Bill Lawry

William Morris Lawry (born 11 February 1937) is a former cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia in 25 Tests, winning nine, losing eight and drawing eight, and led Australia in the inaugural One Day International match, played in 1971.
An opening batsman with a reputation for resolute defence, he had the ability to spend long periods of time at the crease. As his career progressed, he wound back his strokeplay to the point where he was described by an English journalist as "the corpse with pads on". Lawry was unceremoniously dumped as captain and player for the final Test of the 1970–71 Ashes series in Australia. Lawry's sacking is regarded as one of the more distasteful incidents in Australian cricket history—he was not informed personally of the selectors' decision before the decision was first broadcast on radio and he only became aware of his fate when confronted by reporters. Lawry was part of the Nine Network cricket commentary team and until 2018, had been in the role for 45 years.
Early career.
Lawry was born in the Melbourne suburb of Thornbury. He was given the names William Morris after the early Prime Minister of Australia, William Morris Hughes. His father Alfred played amateur cricket until the age of 51. Bill never saw his father play, who was aged 47 when Bill was born. Aged nine, he played competitive cricket for the first time with the Thornbury Presbyterian Church team. He spent three years there, as well as playing for Preston Technical School. When he was twelve, he entered Melbourne's district competition playing for Northcote's fourth team, working his way up to the First XI by the age of sixteen. At the time, he was apprenticed as a plumber and attending Preston Technical College. Lawry was selected for Victoria's Second XI at the age of seventeen. He made a duck against the South Australians and did not see any further action for the Seconds for the rest of the summer of 1954–55. The following season, Lawry was recalled to the Seconds and scored 183 against South Australia.
A few months before turning nineteen, Lawry made his debut for Victoria, against Western Australia at the Junction Oval in the 1955–56 season. He scored only three as the hosts took an innings victory and it was his only senior match of the season. He played in all but one of Victoria's matches in 1956–57, but had modest results. He passed fifty only twice, scoring 51 against Queensland in his fourth first-class match, and making 74 against South Australia two games later. He made only one and seven against arch-rivals New South Wales in a low-scoring match that ended in the first tie in Sheffield Shield competitions. He ended with only 248 runs at 20.66.
Lawry was dropped completely in 1957–58 and did not play a match for his state even though they were depleted with Test representatives overseas in South Africa. The left-hander stayed on the sidelines for the first half of the following season when the Test players returned. Recalled for Victoria's match against the touring English cricket team in 1958–59, he scored 24 and 22, failing to seize his opportunity against international opponents. He also bowled at first-class level for the first time, bowling two overs without success. However, he was retained in the team, and scored fifties in four of the remaining five innings of the season and ended with 361 runs at 60.16.
In 1959–60, the national team were away on an eight-Test tour of the Indian subcontinent, opening up opportunities for players in domestic cricket. Lawry played in all 10 of Victoria's inter-state matches. After starting the season with 70 and 50 not out against Western Australia, Lawry went into form slump and accumulated only 56 runs in his next six innings. He scored 85 and 33 and took his maiden first-class wicket in the next match against South Australia, but his form remained modest until the end of the season. He scored fifties in consecutive matches before registering his maiden first-class century, 127, against Western Australia, before scoring an unbeaten 38 in the second innings to see the Victorians to their target of 46. He ended with 666 runs at 44.40 for the season.
His batting form remained modest at the start of the 1960–61 season, scoring only 148 runs in the first seven innings of the summer. In the first match of the season against South Australia, he took a wicket in each innings, the only time he took more than one wicket in a first-class match. His summer's total of two wickets was the most he ever took in a season.
He made his major breakthrough in the fifth match of the season when he hit 266 (after being dropped on 12) against New South Wales at Sydney in 1960–61, shortly before the Australian selectors chose the team for the 1961 Ashes tour. It was more than half of his team's 4/457. Lawry followed his double-century with scores of 66, 83 and 85 in consecutive innings, and then ended the interstate season with a 134 against Queensland. He had scored 840 runs at 56.00 up to that point in the season and selected for the tour of England. He scored 202 runs at 50.50 in three warm-up matches before the Australians departed for the British Isles.
Test debut.
Lawry was sent to England as a back up opening batsman for the incumbent pair of Colin McDonald and Bob Simpson, who had performed well against the pace attack of the West Indies during the previous season and were expected to be retained for the Tests. Adapting quickly to English pitches, Lawry bounced back after failing to pass 30 in his first two matches to make his first century on the tour against Surrey at The Oval, which defeated Australia in the corresponding match on Australia's previous tour in 1956. This time, Lawry seized the initiative in an innings described by "Wisden" as "one of the most significant of the whole season" and "a flowering of technique and temperament". Batting for four and a half hours, Lawry scored 165, reaching his century in three hours. He compiled 101 runs between lunch and tea, producing an array of powerful drives through the off side, while his hooking prompted Denis Compton to compare him to Don Bradman. The Australians took a 180-run first innings lead and the Victorian opener made 22 not out to seal a ten-wicket win in the second innings. Lawry followed up with 100 and 24 not out in a nine-wicket triumph against Cambridge University and 104 on his first appearance at Lord's, against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), who boasted several Test players in their ranks. Continuing this form in the second innings, Lawry hit 84 and combined with Simpson (92*) to take Australia to 0/186, whereupon they declared and bowled the hosts out to win the match. He added 72 against Oxford University, and in eight matches leading into the Tests, Lawry had totalled 720 runs at 80.00.
Consequently, the selectors moved Simpson down the order to number six to accommodate Lawry for his Test debut in First Test at Edgbaston. In a drawn match, he made a steady 57 in Australia's only innings of 9/516 declared. Between Tests, he added an even 100 against Kent. His innings in the Second Test at Lord's—dubbed the "Battle of the Ridge"—was described by "Wisden" as "an indomitable effort of sheer graft under severe pressure with the ball flying about". Taking bruising blows from the hostile pace bowling of Fred Trueman and Brian Statham on a pitch with irregular bounce due to the presence of a ridge, Lawry reached 32 at stumps on the first day after England were bowled out for 206. The following day, Australia moved from 4/111 at lunch to 5/183 when Peter Burge was dismissed for 46 with Lawry on 99. Lawry resisted for six hours, to register his maiden Test century of 130, while no other batsman on either side passed 66. It helped Australia to take a match-winning first innings lead, eventually leaving a target in the double figures for the second innings. It was his fifth hundred of the tour, giving him over a thousand runs inside two months. Lawry continued his fine form in the two matches before the next Test, scoring 70 and 35 against Somerset and 122 against Lancashire. In the latter match, he took 1/24 from four overs, his only first-class stint with the ball during the whole tour, and his heaviest bowling workload in a first-class match.
Lawry then scored a pair of 28s as England squared the series at 1–1 in the Third Test in a low-scoring, three-day encounter at Headingley. He then scored against Northamptonshire. In the Fourth Test at Old Trafford, Lawry played a part of innings that was crucial in Australia winning the series. After making 74 in the first innings, he and Simpson put on an opening partnership of 113 in the second, the first century opening partnership of the series. Lawry went on to make 102, helping to set a match-winning target before skittling England on the final afternoon.
After the match-winning performance in Manchester, the latter stages of Lawry's tour were comparatively unproductive. He made a duck in his only innings in the drawn final Test at The Oval, and scored 109 against the Gentlemen of England, but made only two fifties in the last six first-class fixtures of the tour.
Nevertheless, Lawry topped the batting aggregates with 2,019 runs at 61.18 in first-class matches and 420 at 52.50 in five Tests. He struck the most centuries on tour, with nine triple-figure scores. Only Bradman and Neil Harvey had made over two thousand runs in an English tour since the Second World War. As a result, he was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1962.
Later career.
1961-62.
Upon his return to Australia, he became the captain of Victoria for the 1961–62 season following the retirement of Test opener McDonald. A purely domestic season in 1961–62 saw Lawry in charge of his state for a full season. It was not a happy start for the new Victorian leader, as his men lost their first four matches. It was not until his fifth match in charge, against minnows Tasmania—who were not in the Sheffield Shield competition at the time—that the Victorians tasted victory. When the Shield competition resumed, Lawry's men were dealt a ten-wicket defeat and it was not until the next match, the sixth in the competition, that they avoided defeat, managed a draw against Queensland. The new skipper ended the season on a winning note, with an innings triumph over South Australia and seven-wicket victory over Western Australia. In spite of his team's poor form, Lawry remained productive with the bat, particularly against the dominant New South Wales, whose many Test players swept them to a ninth successive Shield title. The left-handed opener was one of the few to perform against the champions, scoring 65 and 113, and 97 and 67 in the respective matches, accumulating more than a third of his team's runs. He scored centuries in both matches against South Australia and ended with three triple-figures scores and three fifties for the season. In all, the Victorian skipper scored 832 runs at 51.68.
1962-63.
Lawry made his Test debut on Australian soil in the First Test of the 1962–63 Ashes series at Brisbane. After making half-centuries in consecutive lead-in matches, he narrowly missed making a century in the drawn series opener, being dismissed for 98 in the second innings. Between Tests, Lawry scored 177 and 26 in a losing effort against the MCC for Victoria, and then made 133 in the next match against New South Wales, helping Victoria to an eight-wicket win, although he was jeered by an impatient gallery fed up with his slow batting.
The Second Test, his first in his home town of Melbourne saw two 50s, but an unhappy result as Australia went 1–0 down after losing by seven wickets. Lawry did not pass fifty again in the series, ending the drawn series with 310 runs at 34.44. Australian crowds became impatient with his dour and defiant style of batting. In the Fifth Test, Lawry had been ordered by captain Richie Benaud to occupy the crease and play out for a draw. He obliged with an unbeaten 45 in four hours on the final day, even though "the crowd booed, barracked and slow-clapped". At one point, he struck two fours in succession, prompting the crowd to yell "lightning does strike twice!" The unbeaten knock was part of barren run of 12 innings in which Lawry passed 20 only twice. The Victorian captain played in five of his state's Shield matches as they won the title and ended New South Wales' nine-year run. He ended the Australian season with 990 runs at 39.60.
1963-64.
