Charles Kelleway
(1886 - 1944)
Australian Cricketer
( 1 9 1 0 / 11 - 1 9 2 8 / 2 9 )
NSW Cricketer
(1907/08 - 1928/29)
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Born in Lismore on 25 April 1886.
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Right-hand bat and right-arm fast-medium bowler.
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North Coastal Cricket Zone’s first Australian capped player. He played 26 test matches, and 132 first class matches.
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He was the original captain of the AIF team that played matches in England after the end of World War I.
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In 26 tests he scored 1422 runs at 37.42 with three centuries and six half-centuries, and he took 52 wickets at 32.36 with
a best of 5-33.
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He was the first of just four Australians to score a century (114) and take five wickets in an innings (5/33) in the same test.
He did this against South Africa in the Triangular Test series in England in 1912. Only Jack Gregory, Keith Miller and
Richie Benaud have duplicated his feat for Australia.
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He is the only player to play test cricket with both Victor Trumper and Don Bradman.
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In 132 first-class matches he scored 6389 runs at 35.10 with 15 centuries and 28 half-centuries. With the ball, he took
339 wickets at 26.33 with 10 five wicket performances. Amazingly, he bowled almost half (164) of these. He bowled more
than half (111) of his victims for New South Wales.
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In 57 first-class matches for New South Wales he scored 3031 runs at 37.88 with 10 centuries and 11 half-centuries. He
took 215 wickets at 23.90 with seven five-wicket performances, three of these being seven wicket hauls, with a best of
7-39.
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He is one of just seven players to score 2000 runs and take 200 wickets for New South Wales. He was the second to
perform the feat, after Monty Noble, and is the fastest to reach that mark. He reached it in his in his 55th match. The next
fastest was Richie Benaud who did it in his 60th match, followed by Alan Davidson (61st), Johnny Martin (64th), Monty
Noble (66th), David Colley (70th) and Greg Matthews (76th).
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He and Warren Bardsley put on 397 for the 5th wicket in a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia in 1920-21. It
was the New South Wales record for any wicket, and remained so until Steve and Mark Waugh put on 464 for an
unfinished 5th wicket partnership, a world record for that wicket, against Western Australia in 1990-91. The BardsleyKelleway partnership is still the second highest for New South Wales.
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In Sydney first-grade cricket he played for Glebe (1906-07 to 1921-22) and Gordon (1922-23 to 1933-34). In 174 matches
he scored 6097 runs at 41.19 with 11 centuries and 31 fifties. He took 459 wickets at 17.15 with 28 five-wicket
performances and a best of 9-70.
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After a long illness which cut short his cricketing career, Charles Kelleway passed away on 16 November 1944 in
Lindfield, Sydney.
For a full story, please refer to the following article from cricket historian, Arunabha Sengupta.
Source: Colin Clowes, Honorary Research Librarian, Cricket NSW, 2016
Charles Kelleway
A genuine all-rounder who played for Australia on
either side of the First World War
Charles Kelleway, born April 25, 1886, was a dour batsman and a more than
useful medium pacer who played 26 Tests for Australia. Along with Monty Noble
and George Giffen, he was one of the finest early all-rounders Australia had
produced.
Cricket historian Arunabha Sengupta looks back at the life and career of the
man who was once called ‘Rock of Gibraltar’ by Wisden.
The Rock of Gilbraltar
January 1921, Adelaide. The third day of the third Test match ended with the Englishmen on top for the first time in the series.
Having batted their way to a 93-run lead, mainly through the efforts of Jack Russell, they had now dismissed three Australians
for 71 runs. Harry Howell and Ciss Parkin were looking dangerous.
And then Johnny Douglas and his men ran into the stonewalling willow of Charles Kelleway.
Throughout the fourth day the New South Welshman presented the full face of the bat, a picture of absolute restraint, grit and
composure. At the other end, the huge form of captain Warwick Armstrong slowly grew in confidence. The ground was pierced
by thrilling strokes by the big man. And all the while Kelleway batted on. The pair added 194 in 206 minutes, before Armstrong
departed for an attractive 121. Johnny Taylor struck the ball sweetly for 38, and then Nip Pellew came in to carve the bowling
into submission. By the end of the day, Australia were sitting pretty on 364 for 5, Kelleway still there on 115.
