Anyone who had the privilege to know Arthur Morris was richer for the experience.
The talented left handed opening batsman died yesterday, aged 93.
That leaves another talented leftie in Neil Harvey, aged 86 as the ‘baby’ of the greatest cricket team of all-time, as the sole remaining Invincible.
The stats don’t tell the real story of how magnificent Arthur Morris was as an elite batsman, with the exception of Morris as the top-scorer in both teams in the five-Test 1948 series:
Arthur Morris – 696 runs at 87.00
Denis Compton – 562 at 62.44
Don Bradman – 508 at 72.57.
In 46 Tests, Morris scored 3533 runs at 46.48, with 12 centuries and 12 half-centuries.
But he’ll be remembered for three Test digs of importance.
His partnership with Don Bradman of an unbeaten 223 at the MCG in 1947 against England, where Morris scored an unbeaten 100, and Bradman 127 – Australia won by 233 runs.
The 301-run stand with Morris scoring 182 and Bradman 173* at Headingley where Australia won by 7 wickets.
And the most talked about duck in Test cricket history – when Bradman was bowled by England’s leggie Eric Hollies when he needed just four runs in his last Test at The Oval to have a career average of 100.
Morris was at the bowler’s end when Bradman was bowled, with Morris on his way to scoring what he rated as his best dig of 196 run out.
“Nobody ever mentions the 196, they always talk about the duck,” lamented Morris when I interviewed him as the first of 30 ‘Green and Gold Greats’ for ABC NewsRadio some five years ago.
The other interesting fact that came out of that interview? Morris was as brilliant a rugby league five-eighth as he was a cricketer.
“But I decided to stick to being an amateur cricketer even though I would have been paid to play league”.
As far as cricket was concerned, loyalty was more important than money in those days.
I played a social game of cricket at the SCG in the 60s with Arthur Morris and Keith Miller.
Both hadn’t played for about a decade, but neither had lost their unbelievable natural talent. It was another privilege to be in the middle, watching them at close quarters.
So what made Arthur tick?
He was the ultimate professional in an amateur sport. His strokeplay was effortless, his under-rated left-arm slowies took wickets, and he was a superb fieldsman
He loved to regularly play tennis at the SCG courts, and when he was an SCG Trustee, he came up to me as a 21-year-old at the SCG nets. He introduced himself, as if he needed to do that, and asked if I was a member of the SCG.
“No Mr Morris, I’m not”.
That was a Tuesday. On Thursday, at the nets, he gave me my SCG membership medal.
He didn’t have to do that, I didn’t even personally know Arthur Morris at the time, even though I obviously knew who he was.
But that was just typical of what made Arthur Morris tick.
He was a champion bloke, and a champion cricketer
Arthur Robert Morris was also a gentleman, and a gentle man.
He will be sorely missed.
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