1963–64 saw a tour to Australia by South Africa. Lawry began well with 43 and 87* in a drawn First Test at Brisbane overshadowed by the no-balling of Ian Meckiff. Between Tests, the Victorian skipper continued his strong run with 73 and 130 not against Queensland and 94 against New South Wales. He then made his first century on home soil with 157 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the first innings of the Second Test. This helped propel Australia to a 173-run first innings lead and an eventual eight-wicket win that gave them a 1–0 lead. He made another half century in the Third Test in Sydney, scoring 89 in the second innings to help Australia to a safe position after they had ceded a 42-run first innings lead. Lawry then struck an unbeaten 187 for Victoria against the South Africans, but his form tailed away in the remaining two Tests, scoring 77 runs in the last two matches as the tourists won the Fourth Test by ten wickets to square the series. He ended the series with 496 runs at 55.11. The series was highlighted by new ball battles between Lawry and South African pace spearhead Peter Pollock. Pollock attempted to repeatedly bounce Lawry out, but removed Lawry in only three of ten innings. Pollock later nominated Lawry as one of the two hardest openers that he had ever bowled to. The Victorian skipper ended his Sheffield Shield campaign with 119 in a ten-wicket triumph over Western Australia but it was not enough for his team to hold onto their titles. He totalled 1340 runs at 67.00 for the season.
1964.
1964 saw Lawry return to England, the venue of his first Test series. He started where he left off last time, scoring 50 and 79 against Worcestershire and 106 and 39 not out against Gloucestershire in the first two matches. However, his runs dried up in the three weeks leading up to the Tests, scoring only 119 runs in seven innings.
After failing to pass 20 in the first two Tests, he scored 78 in the first innings of the Third Test at Headingley, in which Australia took a 121-run first innings lead and went on to win by seven wickets to take a 1–0 series lead. With Australia only needing a draw in the Fourth Test at Old Trafford to retain the Ashes, Lawry scored 106, combining in a double century opening stand with Simpson which laid the platform for a total of 8/656 in over two days, as Australia batted England out of the match. The tourists' strategy was simply to bat as long as possible and to prevent any prospect of an English victory. The match only reached the second over of Australia's second innings, leading Wisden to note "a bad taste was left in the mouth of the cricket enthusiasts." Lawry proceeded to make 94 in the Fifth Test at The Oval, helping to secure a 197-run first innings lead and draw the match, retaining the Ashes 1–0. He ended with series with 317 runs at 39.62. Lawry had struggled in the tour matches between the Tests; in 11 innings, he made three 60s and seven scores below 20. AFter the Tests were over, Lawry was prolific, passing fifty six times in the eight innings of the last fourst first-class matches. This included centuries in each of the last three matches, 101 not out, 110 and 121 against Kent, AER Gilligan's XI and TN Pearce's XI respectively.
He made five centuries in the first-class matches on the tour.
1964-65.
Australia made a visit to the Indian subcontinent on the way back home during the 1964–65 season, and the four Tests were the only fixtures scheduled. Lawry batted consistently and defiantly against the Indian spin attack led by Bhagwat Chandrasekhar in three Tests, compiling three half centuries and two 40s without managing to convert any into a century. Five of his six innings yielded between 47 and 68 runs. He ended the series with 284 runs at 56.80 as the series ended 1–1. In the same season Lawry failed to pass fifty in two one-off home and away Tests against Pakistan, aggregating 89 runs at 22.50 in four innings. The one-off Test was the only international match that Australia hosted in 1964–65 season, allowing the Victorian to lead his state in seven of their eight Shield matches. Lawry was in fine form, striking four centuries, including triple-figure scores in both matches against South Australia. He made an unbeaten 143 in the second innings of the states' first meeting, staving off defeat after the Victorians fell 248 runs behind after the first innings. He then scored 246 and 87 not out in the second match to set up a 111-run win. His team was not so successful, winning two and losing one of the seven matches. Lawry ended the Sheffield Shield campaign with 788 runs at 98.50.
The season ended with a tour to the West Indies. He managed only 79 runs in five innings in the first three Tests as Australia trailed 2–0, as both he and Simpson struggled against the express pace of Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith on grounds with no sightscreens.
However, they recovered to combine in a 382-run partnership in the Fourth Test in Bridgetown, Barbados. Lawry went on to make 210, his highest Test score, and added a further unbeaten 58 in the second innings of a high-scoring draw before Australia declared. This proved to be rather risky, as the hosts were only 10 runs short of the target when time ran out, but in any case, the draw was enough to ensure an unassailable 2–0 series lead. Primarily due to that match, he ended the series with 368 runs at 52.57, having made only 3 and 18 not out in the ten-wicket win in a low-scoring Fifth Test. Lawry was consistent in the tour matches against the various countries of the West Indies, his lowest score being 49 in six innings. He made 62 and 134 not out against Trinidad and Tobago and ended with 423 runs at 84.60 in these matches.
1965-66.
Lawry had one of his best seasons in the 1965–66 Ashes series and "always seemed to be batting", his 592 runs (84.57) were the most in an Ashes series since Don Bradman in 1946–47 and his three centuries the most since Arthur Morris in 1948. He was in fine form in the four lead-up matches, hitting 160 in the opening game of the season against South Australia and 153 and 61 for the Victorians against the Englishmen. The Victorian skipper added fifties in the other two matches.
His 166 in the First Test in Brisbane helped Australia, in the absence of the incapacitated and unavailable Simpson, to set a total of 6/443 declared and force England to follow on, but they managed to hold on for a draw. Lawry continued his run scoring in the Second Test at Melbourne, compiling 88 in the first innings. Australia ceded a 200-run first innings lead and he made 78 in the second innings to help the hosts to 426 and safety. In the Third Test, Simpson was again sidelined and Lawry failed; his duck and 33 coincided with Australia losing the match in Sydney by an innings. After the match, Brian Booth, who was the regular vice-captain of the team to Simpson, and led the team in the First and Third Tests, was sacked after a barren run with the bat, and Lawry became the deputy. Between Tests, the Victorian ran into form in a match for the Tasmania Combined XI against England. He made 47 as the hosts collapsed for 199 in their first innings and then compiled an unbeaten 126 in the second innings to help wipe out a deficit of 272 and prevent defeat. Lawry scored 119 after combining in a record opening stand of 244 with Simpson in the Fourth Test in Adelaide to help level the series with an innings victory, the highest opening partnership for Australia against England and still the highest opening partnership against England at home. A further 108 in a 212 run stand with Bob Cowper in the Fifth Test helped ensure the match was drawn and the Ashes retained. Lawry scored 592 runs at 84.58. Including the tour matches against England, Lawry scored 979 runs at 97.90 against the touring side, occupying the crease for over 41 hours in a typically attritional style.
The 1965-66 Victorian District Cricket final.
Lawry continued his marathon season with a remarkable performance in the final of the Victorian district cricket season, playing for Northcote Cricket Club against the Essendon Cricket Club. In 2000, the Victorian Cricket Association's Umpires Association voted it "The District Match of the Century". The Essendon team included Ian Monks (captain), John Grant, Greg Brown, Barry Davis, Daryl Foster, Keith Kirby, and John Swanson; and, apart from Lawry, the team's captain, the Northcote team included Frank Brew, Ian Cowley, and Paul Shanahan.
The match was played at the Albert Cricket Ground over four days — 2 April 9 April (Easter Saturday), 11 April (Easter Monday), and 16 April 1966 — to reach a first innings result: Essendon declared at 9/514 at tea on Day 2, and Northcote chased the total, making 5/516, with Lawry finishing 282 not out, having been at the crease for 509 minutes, faced 454 balls, and hit 32 fours.
1966-67.
He was less successful in 1966–67 as Australia toured South Africa and lost the five Test series 3–1. In his first trip to Africa, Lawry struggled. In five first-class matches leading up to the Tests, he made starts without converting them into big scores, scoring 334 runs at 41.75 with four scores between 35 and 60.
Lawry's best score was 98 in the First Test in Johannesburg, which ended in defeat. Lawry's innings took Australia to a 126-run first innings lead, but the hosts made 620 in their second innings. Lawry then made 27 as Australia collapsed to a 333-run loss. His Test series performance declined as the tour went on, failing to pass 45 again and only managing 44 runs in his last four innings as the hosts dominated the series. He aggregated 296 runs at 29.60. He did have some success in the three remaining first-class matches, passing 50 in each one, including a 107 against Griqualand West. In the match against Orange Free State, the Victorian claimed his first wicket at first-class level for six years. In a limited-overs match against the South African XI, he struck 91 out of Australia's 8/323 but the hosts scraped home by three wickets.
Captaincy.
Lawry started the 1967–68 home series against India well. After compiling 42 and a duck in the First Test win, he made an even 100 in the Second Test in Adelaide to help secure an innings victory. After the Test, Lawry became Australian captain when Simpson stood aside having announced that he would retire from international cricket at the end of the series. His form remained consistent, scoring 64, 45, 66 and 52 in the two remaining Tests as Australia completed a 4–0 clean sweep. He had a productive summer with 369 runs at 52.71. In all first-class matches, Lawry made 805 runs at 47.35, adding a second century for the season in a vain attempt to prevent a Victorian defeat at the hands of Western Australia. Throughout the summer, Lawry made many start without converting them into large scores. In 17 innings, he made six half-centuries, all less than 70, and four scores in the forties. Under his leadership, Victoria won three and lost two of their seven Shield matches for the season.
Lawry's first full series in command was the 1968 Ashes tour of England. With Simpson now retired, the Australians were expected to struggle. The new Australian captain was in good touch in the opening tour matches, scoring three fifties in consecutive innings and aggregating 258 runs at 51.60 in a series of six rain-truncated lead-in matches.
He scored 81 in the first innings of the First Test as Australia took a 192-run advantage and complete a 159-run win to take a 1–0 lead. After failing in the next two drawn Tests, Lawry missed three weeks of cricket and the Fourth Test having sustained a broken finger in the previous Test. Up to this point, Australia had maintained their series lead against the run of play, aided by rain. In the Second Test, Lawry made a duck as Australia fell for 78, their lowest score since World War II. In the second innings he made 28 in Australia's 4/127. The tourists still needed 146 runs to make the hosts bat again, and were saved by rain, which washed out more than half the playing time. In the Third Test, Lawry was forced to retire hurt on six as Australia to England's 409 with 222. Due to inclement weather, England declared 329 runs ahead with seven wickets in hand and the Australians were 1/68 when the rain-shortened match ended.
In his absence, Barry Jarman led the team and adopted ultra-defensive tactics at the orders of Lawry, playing for a draw that guaranteed Australia would retain the Ashes. Lawry returned and made 27 and 46 in county matches before the final Fifth Test at The Oval.
In the first innings he scored 135 in seven and a half hours as Australia fell behind by 170 runs. The innings was the first time that Lawry attracted the derisive description of a "corpse with pads on". In the second innings, he made four as Australia collapsed to be all out for 125 and lose by 226 runs. Rain had again threatened to deny England but they managed to finish off the tourists with five minutes to spare. He finished the series with 270 runs at 38.57. Lawry also struggled for form in the tour matches after the start of the Tests, with only one century and fifty in 12 innings, including 135 against Essex.