By the time he was dismissed on the following day for a seven hour vigil of 147, the Englishmen had been batted out of the
game. Wisden announced:
“A display that earned him the nickname of ‘Rock of Gibraltar’. This display of solid defence in an uphill struggle for his country
ranks with the 90 in five-and-three-quarter hours by William Scotton, who saved England from collapse at the Oval in 1884; the
supremacy of M. A. Noble during eight hours and a half for Australia at Manchester in 1899 when he scored 60 not out and 89
in the follow-on, his patience being so controlled that during one spell of three-quarters of an hour he did not get a run; H. L.
Collins proved equally imperturbable at Old Trafford in 1921 when 40 runs was his reward for four hours fifty minutes at the
wicket. These three were saving efforts that proved effective; Kelleway paved the way for victory by 119 runs on the sixth day.”
We must pause here to note that batting constituted only half the job performed by Kelleway. He was a genuine all-rounder who
could bat in the top order with all the features of a correct, solid theoretician, and could also run in to send down swerving
deliveries on a probing length at a pace well above medium.
The South Africans mastered
Born in Lismore, New South Wales, Kelleway graduated from the high profile Sydney leagues to the realms of First-Class
cricket as a bowling all-rounder. In fact, in his initial couple of seasons following his debut in late 1907, he did little of note with
the bat. He did occasionally impress with the ball, though, picking up six wickets against Queensland in the southern summer of
1908-09.
It was in early 1910 that Kelleway was promoted to No 6 and responded with a back to the wall 108 against South Australia at
Sydney. He followed it up with half centuries against The Rest of Australia and Victoria. This earned him a place in the
Australian side to tour New Zealand. He was not called upon to do much on the tour against the weak local sides, but managed
a fifty against Auckland, and picked up a few useful wickets.
When the South Africans under Percy Sherwin visited in 1910-11, Kelleway was the star performer when the visitors took on
New South Wales. He captured five for 60 and two for 42, and hit 37 in the first innings. Finally, he came in at the fall of the fifth
wicket in the fourth innings with still some distance to go and held his nerve to carry his state home with an unbeaten 19. This
performance ensured a call up to the Test side.
He did not have much to do in the Sydney Test on his debut. He batted at No. 8, after Warren Bardsley and Clem Hill had hit the
visiting battery of googly bowlers into submission. It was 453 for 6 when Kelleway got a chance to bat and remained unbeaten
on 14. It was a similar story when Australia bowled. Tibby Cotter and Bill Whitty did most of the work and the debutant was not
really required to do much. In the second innings, he was given a longer bowl and picked up two wickets.
In the following match at Melbourne, Kelleway played an important knock in the second innings, holding the lower order
together before being last out for 48. However, with the ball he ran into the great Aubrey Faulkner batting at his best in the first
innings, and as a result was at the wrong end of some serious stick. With Cotter and Whitty dismissing the Springboks for 80 in
the second innings Kelleway was not required to bowl, but picked up three impressive catches in the slips.
Kelleway’s full potential was realised in the third Test at Adelaide, when Hill astutely sent the young man to open the innings with
Charlie Macartney, in place of the regular openers Bardsley and Trumper. Macartney failed, but Kelleway put his head down and
compiled 47, adding 94 with Vernon Ransford. In the second innings he came in at No. 4 and hit 65. The versatile all-round
capabilities of the young man were increasingly apparent. He hit a patient 59 in the next Test and was again sent in to open in the
second innings. He failed as he opened again in the final Test, but by then his value in the side was established.
Kelleway started strongly when England visited in 1911-12. Opening the batting once again, he scored 70 in the second innings
of the first Test at Sydney as Australia won by 146 runs. He also captured 3 for 46 in the first innings. Thereafter, however, Frank
Foster and Syd Barnes routed the hosts in the remaining four Tests. Kelleway continued to go out at the top of the order,
performing the rare feat of opening both the batting and bowling in the fourth Test at Melbourne. However, his runs dried up and
the bowling proved without sting. He lost his place in the side during the final Test match of the series.
Triumph in Triangular Test Tournament
But he made his way back to the national team when the Big Six incident raised its ugly head. With Victor Trumper, Clem Hill,
Warwick Armstrong, Cotter, Hanson Carter and Vernon Ransford refusing to tour England for the experimental Triangular Test
Tournament in 1912, Kelleway became one of the mainstays of the Australian side.
And he started off magnificently, opening the innings at Manchester against South Africa and hitting 114, adding 202 with
Bardsley. When South Africa followed-on, Kelleway took the new ball and captured 5 for 37 to skittle them out for 95. It remains
one of the outstanding all-round performances of all time.
