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From: "Peter McCrae" <>
Subject: [AUSTRALIA-OBITS] BROWN: William Alfred Brown 2008
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:39:06 -0000

Bill Brown
Last Updated: 2:38am GMT 18/03/2008
The Telegraph.co.uk



Bill Brown, the Australian cricketer who died on Sunday aged 95, was one of
the most talented and graceful batsmen of his time - but that time,
unfortunately for his reputation, was also the era of the astounding feats
of Don Bradman.


Brown remembered how, the first time he batted with Bradman, the Don
summoned him to a conference at the end of the over


Brown had an excellent defence, as befitted an opening batsman, and played
all the shots, being especially noted for his delicate leg glance. The only
complaint about his batting was that sometimes he seemed unwilling to move
from defence to attack in order to grasp the initiative which his talents
had given him.

He did particularly well on English wickets; indeed, Bradman reckoned Brown
was a better player in England than in Australia. His best season was 1938.
In the first Test at Nottingham he made 48 and 133, achieving a draw for
Australia through a long stand with Bradman.

Then, at Lord's, after England had amassed 494 (Hammond made 240), Brown
carried his bat through the Australian innings to score 206 out of 422 - the
highest total through which an opener had ever achieved this feat. For the
second time in two Tests he had saved his country from likely defeat.

In the fifth Test, at the Oval, Brown was the only Australian player to show
some fight after England ran up a massive total of 903 for 7 at the Oval
(Hutton contributing 364); he made 69 out of Australia's first innings total
of 201. (Bradman, who had fractured a bone in his ankle when bowling, was
unable to bat.)England triumphed in that match by an innings and 579 runs.
But the series of 1938 was tied, with the result that Australia kept the
Ashes. Brown had scored 512 runs in the Tests, with an average of 73.14.

The cricket writer Ray Robinson thought him "the most serene batsman I ever
saw play for Australia". Brown's character, moreover, matched his batting;
he was a charming and modest companion and always a popular team man.

William Alfred Brown was born on July 31 1912 at Toowoomba, Queensland, the
son of a dairy farmer. When he was three, however, the family moved to
Sydney, where Bill attended Dulwich Hill and Petersham High Schools.

As a teenager he played for the Marrickville District Club in Sydney. He
made his debut for New South Wales in 1932-33, only to be run out for a duck
in his first innings. But he was soon making his mark. That was the season
of Douglas Jardine's "Bodyline" tour, and Brown showed his potential with an
innings of 69 against the MCC - even if neither Larwood nor Voce was
playing.

Brown remembered how, the first time he batted with Bradman, the Don
summoned him to a conference at the end of the over. Brown, who had been
batting well, hoped for - half expected - a compliment, but was swiftly
disabused. "Bill, I've never had the pleasure of playing with you before,"
Bradman told him, "do you think you could call when you are going to run?"
For the rest of the innings Brown issued stentorian cries.

Evidently the running problem was solved, for in 1933-34 Brown and Bradman
shared a stand of 294 against Queensland. Brown made 154, and soon
afterwards hit a double century against Victoria.

These innings secured his place on the Australian tour to England in 1934,
much to the disgust of Jack Fingleton, who considered Bradman responsible
for his omission and nurtured much bitterness. "You have chosen chaps who do
not like fast bowling," he wrote to Woodfull, the Australian captain.

But Bradman was having none of this: "The selectors picked Brown on merit,"
he drily observed.

In fact, Brown enjoyed only moderate success in the series of 1934, with the
exception of his 105 (the next highest score was 37) in Australia's first
innings at Lord's. That was the celebrated match in which Hedley Verity took
15 wickets to ensure a comfortable English victory.

Fingleton was recalled to open Australia's batting with Brown on the tour of
South Africa in 1935-36, and they both made plenty of runs, with Brown
hitting a century in the third Test at Cape Town. Against England in
1936-37, however, he played in only two Tests, without much success. Some
felt he was lucky to be chosen for the tour of England in 1938, though the
doubters were soon confounded.

Brown's good form continued in Australia in 1938-39, when he scored 990 runs
in six Sheffield Shield matches. But his best cricketing years were lost to
the Second World War, during which he served with the RAAF in the Pacific
campaign.

Returning to the game in 1945, he felt that his batting had rather lost his
edge. Nevertheless, in Bradman's absence he captained the Australians in New
Zealand in 1946, and in the single Test at Wellington (the first to be
played after the war) hit the top score of 67 out of 199. New Zealand were
then skittled out for 42 and 54.

A broken thumb kept Brown out of the side against England in 1946-47, when
Sid Barnes and Arthur Morris established themselves as Australia's
formidable opening pair. Still, Brown played three Test matches against
India in 1947-48, and at Melbourne suffered the mortification of being run
out for 99.

He made his third and final tour of England in 1948, and batted down the
order in the first two Tests, without making many runs.

But he did well in other matches that summer, hitting eight centuries, and
finishing the tour with an average of 57.92. Moreover, since he took great
pride in his physical fitness, his fielding in the outfield was as brilliant
as ever.

Brown played a few more matches in the 1949-50 season, and then retired. In
his 22 Test matches he had scored 1,592 runs with an average of 46.82. In
all first-class matches he made 13,838 runs at 51.44, with 39 hundreds.

In retirement he ran a sports store in Brisbane, and served as a Queensland
selector in the 1950s, and as an Australian selector in 1952-53. He was
elected a life member of the Queensland Cricket Association in 1992.

Bill Brown did not approve of the displays of emotion exhibited by modern
Australian cricketers, and speculated as to how his team mate Bill O'Reilly
might have reacted to attempts to "hug and kiss" him on the fall of a
wicket. "Not that you'd want to anyway," Brown observed, "but if you tried
to, you'd be in danger of life and limb."

Bill Brown was married and had three sons.

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• [AUSTRALIA-OBITS] BROWN: William Alfred Brown 2008 by "Peter McCrae" <>