The five Test series against the West Indies at home in 1968–69 saw the peak of Lawry's career as a batsman. After a fortuitous retention of the Ashes and patchy form in England, Lawry was back in form on Australian soil.
After registering a century and a fifty in five lead-in matches, He made 109 in the First Test in Brisbane but was unable to prevent defeat, as Australia trailed in a series for the first time under his leadership. He responded with 205 in the Second Test at Melbourne, setting up a total of 510 after asking the tourists to bat first and forcing an innings victory to square the series. After the Third Test saw a convincing ten-wicket victory, the captain making 29 in the first innings, Lawry scored 62 and 89 in a drawn Fourth Test in Adelaide. With Australia needing 360 to win, the captain got them off to a good start but they fell away and the last pair had to survive 26 balls at the end to save the match, 21 runs adrift of the target.
With the series at 2–1 leading into the Fifth Test in Sydney, Lawry struck 151 in the first innings after Australia were sent in to bat. The hosts made 619 and took a 340-run first innings lead, but their cautious captain let his team bat until they reached 8/394 to declare with a lead of 734, making 17 runs himself. The Australians still had enough time to take 382-run win and complete a 3–1 series win. His 667 runs at 83.38 was the highest series aggregate of his career. Lawry had expected a pace onslaught after Australia's last trip to the Caribbean had ended in defeat, but Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith had begun to slow down, taking their wickets at an average over 40.
India in 1969–70: historic win and riots.
Lawry's last success as captain came during the five-Test tour to India in 1969–70. The 3–1 win was to be Australia's last Test series victory in India for 35 years, standing out among a series of subsequent failed attempts by Australian leaders to conquer the subcontinent. However, at the time, Lawry and Australia's victory was overshadowed by the public relations disasters that beset the tour.
The tour started with a stop in Ceylon, where the Australians played three non-limited-overs one-day matches and an unofficial Test. They won one of the one-dayers and the others were drawn, with much time lost to tropical downpours. Lawry made three fifties in his five innings.
Before the Tests got underway, Australia faced West Zone, and the skipper made 89 in a drawn match. Aside from the five Tests, the tourists would also play each of the five zones once. The First Test in Bombay saw Australia take a lead of 74 runs on the first innings. The match was marred by a controversial umpiring decision on the fourth day when Srinivas Venkataraghavan was given out caught behind in the second innings after missing the ball by roughly a foot. Most of the Australian players were dissatisfied with the events, feeling that the batsman had been robbed. In the meantime, the public address system declared that Lawry and his men had cheated. It resulted in crowd rioting and the crowd started to shout "Lawry, Lawry, Lawry". The spectators lit fires and threw projectiles at the Australians after Lawry refused to adjourn the match, contrary to police advice that warned them to run for their lives. During the chaos, Johnny Gleeson was hit in the head by a bottle, and when the teams left the field at the end of the Indian innings, Lawry was hit by a flying chair. Australia went on to reach the target of 64 and win by eight wickets after the Indians fell for 137, sparking off another riot. Former Indian captain Lala Amarnath defended Lawry, saying that he was not responsible for the umpiring error. Ajit Wadekar, who played in the match, said that "With a little graciousness, the unfortunate episode...could have been avoided". He said that an Australian win was inevitable, so Lawry should have adjourned the game and defused the riot. In another incident, Lawry threw his baggy green cap on the ground after the umpires adjourned play for the luncheon interval; Lawry felt that there was time for one more over. The Australian captain was not prominent with the bat in his team's win; he made 25 and 2.
After scoring 22 in an innings win over Central Zone, the teams played in the Second Test in Kanpur. Lawry made 14 in the first innings and was on 56 in the second innings as Australia reached 0/95 after the Indians set them 285 to win during the final day. After the drawn Test, Lawry rested himself from the match against North Zone.
The teams proceeded to Delhi for the Third Test. Australia batted first and took a 73-run lead on a spinning surface, although their captain only managed six. In the second innings, Lawry became the sixth Australian to carry the bat in Tests, making an unbeaten 49 as Australia collapsed for 107 against the spin of Bishan Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna. Australia were confident that the Indians would not be able to make the target of 181 on a deteriorating pitch after 19 wickets had fallen for 167 on the second day. However, following the rest day, India comfortably won the match by seven wickets to square the series. Australian spinner Ashley Mallett claimed that India's Ashok Mankad later admitted that the hosts had switched the pitches on the rest day so they could bat on a favourable pitch. Australia then completed a 96-run win over East Zone in Guwahati, Lawry making 37 and 30.
During the Fourth Test at Eden Gardens in Calcutta, a surge in the demand for tickets caused a last day stampede, which resulted in running battles between fans and police, leaving six dead and hundred injured. This was exacerbated by protests by the Communist Party of India (CPI), a major political party in West Bengal, against Australian batsman Doug Walters. Walters had been conscripted during the Vietnam War period, although he was never sent to Vietnam to fight against the communist Viet Cong. Nevertheless, CPI activists erected posters across the city claiming that Walters had killed women and children. Around 10,000 communists picketed the Australian hotel and some eventually broke in and vandalised it.
On the field, after Lawry made 35 of Australia's 335 to create a 123-run lead, there were more riots following a second innings Indian batting collapse. Spectators on the top deck of the stands threw rocks, prompting those in the lower stands to invade the playing arena. This interrupted Australia's pursuit of 39 runs for victory, which was achieved without the loss of a wicket. During the stoppage, Lawry had an on-field altercation with a local photographer who had run onto the ground, pushing the pressman away with his bat. The Indian newspapers reported that Lawry had knocked the man over and then struck him with his bat. Lawry and his batting partner Keith Stackpole claimed that he had tried to shepherd the photographer from the playing area, who then stumbled and fell histrionically. The Australians reached their target of 39 with Lawry on 17 and all their wickets intact.
In any case, the crowd responded by stoning the Australian team bus as they left the ground following their victory. Following the incident, the Indian media began to wear black armbands and incited the populace against the Australians.
Even in the non-international tour matches, Lawry's team could not escape controversy. The next match against South Zone at Bangalore generated more allegations of cheating. Australia's reserve wicketkeeper Ray Jordon claimed that Alan Connolly had bowled Prasanna. Prasanna disagreed but eventually walked after Jordon repeatedly insisted that he was out. The Australians then had an altercation in the dressing room after some members accused Jordon of cheating, asserting that the delivery had missed the stumps. Lawry scored 120 in the first innings, his only century of the tour, as his colleagues collapsed to be all out for 195. This gave South a 44-run lead and they declared at 6/255 on the final day. Australia needed to bat for only two hours on the final day to salvage a draw, but a collapse had them at 8/90 with an hour left with Lawry still at the crease. Gleeson came out to bat and talked with both umpires at length before taking guard; he later claimed to teammates that he had threatened to hit the umpires in the head if they gave him out. Gleeson then padded every ball away without attempting a shot, but every leg before wicket appeal was rejected. In an attempt to waste time, Lawry pulled away from the wicket when a woman in a colourful sari walked into front of the sightscreen, leading to allegations that he had insulted Indian womanhood. In any case, the crowd expressed dismay at the Australian tactics by rioting and throwing rocks at the players. The match ended early because of the crowd trouble and Australia avoided being the first international team to lose to an Indian zone.
Following the match, many former Australian players called for the tour to be abandoned, citing the safety of the team. Nevertheless, the series continued and Lawry's men received a positive welcome upon arrival for the Fifth Test in Madras. Lawry made 33 as Australia batted first and made 258, taking a 95-run lead. He then fell for 2 as Australia collapsed for 153 in the second innings to give the hosts an opening, but they won the match in just over three days by 77 runs to clinch the series 3–1, but Lawry's team left India with Australia's reputation severely dented. Perhaps as a result of the controversy, Lawry could only manage 239 runs at 34.14 for the series. On reflection, Lawry stated "It was the toughest tour I've ever been on. There were very pleasant memories on the field, but very unpleasant ones from the accommodation, the type of travel, the food we were getting and lack of support we were getting from the board."
Following the tour, Lawry wrote a series of newspaper articles that criticised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and their treatment of the Australian team. The BCCI complained to the Australian Board of Control, objecting to Lawry's "exaggerated and baseless" statements. The ABC replied to express "appreciation at the high level of hospitality and interested exhibited by Indian cricket authorities and the public". Lawry's official report to the board criticised the level of security and insurance for the players. Lawry said
Whitewashed by South Africa.
"It was in South Africa in 1969–70 that his batting, and with it his captaincy, began to falter. The unfortunate experiences he and his men endured in India prior to visiting South Africa, those incidents there and on and off the field, began to affect his outlook, converted it, I feel, into what might be called an inlook...He had to survive investigation of his leadership by the Australian Board of Control in the light of adverse reports from the authorities of both India and South Africa. I believe Bill Lawry had developed a sizable chip on his shoulder before the summer of 1970–71."
Lawry's men left directly for South Africa. Already tired, they confronted fast and bouncy pitches in contrast to low, slow and dusty spinning pitches in India. Upon arrival, Lawry declared Ian Chappell to be the best batsman in the world, something that would come back to haunt him. For his part, the Australian commentator Alan McGilvray said that when they arrived in Johannesburg, the Australians "looked haggard. Their eyes seemed to be standing out of their heads and some of them looked positively yellow." The Australians played their first match of the tour within a week of leaving the subcontinent. Prior to this first match, most of the team were seen sleeping on the benches at the ground half an hour before play was due to start. Initially, it appeared that the Australians were unaffected by the long campaign and change in conditions; they won their first two lead-in matches against their provincial sides by an innings and ten wickets respectively, Lawry scoring 86 against North Eastern Transvaal and 157 against Griqualand West, finishing unbeaten on both occasions. They drew the third match against Eastern Province, Lawry again unbeaten twice on 9 and 43.
