- ^ CricketArchive, Tom Marsden's debut Accessed 28 May 2011
- ^ Cricinfo, Double hundred on debut Accessed July 8, 2011
External links
Categories:- 1896 births
- 1917 deaths
- Australian cricketers
- New South Wales cricketers
- Australian military personnel killed in World War I
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