Tom Horan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tom Horan
Australia
Personal information
Full name	Thomas Patrick Horan
Nickname	Felix (pen name)
Born	8 March 1854(1854-03-08)
	Midleton, County Cork, Ireland
Died	16 April 1916 (aged 62)
	Malvern, Victoria, Australia
Role	Middle-order batsman
Batting style	Right-hand
Bowling style	Right-arm roundarm
Test debut (cap 8)	15 March 1877: v England
Last Test	21 March 1885: v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1874–1891	Victoria
Career statistics
	Tests	FC
Matches	15	106
Runs scored	471	4027
Batting average	18.84	23.27
100s/50s	1/1	8/12
Top score	124	141*
Balls bowled	373	2044
Wickets	11	35
Bowling average	13.00	23.68
5 wickets in innings	1	2
10 wickets in match	0	0
Best bowling	6/40	6/40
Catches/stumpings	6/0	39/0
As of 26 February 2008 Source: [[1]]

Thomas Patrick Horan (8 March 1854 — 16 April 1916) was a cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia, and later became an esteemed cricket journalist under the pen name "Felix". The first of only two Irish-born players to play Test cricket for Australia, Horan was the leading batsman in the colony of Victoria during the pioneering years of international cricket. He played for Australia in the game against England subsequently designated as the first Test match before touring England with the first representative Australian team, in 1878. Four years later, he toured England for the second time and played in the famed Ashes Test match at The Oval.

An aggressive middle-order batsman renowned for his leg-side play, Horan supplemented his batting by bowling medium-pace in the roundarm style common to his era and once captured six wickets in a Test match innings. During a season disrupted by financial disputes and a “strike” by leading players, he captained Australia in two Test matches of the 1884–85 Ashes series, but lost both games. Horan’s form peaked between the ages of 26 and 29 when he scored seven of his eight first-class centuries including a score of 124 in a Test match on his home ground at Melbourne in January 1882.

In 1879, Horan began writing a weekly newspaper column that continued until his death 37 years later. He established himself as the first Australian cricket writer who had played the game at the highest level, thus paving the way for many players to enter the media. Bill O'Reilly, the noted Australian player-writer of the twentieth century, described him as, "the cricket writer par excellence". Horan's documentation of the early years of Australian cricket are the basis for many works on the subject: Gideon Haigh wrote that any, "serious scholar in the field ... should probably acquaint himself with Tom Horan."^[1] An anthology of his articles was published for the first time in 1989 when he was posthumously inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame for his writing. In part, his citation read, "... it was as the first nationally known cricket writer that he made his major contribution to the game."^[2]

Contents 1 Early years 2 References 3 Notes 4 External Links

[edit] Early years

Born in the town of Midleton near the Irish city of Cork, Horan emigrated to Australia with his parents and siblings as a small child. In Melbourne, he attended Bell Street School in Fitzroy and formed a friendship with Jack Blackham; Blackham encouraged in Horan a love of cricket. Horan made his first-class debut for Victoria in the season of 1874/75.

At age 23, Tom Horan was selected to play in the first Test between Australia and England in March 1877. Australia won the toss and elected to bat. After the fall of the first wicket, that of Nat Thomson, Horan made his way to the wicket. With Charles Bannerman (who would eventually retire hurt on 165), Horan put on 38 runs for the second wicket before he was dismissed for 12. In the second innings, the young batsman made twenty, the highest score in Australia's 104 all out. Australia won the historic match by 45 runs. (Scorecard)

Although he was not selected to play in Second Test of the inaugural Test series, Horan did enjoy a regular place in the Australian Test team into the mid-1880s. His highest Test score of 124 was made in the First Test of the 1881/82 season against England. Horan toured England twice, in 1878 and 1882, but played only one Test in that country, at the Oval in 1882.

In 1884, the Australian Test team - minus Horan - demanded a significant pay rise. When organisers refused the request, the team went on strike. With the Second Test against England due to start in Melbourne, selectors were forced to choose an entirely new team. Horan was selected as captain. His team consisted on nine debutants (five of whom never played Tests again). Not surprisingly, Australia lost the Test by 10 wickets. In the following Test, Horan, having being stripped of his captaincy duties, made a significant impact with the ball, returning figures of 6/40 from 37.1 four-ball overs in England's first innings.

He turned his attention to journalism, writing a regular cricket column for the The Australasian, a weekly published by Melbourne's Argus newspaper. He never attached his own name to his writings, preferring to use the pseudonym "Felix". Horan continued contributing to The Australasian until his death in 1916.

In 1879, Horan married the daughter of a Melbourne police officer, Kate Pennefather. They had nine children. Two of Horan's sons played first-class cricket for Victoria in the early 1900s.

[edit] References

• Perry, Roland (2000). Captain Australia: A history of the celebrated captains of Australian Test cricket. Sydney. Random House.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External Links

• Player Profile: Tom Horan from Cricinfo
• Tom Horan — Cricket writer par excellence from Cricinfo

Preceded by Billy Murdoch

Australian Test cricket captains 1884/85

Succeeded by Hugh Massie

Persondata
NAME	Horan, Thomas Patrick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Cricketer
DATE OF BIRTH	March 8, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH	Midleton, County Cork, Ireland
DATE OF DEATH	April 16, 1916
PLACE OF DEATH	Malvern, Victoria