After two weeks of preparation, the tour went awry for the Australians. They fell to a 170-run loss in the First Test in Cape Town, with Lawry giving finger gestures to the crowd and continuously arguing with the umpires. The Australian skipper managed only 2 in the first innings as the hosts took a 218-run lead that set up the match. Lawry scored 83 in the second innings, which was to be the highest Australian score for the series, an indication of his team's lack of batting form. At the end of the match, angered by officiating that he considered to be unacceptable, Lawry refused to accept a presentation by the two umpires. The series moved on to Kingsmead at Durban. Host captain Ali Bacher outwitted Lawry by persuading the Australian skipper to toss long before the start of play. Bacher won the toss and decided—against conventional wisdom—to bat first on a green pitch that would normally offer assistance to the bowlers. Immediately after, ground staff ran onto the field and cut off all the grass, making it ideal for batting, thereby giving the South Africans the advantage. Knowing the rules in greater detail, Bacher had tricked Lawry. The laws of cricket allowed for the wicket to be mown up to half an hour before the start of play, so Bacher had talked Lawry in tossing early so that he could change the pitch condition to advantage his team. South Africa amassed 9/622 declared and Australia fell to its first innings defeat in four years, folding for 157 and 336. Lawry could not see off the hosts' opening bowlers, falling for 15 and 14, as South Africa took a 2–0 lead. The last two Tests brought no respite, as South Africa registered two large victories by 307 and 323 runs respectively. Lawry only managed 79 runs in the last two Tests, and passed 20 only once. Bacher's side, which was regarded as one of the finest in Test history, had inflicted what remains the heaviest Test series defeat in Australian cricket history. Lawry's men did not win any of the three matches against provincial sides after the start of the Tests, meaning that they went eight matches without victory.
In the four Tests, sixteen catches were dropped, with around 60 dropped in a total of 12 first-class matches, while the tired pace spearhead Graham McKenzie took 1/333 and was thought to be suffering from hepatitis. Behind the scenes, the South African Cricket Board approached the Australian Cricket Board attempting to organise a Fifth Test. The players were unreceptive to this after spending five months overseas in what was then an amateur sport. The proposed extra match fell through after a pay standoff led behind the scenes by Ian Chappell, later to spearhead the breakaway World Series Cricket (WSC), which offered players substantial remuneration. The dispute was the genesis of WSC, and on the team's return to Australia, Lawry sent the Board a letter expressing player grievances. According to Chappell, "That was the end of Lawry as captain of Australia. Then it was just a matter of finding any excuse to get rid of him." Lawry was largely ineffective, with 193 runs at 24.13 with only one half century in the First Test. Apart from media criticism of the team's performances, Lawry was also slated for refusing to make a speech at the end of the series and refusing a gift from an umpire at the end of the Fourth Test. Lawry also had personal differences with Ian Chappell, Doug Walters, Ashley Mallett and Brian Taber, which reduced morale and led to a deterioration in Australia's performances on the field.
Sacking.
Bill Lawry, a defensive captain, had failed so far to defend the Ashes. Was he more likely to be able to regain the ascendancy? Of course not. Was he more likely to return to his former batting form, his early club and Shield batting form, if he were diplomatically relieved of the responsibility of leadership? Of course, yes. All the more likely if he were undiplomatically removed, because he would be nursing a grudge, burning to stage reprisals...
The 1970–71 home series against England was the longest in Test history, with six Tests scheduled and another added when the Third Test was washed out. Lawry was to bow out of international cricket in one of the most acrimonious series in Test history. Lawry had gone through a difficult phase on the previous tour, with only 432 runs at 28.80 in nine Tests on the tour of India and South Africa. With Australia losing, and as a non-smoker and non-drinker, he became more distant from many of his own teammates. Lawry had been under pressure after a highly critical report by team manager Fred Bennett. Australia went to the series with confidence after the tourists were unable to win any of their four opening tour matches. Lawry had success in his preparation, scoring 87 and 58 not out in a ten-wicket win over Western Australia at the start of the season.
During the series, Lawry increasingly came under criticism for some uninspiring leadership marked by a safety-at-all-costs strategy. The First Test in Brisbane was drawn after both teams had passed 400 in the first innings, the visitors taking a 31-run lead, but not before Lawry had top-scored with 84 in the second innings as his team collapsed to be all out for 214. The Second Test was drawn after England made 397 and Australia replied with 440, Lawry making a duck and 38 not out as the hosts batted out the match in the second innings. The Third Test was washed out without a ball being bowled due to rain. In response to this, a Seventh Test was scheduled and the first-ever One Day International was scheduled in place of the washed out match. Australia won the inaugural match by five wickets with five overs to spare, Lawry making 27 in his only ODI.
In the Fourth Test at Sydney, England took a series lead with a 299-run win after taking a 106-run first innings lead and setting Australia 415 for victory. Lawry's critics became more vocal, despite a defiant unbeaten 60 carrying his bat as Australia collapsed and fell for 116 in the second innings. It was England's largest victory in terms of runs over Australia for 34 years. His own batting saw him described by Ian Wooldridge as "a corpse with pads on". According to Ray Robinson, Lawry "appeared to be expecting the worst and getting it often enough to expect more of the same". The selectors responded by axing both of Australia's frontline pace duo of McKenzie and Connolly for the Fifth Test.
Lawry declared in the Fifth Test with Rod Marsh within eight runs of a maiden Test century after the hosts batted first and reached 9/493, the captain making 56 himself. Australia continued to play defensively, and after making 42 in the second innings, the skipper declared and set the tourists 271 in less than a day, and the matched petered into a draw with Australia still behind in the series. Another draw in the Sixth Test meant that Australia needed a win to draw the series and retain the Ashes. After taking a 235-run first innings lead, England did not need to take a risk with their series lead with a bold declaration and set Australia a world-record 469 runs for victory. The hosts were 3/328 when time ran out, and Lawry made only 10 and 21. Lawry had batted for more than 24 hours in the series, averaging around 13 runs an hour.
With Lawry's defensive leadership under heavy fire he was dropped along with three other players, becoming the first Australian captain to be dropped in the middle of a series. He was not informed privately by the Board and only found out after his axing was made public. The Australian selectors Don Bradman, Sam Loxton and Neil Harvey delayed the announcement while they tried to locate Lawry at the end of the Sixth Test, but he had already left for his home in Melbourne and they were unable to find him. He first heard the news on the radio and the selectors were much maligned in the press as a result. Lawry never played for Australia again despite being only 33 and averaging 47.15, but began his 40-year career as a commentator in the Seventh Test, saying "Well, I suppose we all have to get around to it some day". Two days earlier, after lengthy discussion, the ACB had voted 7–6 to acknowledge and respond to Lawry's letter following the South African tour, although their reply did not address Lawry's concerns. His successor Chappell condemned the Board's actions as "unbelievable". Immediately after his appointment, the new leader told his wife "The bastards won't get me the way they got Bill", and he later went out on his own terms. Victorian and Australian teammate Paul Sheahan said "The fact that no-one had the courage to tell him he was to lose his job as Australian captain was disgraceful." At the same time, Sheahan said that Lawry was "a bit of an autocrat" and "not the sort of captain who stood alongside you and drew the best out of you."
Lawry was publicly dignified, later reflecting
Australia went on to lose the final Test and the series 2–0. Lawry played out the remaining two matches of the season for Victoria, scoring two fifties.
The following season, Lawry continued playing for Victoria, leaving himself available for an international recall. He scored 116 not out against Western Australia and added four further fifties, three against South Australia. He added his only limited-overs century during the summer, scoring 108 not out in a win over South Australia. He totalled 488 runs at 44.36 for the first-class season and was not recalled to the Test team during the summer. Lawry was not recalled for the 1972 tour of England, and in his absence Australia was unable to find a reliable opening partnership. Australia's opening stand exceeded 24 only once in the Test series. He retired at the end of the 1971–72 season, bowing out with a three-wicket win over South Australia.
Style.
"When Australia batted, Lawry, their stumbling-block-extraordinary, took root, and in an interminable left-handed stand with Cowper effectively droused English prospects. When this relentless fellow, having reached his sixth Test hundred against England, at length took a liberty he had made 592 runs in the Tests, average 84, the highest aggregate since Bradman's in 1946–47: not only that, he had scored 979 against M. J. K. Smith's side since they landed in Perth, and had occupied the crease for forty-one and a half hours. There was a gayer side to Lawry as we had seen at Adelaide—but he didn't let it obtrude too often. He just kept that long, sharp nose religiously over the ball, accumulating at his own deliberate gait, and in particular tucking everything away off his pads whenever the English bowlers bowled there, as all too often they did."
Along with Bob Simpson, he formed an opening partnership that was regarded as one of the finest in Test history. Lawry was fast between the wickets, and the pair were especially well known for their understanding, as exemplified by their fluency in rotating the strike with quick singles. Lawry was known for his peculiar stance. He had little bend in his knees, and as a result batted with a stoop over his bat. He used his long reach to blunt spin bowling. He played with a very straight bat, combining well-organised defence with a somewhat limited range of strokes, marked by an efficiency of placement and an unusually heavy reliance on the hook shot. His strengths were regarded as his composure and intense concentration which powered a relentless single-mindedness. His defiant style was accentuated by his habit of tugging on his cap after every ball, as though starting afresh. John Snow wrote that 'He always had to be got out and even if you managed to knock all three stumps over he still stayed at the crease a moment looking round for some excuse to continue batting before reluctantly starting his walk back to the dressing room'. Lawry was also a left-hander during his winter baseball recreation, which equipped him with a powerful throwing arm.
Commentary career and later work.
After retiring from playing, Lawry worked as a commentator on radio and television, firstly with Channel 7 and then Channel 0 Melbourne, joining Channel 9 television, beginning in the days of World Series Cricket in the 1977-78 season. His distinctive, enthusiastic and excitable style has often been parodied, especially in The Twelfth Man series; in addition for his persistent use of cliches, the Victorian was known for his signature catchcries, particularly "Got him, yes he's gone!" whenever a wicket fell, "It's all happening!" in reference to a see-sawing or chaotic passage of play, and "bang" (when a batsman attempts a long hit) and for his love of racing pigeons. Lawry's long-running, argumentative but humorous commentary partnership with the South African-born former English captain Tony Greig was a mainstay of the Nine Network's commentary offering for 33 years, ending with Greig's death in December 2012.
During the 1983–84 summer Lawry criticised a player for "fielding like a girl".
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Lawry was the cricket manager of the Victorian Cricket Association, helping to recruit players for the Victorian team.
From 2013, Lawry scaled back his ball by ball commentary to international matches played in Melbourne such as the Boxing Day Test, and in Sydney for the New Year Test. In May 2018 he confirmed his retirement from broadcasting and commentary.
Legacy.
In Australia a bottle opener is sometimes called a "Bill Lawry", on account of him being a famous opener. Also a breed of pigeon (racing) is commonly known as the Lawry bird after his love of pigeon racing.
The Westgarth Street Oval in Northcote was renamed the Bill Lawry Oval. In 2010, Lawry was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.