He followed it up with 61 against England and 102 against South Africa, both at Lord’s. Kelleway ended the tournament with 360
runs at 60 and 6 wickets at 23.66. On his way back to Australia, he played a few games in the United States, appearing in both
First-Class encounters against the Gentlemen of Philadelphia.
The War Games
That was the end of international cricket for the time being. The First World War intervened and in January 1915, Prime Minister
Billy Hughes made a stirring address to the sportsmen of Australia: “As you have played the game in the past, so we ask you to
play the greater game now. You are wanted in the trenches now far more than you were ever wanted in the football and cricket
fields.”
Not all the stars responded. Armstrong, for example, was exempted because of his age and size. However, Kelleway was one of
the leading sportsmen to hear to the call and became a Captain in the Army.
Two months after armistice, order number 1539 of the AIF set up a Sports Control Board to occupy the thousands of personnel
waiting in England. The response was overwhelming. As many as 12 net sessions had to be arranged at Lord’s to select a
squad.
Captain Kelleway was the skipper of the Australian Imperial Forces cricket team. Playing under him were Jack Gregory, Nip
Pellew, Johnny Taylor and Herbie Collins. Besides, in a dingy London flat, Collins discovered the New South Wales wicketkeeper
Bert Oldfield and persuaded him to play.
However, after an incident of poor behaviour and symptoms of unrest in the players, Field Marshall Birdwood, former commander
of the Australian Corps, sacked Kelleway as skipper and replaced him with Collins. This meant seven men of higher rank,
including Kelleway, played under the lance corporal Collins, but the poker faced man led with quiet intensity and sparked off trust
in all.
Post-War Success
With the resumption of normal cricket, Kelleway demonstrated that he was still one of the very best in the land. At Sydney,
against South Australia, he notched up his highest First-Class innings of 168, adding 397 with Warren Bardsley. When the visitors
followed on 611 behind, a deluge turned the ground into a swamp. The South Australians asked for the match to be abandoned,
conceding the result in favour of New South Wales. This was the first time that a Sheffield Shield match was left unfinished.
When Test cricket restarted, Kelleway returned as one of the main members of the Australian side under Armstrong. Douglas’s
Englishmen was routed 5-0 in 1920-21. Kelleway scored 330 runs at 47.14 and captured 15 wickets at 21 — the bowling average
turning out to be the best for either side. After the landmark 147 at Adelaide mentioned earlier, he finished the series with bowling
figures of 20-6-27-4 and 14-3-29-2 at Sydney.
Poor health and rather strained relationship with the management prevented him from touring England again. But, when Arthur
Gilligan’s side visited Australia in 1924-25, Kelleway remained a useful performer with both bat and ball. No longer coming high
up in the batting order, he nevertheless managed crucial runs in demanding situations. At Sydney in the final Test, he scored 73
from No. 8 and finished the series with figures of 7-1-16-2.
The next summer, at the age of 39, he enjoyed his best domestic season with the bat, scoring 582 runs at 97.
Final fling
Health was however taking its toll. He missed a couple of seasons and returned in 1928-29. An unbeaten 93 against the visiting
MCC, including a 68 run association with the young Don Bradman, got him selected in the first Test at Brisbane.
Kelleway opened the bowling against Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe and was sent on a leather hunt by Patsy Hendren.
Following this, he batted at No 5, two positions above a 20-year-old debutant called Don Bradman. He scored eight before losing
his off-stump to Harold Larwood. He fell ill after that and took no further part in the match.
That was the last time Kelleway played for Australia. He turned out in only two more First-Class matches before calling it a day
after the season.
In his 26 Tests, Kelleway scored 1422 runs at 37.42 with three hundreds, and captured 52 wickets at 32.36 with a solitary fivewicket haul. In all First-Class cricket, he compiled 6389 runs at 35.10 from 132 matches with 15 hundreds, and took 339 wickets
at 26.33. Along with George Giffen and Monty Noble, he has gone down as one of the few genuine all-rounders produced by
Australia before the advent of Keith Miller.
Troubled with ill-health all his life, Kelleway passed away in Lindfield, Sydney in November 1944 at the relatively young age of
58.
1920/21 NSW team selected for the Southern Tour (against Victoria and South Australia)
Photo courtesy of Cricket NSW Library