Flashback: The first black person to play for Australia
Born in Hobart, Australia, Late Sam Morris was the first black Test cricketer to play for the Aussies. He played just a solitary Test match way back in the year 1885 against England in Melbourne. He was also the first Tasmanian-born player to play the longest format of the game.
Right-handed batter Morris was born on June 22, 1855, at Van Diemen’s Land in Hobart to West Indian parents. He was the first black man to appear in cricket’s purest and oldest format as his parents travelled to Australia in the gold-rush years of the 1840s. He played his club cricket in Victoria where he became the groundsman before suffering from blindness. He was appointed the groundsman for Richmond Cricket Ground in the year 1880. Apart from Andrew Symonds, he was the only player of West Indian heritage to represent the Kangaroos.
His career lasted just for one match as he featured in a solitary game against rivals England in Melbourne in 1885. Opening the batting in the first innings, he scored just four runs. Batting at no. 10, he remained unbeaten on 10 in the second innings. A right-arm medium-fast bowler, Morris also took two wickets for 73 runs in his 34-over spell, which also included 14 maidens in the first innings.
The visitors England won the match by 10 wickets, which was Morris’ only appearance in international cricket. He played 20 First-Class matches and scored 591 runs at an average of 17.90, which included five half-centuries and the highest score of 64*. Morris also snared 31 scalps at an average of 26.09 with the best bowling figures of 5/21. An occasional wicketkeeper, Morris passed on September 20, 1931, aged 76 at the Albert Park in Melbourne.