Clarke Hinkle

William Clarke Hinkle (April 10, 1909 – November 9, 1988) was an American football player. He played on offense as a fullback, defense as a linebacker, and special teams as a kicker and punter. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of its second class of inductees in 1964.
Known as one of the toughest players in the era of iron man football, Hinkle played for the Green Bay Packers from 1932 to 1941 and held the all-time National Football League (NFL) records for rushing yardage and carries when his playing career ended. He led the NFL in touchdowns (seven) in 1937, in points scored (58) in 1938, and in field goals made and field goal percentage in both 1940 and 1941. He was selected as a first- or second-team All-Pro in each of his 10 NFL seasons and helped lead the Packers to three NFL championship games and NFL championships in 1936 and 1939. His playing career was cut short in 1942 by military service.
A native of Toronto, Ohio, Hinkle played college football for Bucknell from 1929 to 1931. He scored 50 points in a single game as a sophomore and led Bucknell to an undefeated season in 1931. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
Early years.
William Clarke Hinkle was born in Toronto, Ohio, located on the Ohio River approximately 40 miles west of Pittsburgh, in 1909. He was the son of Charles Hinkle and Lillian Ault Clark, both Ohio natives. His father was an engineer and later a forger at a steel mill. Hinkle attended Toronto High School.
College.
Hinkle played college football for Bucknell University, where he set several records for the Bucknell Bison football team as a fullback playing offense and defense. He scored eight touchdowns and scored 50 points in a game against Dickinson on Thanksgiving Day 1929. He finished the 1929 season with 21 touchdowns and 128 points scored. He had 37 touchdowns over his career at Bucknell from 1929 to 1931. In 1929, he led the East in scoring with 128 points. In 1931, he led the team to a 6–0–3 win-loss record. Hinkle's coach at Bucknell, Carl Snavely, called him: "Without a doubt, the greatest defensive back I have ever seen or coached."
Hinkle played for the East team in the East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco on New Year's Day 1932. He was the leading ground gainer in the game, and a United Press correspondent wrote: "If there was a single star in the long drawn battle of line plunges and punting it was Clark [sic] Hinkle of Bucknell whose stabs through tackle were a revelation in driving power."
While at Bucknell University he became a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Professional football.
In January 1932, after watching Hinkle play in the Shrine Game, Curly Lambeau signed Hinkle to play professional football for the Green Bay Packers. At the time, the Packers were the best team in the NFL, having won three consecutive NFL championships from 1929 to 1931. Hinkle played for the Packers for his entire ten-year NFL career, was selected as a first- or second-team All-Pro every year, and helped lead the Packers to NFL championships in 1936 and 1939.
As a rookie in 1932, Hinkle appeared in 13 games and led the Packers with 331 rushing yards on 95 carries. He quickly developed a reputation not only for his two-way play on both offense and defense, but also as the best punter in the NFL. The 1932 Packers finished second in the NFL with a 10–3–1 record, and Hinkle was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 1932 by "Collyer's Eye" magazine and as the second-team fullback (behind Bronko Nagurski) on the United Press (UP) and NFL All-Pro teams. He was hailed by Curly Lambeau at the end of the 1932 season as a second Jim Thorpe, and by some critics as "the greatest football player in the world today."
After spending the off-season working for a steel construction firm in his home town of Toronto, Ohio, Hinkle returned to Green Bay in September 1933. In his second NFL season, Hinkle again led the team with 413 rushing yards, but the Packers' record fell to 5–7–1, the only losing season suffered by the Packers in their first 25 years in the NFL. Despite the team's poor showing, Hinkle was selected as a second-team All-Pro by the UP, "Chicago Daily News", and "Green Bay Press-Gazette".
Hinkle presented a rare combination of power, speed, and accurate kicking. In 1937, he led the NFL with seven touchdowns and ranked second with 552 rushing yards. In 1938, he led the NFL in scoring with 58 points scored on seven touchdowns, seven extra points, and three field goals. He led the NFL in field goals and field goal percentage in both 1940 and 1941. He also continued to excel as a punter, ranking second in the NFL in punting yards in 1939 and averaging 44.5 yards per punt in 1941.
Hinkle's playing career was cut short after the 1941 season by wartime military service. He began his NFL career in 1932 at a salary of $5,000 and had his salary cut during the Great Depression, then restored to $5,000 in the late 1930s. He held out for and received $10,000 in his final season. He finished his career with 3,860 rushing yards, 537 receiving yards, 316 passing yards, and 379 points scored on 44 touchdowns, 28 field goals, and 31 extra points.
Reputation for toughness.
Hinkle loved the intense physicality of football. According to one account, "Clark Hinkle loved contact. It didn't matter which side of the ball he was coming from, Hinkle loved delivering blows." Ken Strong, another Hall of Fame back of the era, remembered the force of Hinkle's tackles: "When he hit you, you knew you were hit. Bells rang and you felt it all the way to your toes." Another back, Johnny Sisk, said: "No one in the whole league ever bruised me more than Hinkle did. . . . Hinkle had a lot of leg action. I broke my shoulder twice tackling Mr. Hinkle."
Hinkle's competition with Chicago Bears fullback Bronko Nagurski was especially memorable. Hinkle was the only player to knock Nagurski out of a game, and according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Hinkle's "creed was 'get to the Bronk before he gets to me.'" Hinkle cited a 1934 collision with Nagurski as his greatest day in football. He recalled: "I was carrying the ball and Nagurski charged in to make the tackle. WHAM! We banged into each other. Nagurski had to be removed from the game with a broken nose and two closed eyes. Strangely enough, I suffered no ill effects and was able to continue playing." Nagurski later called Hinkle the "toughest man I ever played against." In the book, "Pain Gang: Pro Football's Fifty Toughest Players", Neil Reynolds included both Hinkle and Nagurski on his list of the toughest players in the history of the game.
Hinkle's toughness remained to the end. On November 2, 1941, in his final game against the Chicago Bears, Hinkle had his leg torn open by an opponent's spike but returned late in the game to kick a game-winning field goal from the 44-yard line.
Honors and records.
When Hinkle's playing career ended, he held NFL career records with 3,860 rushing yards and 1,171 carries. He surpassed the old record of 3,511 rushing yards held by Cliff Battles. Hinkle's rushing yardage record stood until 1949 when it was broken by Steve Van Buren.
Hinkle received multiple honors and awards arising out of his accomplishments as a football player, including the following:
Family, military service, and later years.
Hinkle's older brother Gordie Hinkle played minor league baseball as a catcher from 1930 to 1941 and for the Boston Red Sox in 1934.
In December 1936, Hinkle was married in New York to Emilie Cobden. His marriage ended immediately after World War II owing to difficulty readjusting to civilian life, causing Hinkle to, in his own words "get off the beam a little bit" and go "a little haywire." After his divorce, Hinkle married again, but the union lasted only 33 days.
In May 1942, following the United States entry into World War II, Hinkle enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and received the rank of lieutenant. In the fall of 1942, he served as an assistant football coach at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. He also played five games for New London's professional Electric Boat Diesel football team. He later served on convoy duty in the North African Campaign and as an air-sea rescuer off Newfoundland.
Hinkle was discharged from the Coast Guard in 1946 and began working for Kimberly-Clark in Neenah, Wisconsin. He later lived in Steubenville, Ohio, working as a sales representative for an industrial supply company. He also worked in the late 1960s as a sports desk anchor for an Ohio television station. He died in Steubenville in 1988 at age 79 following a long illness. He was buried at Toronto Union Cemetery in Toronto, Ohio.


Josie Carroll

Josie Carroll (born December 8, 1957) is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse trainer, who in 2006 became the first woman trainer to win the Queen's Plate, the oldest thoroughbred horse race in Canada and Canada's most prestigious race. She also won the Queen's Plate in 2011 and 2020, the Prince of Wales Stakes in 2016 and 2020, and the Breeder's Stakes in 2014
Born in Scarborough, Ontario, Carroll undertook an equine studies course at Humber College before embarking on a racing career in 1975 in the employ of Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Mac Benson at Windfields Farm. She worked as an assistant trainer until 1994. She had early success with Tethra, owned by members of the prominent Eaton family.
In recent years she has been one of the leading trainers at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto and has won a number of graded stakes races both in Canada and in the United States.
Prior to the 2006 winning run, she had had one horse compete in the Queen's Plate. Her 2006 entry, Edenwold, earned the Sovereign Award as Canada's top two-year-old in 2005, but observers of the sport believed the colt could not sustain the Queen's Plate distance of a mile and a quarter. Ridden by jockey Emile Ramsammy, her winning horse was considered a long shot, going off at 16-1 odds in the $1 million Grade I Queen's Plate.
Carroll's first Grade I win came in 2009 with Careless Jewel, who won the Alabama Stakes.
Carroll is the second female trainer to take Canada's most prestigious race for three-year-old fillies, the Woodbine Oaks with Inglorious in 2011 – who went on to win the Plate for Carroll that same year. In 2019, she was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Canadian Triple Crown.
Prior to the 2006 winning run, she had had one horse compete in the Queen's Plate. Her 2006 entry, Edenwold, earned the Sovereign Award as Canada's top two-year-old in 2005, but observers of the sport believed the colt could not sustain the Queen's Plate distance of a mile and a quarter. Ridden by jockey Emile Ramsammy, her winning horse was considered a long shot, going off at 16-1 odds in the $1 million Grade I Queen's Plate.
In 2020, Josie Carroll won all three of the Canadian Triple Crown series. She won the first two with Mighty Heart and the third with stablemate Belichick.


