Joe Darling

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Joe Darling Australia (AUS)
Batting style	Left-hand bat
Bowling type	-
	Tests	First-class
Matches	34	202
Runs scored	1657	10635
Batting average	28.56	34.52
100s/50s	3/8	19/55
Top score	178	210
Balls bowled	0	68
Wickets	0	1
Bowling average	-	55.00
5 wickets in innings	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	0
Best bowling	-	1/5
Catches/stumpings	27/0	148/0
Test debut: 14 December 1894 Last Test: 14 August 1905 Source: [1]

Joseph (Joe) Darling (born November 21, 1870 in Glen Osmond, Adelaide, South Australia - died January 2, 1946 in Hobart, Tasmania) was an Australian cricketer.

He started in South Australia where he played in the Sheffield Shield team whilst running a sports store in Adelaide and was selected in the national team in 1894/95 for the series against England in Australia. Darling played in 34 Tests between 1894/95 and 1905 and toured England four times, in 1896, 1899, 1902 and 1905, the latter 3 as captain. As captain he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning 7 and losing 4.

In the 1897/98 season he became the first left-hander to score a Test century, the first player to score 500 runs in a series and the first player to score three centuries in a series. During his innings of 178 against England at the Adelaide Oval, he became the first player to hit a six in a Test (prior to 1910, a six was awarded only if the ball was hit out of the ground). He later also hit the first six in a Test in England.^[2] His Test career statistics are 1,657 runs at 28.56.

Midway through his Test career, in 1900 Darling moved to Tasmania where he farmed at a property called "Stonehenge" in central Tasmania.

The 1902 tour of England is referred to as one of the best Australian teams ever assembled, given the strength of the opposition. As well as himself as captain, it included Victor Trumper, Monty Noble, Warwick Armstrong, Clem Hill, Hugh Trumble and Syd Gregory. The England side included Archie MacLaren, Stanley Jackson, C.B. Fry, Gilbert Jessop, Ranjitsinhji, George Herbert Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes. Australia won the series 2–1.

He retired from first-class cricket in 1908 and moved to Hobart in 1920 where he played for the New Town club. He became a member of the Tasmanian parliament and was the Tasmanian delegate to the Australian Board of Control from 1924.

Joe Darling died on 2 January 1946, just thirteen days after his good friend, parliamentary colleague and teammate from the 1896 tour of England, Charles Eady. The old teammates are buried very close to each other at Cornelian Bay.

He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1900.

Preceded by Harry Trott

Australian Test cricket captains 1899-1902/3 1905

Succeeded by Monty Noble

[edit] Footnotes

1. ↑  Lynch, Steven (2006). The Lahore run-fest, and a flurry of sixes. Cricinfo - Ask Steven. Retrieved on January 24, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Cricinfo Article on Joe Darling
• ABC Tasmania

Persondata
NAME	Darling, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Joe
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Cricketer
DATE OF BIRTH	November 21, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH	Glen Osmond, Adelaide, South Australia
DATE OF DEATH	January 2, 1946
PLACE OF DEATH	Hobart, Tasmania