Francis Joseph Bryant OAM (7 November 1909 – 11 March 1984) was an Australian cricketer who played first-class cricket for Western Australia from 1927 to 1936. He later became Western Australia's leading cricket administrator.[1]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Francis Joseph Bryant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 7 November 1909 Perth, Western Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 11 March 1984 (aged 74) Glendalough, Western Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Dick Bryant (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1926/27–1936/37 | Western Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 18 July 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cricket playing career
edit
Bryant attended Christian Brothers' College, Perth, where in the 1927 season he scored more than 1000 runs in the First XI.[2] Playing in the era before Western Australia was admitted to the Sheffield Shield, he made his first-class debut for Western Australia at the age of 17 in March 1927, alongside his older brothers Dick and Bill (who was playing his only first-class match) against South Australia at the WACA Ground in Perth. The next season, in a match at the WACA Ground against Victoria, he scored 113 not out in the second innings after Western Australia had trailed by 194 runs on the first innings.[3] In 1933-34 he and Dick each made a century when Western Australia narrowly failed to achieve an innings victory over Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[4]
In 1935-36 he toured India with Frank Tarrant's Australian team. He made his highest first-class score of 155 in the match against Bombay[5] and played in all four matches against India.
Cricket administrative career
editAfter service in the army in World War II[6] Bryant went into the hotel business and became Western Australia's most prominent cricket administrator.[1] In the 1950s he successfully argued that Western Australia should play a full Sheffield Shield program, and later he was one of the leading advocates for Test status for the WACA Ground, which was achieved in 1970.[7] He managed the Australian teams that toured New Zealand in 1966-67, 1969-70 and 1973-74.[1] For his services to cricket he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1981 and the Australian Sports Medal posthumously in 2000.[8][9]
References
edit- ^ a b c The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket, Oxford, Melbourne, 1996, p. 84.
- ^ "Frank Bryant for India". The Daily News: 5. 12 October 1935.
- ^ "Western Australia v Victoria 1927-28". CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ "Victoria v Western Australia 1933-34". CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ "Bombay v Australians 1935-36". CricketArchive. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ "Bryant, Francis Joseph". DVA. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ Wisden 1985, p. 1190.
- ^ "Mr Francis Joseph Bryant". Australian Honours. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "Mr Francis Joseph BRYANT, OAM". Australian Honours. Retrieved 30 March 2022.