Luther Gulick (physician)

Luther Halsey Gulick Jr. (1865–1918) was an American physical education instructor, international basketball official, and founder with his wife of the Camp Fire Girls, an international youth organization now known as Camp Fire.
Life.
Gulick was born December 4, 1865 in Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands. His father was missionary physician Luther Halsey Gulick Sr. (1828–1891) and his mother was Louisa Lewis. His paternal grandfather Peter Johnson Gulick (1796–1877) was an even earlier missionary.
He married Charlotte "Lottie" Emily Vetter of Hanover, New Hampshire in 1887.
He studied at Oberlin Academy (a preparatory department of Oberlin College) 1880–1882 and 1883–1886 and at the Sargent Normal School for physical training (now the Boston University college of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences)
He graduated from the medical school of New York University in 1889.
Gulick was founding superintendent of the physical education department of the International YMCA Training School, now Springfield College, in Springfield, Massachusetts, from 1887-1900.
He designed a triangle logo -- Spirit, Mind, & Body -- representing the YMCA philosophy. This evolved into the block letter "Y" used in the modern YMCA logo, as well as the Springfield College seal.
Gulick persuaded a young instructor named James Naismith, a teacher at the school, to create an indoor game that could be played during the off-season. In response, Naismith invented and popularized basketball. Gulick worked with Naismith to spread the sport, chairing the Basketball Committee of the Amateur Athletic Union (1895–1905) and representing the United States Olympic Committee during the 1908 Olympic Games. For his efforts to increase the popularity of basketball and of physical fitness in general, Gulick was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1959.
He was principal of the Pratt Institute High School from 1900 to 1903. From 1903 to 1908, he headed physical training in the public schools of New York City, and from 1908 to 1913 directed the department of child hygiene at the Russell Sage Foundation. He served as president of the American Physical Education Association in 1903-1906, of the Public School Physical Training Society in 1905-1908, and of the Camp Fire Girls after 1913.
He gave talks at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair to promote his ideas for physical training in schools In 1907, Gulick was the president of the Playground Association of America, which later became the National Recreation Association and then the National Recreation and Park Association.
With his wife, Gulick founded the Camp Fire Girls to prepare women for work outside the home. In 1975, its name changed to Camp Fire USA as it accepted boys and girls and in 2012 it was renamed Camp Fire. The Gulicks helped create and expand the Boy Scout movement, as both the Camp Fire Girls and Boy Scouts movements helped to promote physical fitness and expand exercise opportunities for youth.
Gulick recommending the secretary of the Playground Association, James E. West to head the new Boy Scouts of America.
Gulick also founded Camp Timanous, a boys' summer camp and Camp Wohelo, a girl's summer camp, located near Raymond, Maine.
His older brother Sidney Gulick (1860–1945) was a missionary to Japan. Sidney's son (Luther Gulick Jr.'s nephew), also named Luther Halsey Gulick (1892–1993), was an expert on public administration.
His sister, Frances Gulick Jewett, wrote a series of books on public health and hygiene, which were regarded as the leading publications on public sanitation for many years, and biography of their father. His other siblings included Reverend Edward Leeds Gulick and Pierre Johnson Gulick.
His sister's namesake, daughter Frances Jewett Gulick (1891–1936) was honored for her service in World War I.
Gulick died August 13, 1918 at his camp in Casco, Maine. He had just returned from France inspecting troops of the US forces in World War I.
Gulick, together with his wife Charlotte, are honored with a bronze medallion on the Extra Mile National Monument.
Works.
Besides editing "Physical Education" (1891-1896), "Association Outlook" (1897-1900), "American Physical Education Review" (1901-1903), and the "Gulick Hygiene Series", he wrote:


Matt DeSalvo

Matthew Thomas DeSalvo (born September 11, 1980) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He made his major league debut with the New York Yankees on May 7, , against the Seattle Mariners going 7 innings and only giving up 3 hits.
Career.
DeSalvo graduated from Union Area High School in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1998, and Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio, with a bachelor's degree in environmental science, in 2003. He holds the NCAA Division III record for career wins (53), strikeouts in a season (205), and strikeouts in a career (603.) His records for career wins and career strikeouts are NCAA All-Division records. DeSalvo was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2016, becoming the first Division III pitcher inducted.
DeSalvo was an All-League player for the Delaware Cows of the Great Lakes League, He also played for the Danbury Westerners of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
New York Yankees.
DeSalvo was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Yankees in . In , he posted a 9-5 record and a 3.02 earned run average (ERA) in 24 starts with the Trenton Thunder. In , his control deserted him, as he averaged 15 and 7.9 walks per 9 innings in, respectively, 78 innings at Trenton and innings at Triple-A Columbus Clippers. In the minor leagues from 2003–06, he averaged 7 hits, 5 walks, and 8 strikeouts per 9 innings.
On January 26, 2007, DeSalvo was designated for assignment. He cleared waivers, and was sent outright to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on February 1. DeSalvo made his major league debut for the Yankees on May 7, 2007, against the Seattle Mariners. He pitched 7 innings giving up 3 hits and 1 run, but received a no decision in the Yankees' 3-2 loss. On May 13, 2007, DeSalvo got his first MLB win against the Mariners. He went innings with 2 strikeouts, while only giving up 7 hits and 2 runs.
Atlanta Braves.
On January 5, , he signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves. On August 15, he was called up from the Richmond Braves to replace Tom Glavine on the Braves roster, and was briefly used in the bullpen before being sent back down on August 23. DeSalvo was released on September 4 after refusing an outright assignment to the minors.
New York Mets.
On January 29, , he signed a minor league deal with the New York Mets. He was released by the Mets on April 4.
Tampa Bay Rays.
On May 25, 2009, DeSalvo was signed to a minor league deal by the Tampa Bay Rays. On August 12, 2009 DeSalvo was released by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Florida Marlins.
On August 15, 2009, DeSalvo signed a minor league contract with the Florida Marlins. On May 3, 2010, DeSalvo was released by the Florida Marlins.
York Revolution.
On August 15, 2010, he signed and was activated by the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He started that same day against the Lancaster Barnstormers. He pitched 5 innings, striking out 7 and giving up 6 earned runs. He was the winning pitcher thanks to an 18 run outburst by the York team. On February 10, 2011, he signed a contract with the York Revolution. Despite being injured for much of the second half, he finished the season third in the Atlantic League in strikeouts with 108 and fourth in ERA at 3.89. He returned to pitch an inning in the final regular season game. He then pitched in both the divisional series win against Lancaster and the championship series win vs. Long Island. He was on the mound when the final out was recorded.
Lamigo Monkeys.
DeSalvo signed with the Lamigo Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League for the 2012 season.
Personal life.
DeSalvo is an avid reader. He has a reading list with over 400 titles, and has read about 200 so far, including Albert Camus' "Myth of Sisyphus" and Christa Wolf's "In Search of Christa." He now lives in Union Township with his wife, Emily DeSalvo


Natalma

Natalma (March 26, 1957 – January 29, 1985) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known as the dam (mother) of the most important sire, and sire of sires, of the late 20th Century, Northern Dancer. She also established a highly influential female family, which has produced other leading sires Machiavellian and Danehill, plus numerous other stakes winners. Natalma was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2007.
Background.
Bred in Virginia by Mrs. E. H. Augustus & Daniel G. Van Clief, Natalma was purchased by Canadian business mogul E. P. Taylor at the Saratoga, New York yearling sales for $35,000 (equivalent to $ in ). This was the second-highest price for a filly at that year's sale, a reflection of Natalma's excellent breeding. Her sire was the great Native Dancer, and her dam was the highly influential Almahmoud. In addition to Natalma, Almahmoud also produced Cosmah, the 1974 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year, and Bubbling Beauty. Natalma, Cosmah and Bubbling Beauty all produced leading sires: Northern Dancer, Halo and Arctic Tern respectively. The family descends from the excellent racehorse and notable broodmare Mother Goose.
Racing career.
Natalma was trained by Horatio Luro, who would later train Northern Dancer as well. At age two, she won two of her five starts. She also crossed the finish line first in the 1959 Spinaway Stakes but swerved when jockey Bobby Ussery hit her with the whip and was disqualified to third place for interference. The experience so soured Natalma on racing that it was several months before Luro was able to return her to the racetrack.
Natalma made her three-year-old debut on April 9, 1960 at Keeneland where she briefly led but then faded to tenth. Two weeks later, she won in what would prove her final race. While in training for the Kentucky Oaks, she was found to have bone chips in the right knee. She was given some time off to recover, then went back into training for the Coaching Club American Oaks. However, the bone chips recurred, which led to her retirement.
Breeding record.
Although late in the breeding season, she was sent to Taylor's Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada to be bred to Nearctic. Coincidentally, Nearctic had won the Michigan Mile just days before the 1958 Saratoga Sales, and the winnings from this race gave Taylor the funds to pay for Natalma. Natalma was bred to Nearctic on June 28, 1960, as the last mate of his first crop. That late pairing resulted in Northern Dancer being born on May 27, 1961. As a racehorse, Northern Dancer was a champion in both Canada and the United States whose major wins included the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Queen's Plate. He achieved even greater fame by becoming a leading sire in both North America and Europe, and went on to become an outstanding sire of sires.
Natalma was bred to Nearctic several additional times, producing Arctic Dancer (dam of La Prevoyante), Northern Ace, Northern Native, Transatlantic and two unnamed fillies who died before age 2. Additionally, she produced stakes winners Native Victor, Regal Dancer and Born A Lady with other stallions.
Natalma's daughters have further extended her influence on Thoroughbred bloodlines worldwide. Raise the Standard, by Hoist the Flag, founded a strong branch of the family in France, from which descended important sire Machiavellian and classic winners Bluemamba and Senga, among many other stakes winners. Another daughter, Spring Adieu by Buckpasser, was the second dam of nine stakes winners, including leading sire Danehill. Danehill was inbred to Natalma since he also descended from her through Northern Dancer. Other horses inbred to Natalma include the undefeated champion Frankel, Australian champion and World recordholder of the most Group 1 wins (25) Winx and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense.
Natalma was humanely euthanized on January 29, 1985 at the Windfields Farm satellite operation in Maryland (now the Northview Stallion Station) after unsuccessful treatment for colic. She was buried in the farm's equine cemetery.
Honors.
In 2007, Natalma's contribution to the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing was recognized through her induction in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. The Natalma Stakes for two-year-old fillies, run over the E.P. Taylor turf course at Woodbine, is named in her honour.
Pedigree.
Natalma is inbred 5 × 5 to Fair Play, meaning Fair Play appears twice in the fifth generation of her pedigree.


