Jimmy Matthews

Thomas James Matthews (3 April 1884 – 14 October 1943) was an Australian Test cricketer. Bowling leg breaks, he is the only player to have taken two hat-tricks in the same Test match.

Jimmy Matthews
Personal information
Full nameThomas James Matthews
Born(1884-04-03)3 April 1884
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Died14 October 1943(1943-10-14) (aged 59)
Caulfield, Victoria
BattingRight-handed
BowlingLegbreak
International information
National side
Test debut12 January 1912 v England
Last Test19 August 1912 v England
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 8 67
Runs scored 153 2,149
Batting average 17.00 24.98
100s/50s 0/1 0/14
Top score 53 93
Balls bowled 1,081 7,582
Wickets 16 177
Bowling average 26.18 25.46
5 wickets in innings 0 8
10 wickets in match 0 1
Best bowling 4/29 7/46
Catches/stumpings 7/0 56/0
Source: CricInfo, 24 August 2019

International cricket career

"Possibly the best all-round cricketer Williamstown has produced",[1] Matthews played in eight Test matches for the Australian cricket team, two in Australia in the 1911/12 season, and six in the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England. He played first-class cricket for Victoria in the seasons from 1906/07 to 1914/15, playing in 67 first-class matches in all, although 28 were played for Australia on the 1912 tour of England.

He is famed for being the only player to have ever taken two hat-tricks in the same Test match. In the opening Test of the 1912 Triangular Tournament, playing against South Africa at Old Trafford, he took a hat-trick in each innings. He took the last three wickets in South Africa's first innings, to prevent them avoiding the follow on; later the same day, 28 May 1912, he took a second hat-trick in the second innings.[2] None of the dismissals required the assistance of any fielders: the first batsman was bowled, then two were leg before wicket, then another bowled, and finally two more caught and bowled. South African wicket-keeper Tommy Ward was his third victim in both hat-tricks, being the only known instance of a king pair on debut in Test cricket.[3]

Matthews took no other wickets in the match, giving him match figures of 6 wickets for 54 runs, but he did take a further 9 wickets in the series, including 4/29 in the fifth match of the series, again against South Africa.

Football

Prior to becoming an international cricketer Matthews played Australian rules football for the Williamstown in the Victorian Football Association in 1905–1906 and 1908–1910; and for St Kilda in the Victorian Football League in 1907.[4] He was primarily a full-forward, and his 46 goals for Williamstown in the 1906 season was the second-highest of any player in the VFA that year;[5] He also kicked 30 goals in 1910.[6]

Military Service

He enlisted in the First AIF in July 1915,[7] and was discharged on medical grounds in November 1917.

Post-war

Matthews worked as a groundsman at Williamstown Cricket Ground.[8] He died at the Caulfield Military Hospital on 14 October 1943.[9]

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See also
  • Test cricket hat-tricks

References
  1. Current Topics: Local Test Cricketers, The Williamstown Chronicle, (Friday, 8 November 1946), p.10.
  2. "Two hat-tricks in the same match". ESPN Cricinfo. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  3. Baillie, E. H. M., "Late T.J. Matthews had "Hat-Trick" Record", The Sporting Globe, (Wednesday, 20 October 1943), p.13.
  4. Atkinson, p. 183.
  5. Fiddian, Marc (2003), Seagulls over Williamstown, Williamstown, VIC: Williamstown Football Club, p. 25
  6. Goal-Kickers, The Argus, (Monday, 5 September 1910), p.5.
  7. Sporting Echoes, The Flemington Spectator, (Thursday, 29 July 1915), p.5.
  8. Fiddian (2016), p. 47.
  9. Deaths: Matthews, The Argus, (Friday, 15 October 1943), p.2.

Sources
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