George Sisler

George Harold Sisler (March 24, 1893 – March 26, 1973), nicknamed "Gorgeous George", was an American professional baseball first baseman and player-manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators and Boston Braves. He managed the Browns from 1924 through 1926.
Sisler played college baseball for the University of Michigan and was signed by the St. Louis Browns as a free agent in 1915. He won the American League batting title in 1920 and 1922. In 1920 he set the major league record for hits with 257 which stood for 84 years and had a batting average of .407 (the seventh highest after 1900). In 1922 he won the AL Most Valuable Player Award, he finished with a batting average of .420 which is the third highest batting average ever recorded after 1900. An attack of sinusitis in 1923 caused Sisler's play to decline, but he continued to play in the majors until 1930. After Sisler retired as a player, he worked as a major league scout and aide.
A two time batting champion, Sisler led the league in hits twice, triples twice, and stolen bases four times. He collected 200 or more hits six times in his career, and had a batting average of over .300 a total of 13 times throughout his career. His career batting average of .340 is the 16th highest of all time. Sisler was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.
Early life.
Sisler was born in the unincorporated hamlet of Manchester (now part of the city of New Franklin, a suburb of Akron), Ohio. His paternal ancestors were immigrants from Northern Germany in the middle of the 19th century. Manchester did not have a high school and when it was time to start, Sisler moved to Akron to live with his older brother so that he could attend school there. Sisler was an athletic student and played baseball, basketball and football in high school, but was more focused on baseball. In 1910, when Sisler was a high school senior, his brother Efbert died of tuberculosis, but Sisler was able to move in with a local family and finish school.
In 1911, Sisler signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates to play minor league baseball in the Ohio–Pennsylvania League, but he never played in the league or earned any money and instead played college ball for the University of Michigan. As a freshman pitcher, Sisler struck out 20 batters in seven innings during a 1912 game. He lettered in baseball from 1913 to 1915. At Michigan he played for coach Branch Rickey while earning a degree in mechanical engineering.
After he graduated from Michigan, Sisler sought legal advice from Rickey about the status of his contract with Pittsburgh. The three-time "Vanity Fair" All-American had become highly sought-after by major league scouts. Rickey talked to Pittsburgh owner Barney Dreyfuss about releasing Sisler from the contract he had signed as a minor, but Dreyfuss maintained his claim to Sisler. Rickey wrote to the National Commission, baseball's governing body, who ruled that the contract was illegal. Rickey, now managing the St. Louis Browns, signed Sisler to a contract worth $7,400 ().
Major league career.
On June 28, 1915, Sisler made his major league debut, entering as a pitcher in relief against the Chicago White Sox. He pitched three scoreless innings and struck out two batters, while at the plate he collected his first major league hit. A few days later, on July 3, he pitched a complete game victory for his first major league start, in which he struck out nine batters but also walked nine. It was after this start that Rickey decided to transition Sisler to first base. On August 29, Sisler defeated Walter Johnson in a complete game 2–1 victory. In 1916 Sisler transitioned fully to first base and played the position for 141 games. His .305 batting average led the team, as did his hits (177), his 24 errors that year led the American League for first basemen.
On August 11, 1917, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, Sisler recorded three hits in four at bats. Over the next 26 games he would record at least one hit and bat .422 throughout his 26 game hit streak. Sisler led the team in most offensive categories and his .353 batting average was second in the American League, behind Ty Cobb. The Selective Service Act of 1917 was passed in May 1917, and with it, the draft was enacted in the offseason. Sisler's teammates Urban Shocker and Ken Williams were assigned Class 1 in the draft, placing them at the top of the draft eligibility list. Williams would play only two games in the 1918 season before being drafted. Sisler was listed as Class 4 much further down on the list. He then enlisted in the army, joining several major league players in a Chemical Warfare Service unit commanded by Rickey. In 1918 he played in only 114 games but was able to steal 45 bases, which led the league, and placed third in the American league with a .341 batting average. Sisler was preparing to go overseas when World War I ended that November.
In 1920, Sisler played every inning of each game. He stole 42 bases (second in the American League), collected a major league-leading 257 hits for an average of .407 and ended the season by hitting .442 in August and .448 in September. His batting average was the highest ever for a 600+ at-bat performance. In breaking Ty Cobb's 1911 record for hits in a single season, Sisler established a mark which stood until Ichiro Suzuki broke the record with 262 hits in 2004. (Suzuki, however, collected his hits over 161 games during the modern 162-game season as opposed to 154 in Sisler's era. Suzuki had 704 at bats to Sisler's 631.) Sisler finished second in the AL in doubles and triples, as well as second to Babe Ruth in RBIs and home runs.
Jim Barrero of the "Los Angeles Times" asserts that Sisler's record was largely overshadowed by Ruth's 54 home runs that season. "Of course, Ruth's obliteration of the home run record drew all the attention from fans and newspapermen, while Sisler's mark was pushed to the side and perhaps left unappreciated during what was a golden age of pure hitters", Barrero wrote. As his popularity increased, Sisler drew comparisons to Cobb, Ruth and Tris Speaker. Sisler, however, was much more reserved than those three stars. Writer Floyd Bell described Sisler as "modest, almost to a point of bashfulness, as far from egotism as a blushing debutante... Shift the conversation to Sisler himself and he becomes a clam."
In 1922, Sisler hit safely in 41 consecutive games, an American League record that stood until Joe DiMaggio broke it in 1941. His .420 batting average is the third-highest of the 20th century, surpassed only by Nap Lajoie's .426 in 1901 and Rogers Hornsby's .424 in 1924. Sisler also led the AL in hits (246), runs (134), stolen bases (51), and triples (18). He was chosen as the AL's Most Valuable Player that year, the first year an official league award was given, as the Browns finished second to the New York Yankees. Sisler's 1922 season is considered by many historians to be among the best individual all-around single-season performances in baseball history.
A severe attack of sinusitis caused him double vision in 1923, forcing him to miss the entire season. He defied some predictions by returning in 1924 with a batting average over .300. Sisler later said, "I planned to get back in uniform for 1924. I just had to meet a ball with a good swing again, and then run. The doctors all said I'd never play again, but when you're fighting for something that actually keeps you alive – well, the human will is all you need." Sisler never regained his previous level of play, though he continued to hit over .300 in six of his last seven seasons and led the AL in stolen bases for a fourth time in 1927.
In 1928, the Browns sold Sisler's contract to the Washington Senators, who in turn sold the contract to the Boston Braves in May. After batting .340, .326, and .309 in his three years in Boston, he ended his major league career with the Braves in 1930, then played in the minor leagues.
Sisler accumulated a .340 lifetime batting average over his 16 years in the majors and stole 375 bases during his career. He had 200+ hits in six seasons. He hit over .300 thirteen times, including two seasons in which he hit over .400; 1926 was the only full season in which Sisler's average was less than .300. He stole over 25 bases in every year from 1916 through 1922, peaking with 51 the last year and leading the league three times. Sisler holds team records (for the St. Louis Browns, and now the Orioles) for career batting average, triples, and stolen bases, as well as batting average, on-base percentage, hits, on-base plus slugging, and total bases in a season. In 1939, Sisler became one of the first entrants elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He also posted a career pitching record of 5–6 with a 2.35 earned run average in 24 career appearances. He defeated Walter Johnson twice in complete-game victories.
Later life and legacy.
After his playing career, Sisler reunited with Rickey as a special assignment scout and front-office aide with the St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates. Sisler and Rickey worked with future Hall of Famer Duke Snider to teach the young Dodgers hitter to accurately judge the strike zone. Sisler was part of a scouting corps that Rickey assigned to look for black players, though the scouts thought they were looking for players to fill an all-black baseball team separate from MLB. Sisler evaluated Jackie Robinson as a potential star second baseman, but he was concerned about whether Robinson had enough arm strength to play shortstop. With the Pirates in 1961, Sisler had Roberto Clemente switch to a heavier bat. Clemente won the league batting title that season.
Sisler's sons Dick and Dave were also major league players in the 1950s. Sisler was a Dodgers scout in 1950 when his son Dick hit a game-winning home run against Brooklyn to clinch the pennant for the Phillies and eliminate the second-place Dodgers. When asked after the pennant winning game how he felt when his son beat his current team, the Dodgers, George replied, "I felt awful and terrific at the same time." A passage in Ernest Hemingway's 1952 novel "The Old Man and the Sea" refers to Dick Sisler's long home run drives. Another son, George Jr., served as a minor league executive and as the president of the International League.
Sisler also spent some time as commissioner of the National Baseball Congress. He died in Richmond Heights, Missouri, in 1973, while still employed as a scout for the Pirates.
In 1999 editors at "The Sporting News" ranked Sisler 33rd on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". Outside of St. Louis' Busch Stadium, there is a statue honoring Sisler. He is also honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In October 2004, Ichiro Suzuki broke Sisler's 84 year old hit record, collecting his 258th hit off of Texas Rangers pitcher Ryan Drese. Sisler's daughter Frances (Sisler) Drochelman and other members of his family were in attendance when the record was broken. While in St. Louis for the 2009 All-Star game, Ichiro Suzuki visited Sisler's grave site. Tarpon Springs, Florida honored George by naming the former spring training home of the St. Louis Browns "Sisler Field". The fields were later taken over by the local Little League teams, and are still in use.
External links.
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Pete Knight (rodeo)

Peter Charles Knight (May 5, 1903 – May 23, 1937) was a Canadian and World Champion Rodeo Bronc Rider. Knight was the acclaimed "King of the Cowboys" of the 1930s, and held the Rodeo Association of America title "World Champion Bronc Rider" for 1932, 1933, 1935, and 1936. The Rodeo Hall of Fame in the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum inducted Knight in 1958. The Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame inducted Pete in 1998. The ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado, inducted Knight in the Saddle Bronc Riding category when it opened its doors in 1979.
Bronc Riding career.
Knight won second in a bucking contest a few months after beginning training in 1918. Calgary Stampede founder Guy Weadick invited him to compete at the Stampede, which he did in 1924, winning second place in the Canadian Bucking Horse Championship event by 1/10 of a point. He toured with the Alberta Stampede Company, riding Midnight for the first time in October 1926 in Montreal. He won the 1927 Canadian and North American Open bucking championships and was awarded the Prince of Wales' Cup.
At the 1930 Calgary Stampede, Knight won the Canadian Championship Bucking event for the second time, and weeks later, won the 1930 bucking event at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. In 1931, Knight won the World Series Rodeo bucking event held in Madison Square Garden, New York City, and was chosen to compete against three other riders (the bucking event winners of the 1931 Rodeos at Calgary, Pendleton, Oregon, and Cheyenne) for the Jack Dempsey Trophy, which Knight won at Reno, Nevada in the Ride of Champions event held in June 1932. He went on to win the bucking event at the 1932 Pendleton Round-Up in Pendleton, Oregon.
Knight entered the Calgary Stampede in 1933, again winning both the North American Open Bucking Championship and the Canadian Championship Bucking event, and was presented with the Prince of Wales' Cup for perpetuity. Later in 1933, Knight won the bucking event held at the World's Fair Rodeo in Chicago. Later that year, Wilf Carter recorded "Pete Knight, The King of the Cowboys." The same year, Knight performed screen tests and rode bucking horses in movies for Tom Mix at Los Angeles.
In 1934, Knight was invited to ride in England with the Tex Austin Rodeo Troupe. Later in 1934, Knight was invited to Melbourne, Australia, where he rode in the Stewart McColl pageant with fellow rider Yakima Canutt. The Rodeo Association of America (RAA) named Knight the World Champion Bronc Rider for 1932, 1933, 1935, and 1936. At the Rodeo held in Boston Gardens in 1936, Knight helped organize the Cowboy strike, becoming a founding member of the Cowboys Turtle Association (CTA) in 1936.
On May 23, 1937, Knight was trampled to death by a horse called "Duster", at the Hayward Rodeo in California. He was buried at Lone Tree Cemetery in Fairview near Hayward; his remains were later reinterred in 1960 at the Greenwood cemetery in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Pete Knight's cups, trophies, saddles and buckles became a permanent fixture at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US. In his hometown of Crossfield, Alberta, the town named its arena in honor of Pete Knight, and holds an annual "Pete Knight Days Rodeo".


Bob Douglas

Robert L. Douglas (b. (St. Kitts) November 4, 1882 – d. (unknown) July 16, 1979) was the founder of the New York Renaissance basketball team, the first fully all-black professional black-owned basketball team. Nicknamed the "Father of Black Professional Basketball", Douglas owned and coached the Rens from 1923 to 1949, guiding them to a 2,318-381 record (.859). He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1972, the first African American enshrined.
The Rens barnstormed throughout the United States, mostly in the Midwest, and played any team that would schedule them, black or white. Traveling as far as 200 miles for a game, they often slept on the bus and ate cold meals; they were barred from many hotels and restaurants by Jim Crow laws and norms of racial discrimination which prevailed in the northern United States at the time.
The Rens soon became a dominant team, winning as many as 88 consecutive games during the 1932–33 season. In the twenties and early thirties, their matches with the Original Celtics were basketball's greatest gate attraction. At the World Professional Basketball Tournament they won in 1939, lost to the eventual champion Harlem Globetrotters in 1940, and finished second to the National Basketball League champion Minneapolis Lakers in 1948.


William Hulbert

William Ambrose Hulbert (October 23, 1832 – April 10, 1882) was one of the founders of the National League, recognized as baseball's first major league, and was also the president of the Chicago White Stockings franchise.
Biography.
Born in Burlington Flats, New York, Hulbert moved with his family to Chicago two years later where he lived the rest of his life save for a stint at Beloit College beginning in 1847. When he returned to Chicago from school, he married into the family of a successful grocer and expanded the business into the coal trade. A backer of the Chicago White Stockings baseball club of the National Association from its inception in 1871, Hulbert became an officer of the club in 1874 when it resumed play after being forced to sit out two seasons due to the Great Chicago Fire and assumed the presidency the next year.
In his brief tenure as a club president in the National Association, Hulbert soon became fed up with the circuit's lack of definite structure, organization, and integrity. He was particularly disgusted by the Davy Force case in 1874. Force, the shortstop of the White Stockings that year, was a notorious "contract jumper", a common occurrence in the National Association in which players would move from team to team each year selling themselves to the highest bidder. Determined to keep his shortstop, Hulbert signed him to a contract for the 1875 season in September, before the 1874 season had concluded, a violation of league rules. In December, Force signed a second contract with the Philadelphia Athletics, and Hulbert protested. The Association Judiciary committee originally awarded Force to Chicago, but at a second meeting in early 1875, after a Philadelphia man had been elected president of the association, the decision was reversed.
Hulbert became convinced that the Eastern ballclubs were conspiring to keep the Western clubs second-class citizens and plotted to overthrow the might of the Boston Red Stockings, which won each association pennant between 1872 and 1875. To do so, he convinced Illinois native and star Boston pitcher Al Spalding to sign with Chicago for the 1876 season and also signed Boston stars Cal McVey, Deacon White, and Ross Barnes and Philadelphia stars Cap Anson and Ezra Sutton, though Sutton later backed out of his deal. The signings were made while the 1875 season was in progress, but Hulbert decided to anticipate league disciplinary action by establishing his own league.
After enlisting the support of Western clubs including the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the St. Louis Brown Stockings, and the Louisville Grays, Hulbert held a meeting with the Eastern clubs of the Mutual of New York, the Athletic of Philadelphia, the Boston Red Stockings, and the Hartford Dark Blues on February 2, 1876, at the Grand Central Hotel in New York City and sold them on his vision for a new league founded on the principles of square dealings, recognition of contracts, and business integrity, along with a more orderly game on the field through prohibitions on drinking, gambling, and Sunday baseball, and more definite organization off it through limiting membership to cities of 75,000 inhabitants or more, giving clubs exclusive territorial rights, and mandating teams to complete a predetermined schedule. The result was the founding of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs. At the founding meeting, straws were drawn to determine the first president of the circuit, and Hartford president Morgan Bulkeley drew the short straw. He only remained president for one year and took little interest in the affairs of the league, not even bothering to attend the 1877 league meeting. When he did not show up, Hulbert was elected the new president, retaining his presidency of the White Stockings as well.
In his tenure as president from 1877 to his death in 1882, Hulbert ruled with an iron fist and took steps to insure league integrity and compliance with league rules. His first major act was expelling the New York and Philadelphia clubs from the league for failure to complete their 1876 schedules as required. While losing clubs in the two most populous cities in the United States was a serious blow, the expulsion sent a clear message that the lax adherence to league rules that had plagued the National Association would not be tolerated. Also in response to the New York/Philadelphia scheduling problem, Hulbert ended the practice of clubs determining their schedules through the club secretaries by declaring that the league itself would establish the schedule. Hulbert also instituted the practice of the league hiring of umpires to bolster public perceptions of league integrity.
Perhaps his greatest challenge was dealing with four members of the Louisville ball club who conspired to throw the 1877 pennant. In a move that established a precedent for future handling of dishonest ballplayers, Hulbert banned all four players from the league for life. The banning had a ripple effect across the league that led to the Louisville, St. Louis, and Hartford franchises folding, and the league began to face a crisis as Hulbert was forced to replace these and other teams over the years with clubs from smaller cities such as Providence, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Syracuse. In 1879, after the Cincinnati franchise nearly collapsed amid controversy created by having three star players making more money than the rest of the team combined, Hulbert oversaw the imposition of the first reserve rule designed to curb player salaries and prevent players jumping from team to team.
Hulbert's final major act as president also involved the Cincinnati franchise. While it was understood from the league's inception that beer and Sunday baseball were inappropriate, they were not actually prohibited by league rules, and the Cincinnati club, playing in a city with a large German population fond of beer and Sunday entertainment, practiced both activities to boost revenue. This led the league to pass new rules banning both for the 1881 season and then expelling the unapologetic Cincinnati club for violating a rule that would not go into effect for two more months. This final league expulsion brought the National League its greatest challenge yet, as Cincinnati spearheaded the creation of the rival American Association in 1882 that moved into populous areas abandoned by the NL over the years such as New York and Philadelphia. Hulbert did not live to see this rival franchise begin play, however, dying of a heart attack in 1882 at the age of 49 two weeks before the AA made its debut.
For decades, Hulbert was kept out of the Baseball Hall of Fame despite his critical role in founding the first professional league. This was because when American League founder and first president Ban Johnson was elected to the Hall in 1937, it was decided that an early National League executive should be enshrined as well, and apparently not looking into history too closely, the electors chose to elect Morgan Bulkeley because he was the first president of the league. The Veterans Committee finally enshrined Hulbert in 1995.
Hulbert is buried in Graceland Cemetery under a grave marker designed to look like a baseball. In addition to his name and his birth and death dates, the marker includes the names of the cities that were in the National League at the time of his death.