William Alfred Brown, (31 July 1912 – 16 March 2008) was an Australian cricketer who played 22 Test matches between 1934 and 1948, captaining his country in one Test. A right-handed opening batsman, his partnership with Jack Fingleton in the 1930s is regarded as one of the finest in Australian Test history. After the interruption of World War II, Brown was a member of the team dubbed "The Invincibles", who toured England in 1948 without defeat under the leadership of Don Bradman. In a match in November 1947, Brown was the unwitting victim of the first instance of "Mankading".
Raised in New South Wales, Brown initially struggled in both work and cricket, before gradually rising through the cricket ranks. He made his first-class debut for New South Wales in the 1932–33 season and forced his way into the national side during the 1934 tour of England. When long-term openers Bill Ponsford and Bill Woodfull retired at the end of the tour, Brown and his state opening partner Fingleton took over. After poor form made his selection for the 1938 tour of England controversial, Brown responded with a total of 1,854 runs, including an unbeaten 206 that saved Australia from defeat in the Second Test, and was honoured as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
The outbreak of the Second World War cost Brown his peak years, which he spent in the Royal Australian Air Force. Cricket resumed in 1945–46 and Brown, in Bradman's absence, captained an Australian eleven in a match that was retrospectively awarded Test status. Brown missed the entirety of the following season because of injury. Upon his return, he was unable to repeat his previous success and was ousted from the opening positions by Arthur Morris and Sid Barnes. Selected for the Invincibles tour, he performed reasonably well in the tour matches but, with Morris and Barnes entrenched as openers, he batted out of position in the middle order during the first two Tests. He struggled and was dropped from the Test team, never to return. Upon returning to Australia, Brown continued playing for Queensland until the end of the 1949–50 season.
In retirement, Brown briefly served as a Test selector and sold cars and, later, sports goods. In 2000, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to cricket. At the time of his death in 2008, he was Australia's oldest Test cricketer.
Early years
The son of a dairy farmer and hotel owner, Brown was born in Toowoomba, Queensland. Aged three, business failure hit the family, and they moved to Marrickville in inner Sydney. The family's poor financial position meant that they lived in a one-bedroom home, with Brown and his brother sharing a bed. Educated at Dulwich Hill and Petersham High Schools in Sydney, Brown started playing cricket as a wicket-keeper, before changing his focus to opening the batting. He left high school after two years, but was unable to find regular full-time work amid the Great Depression. reinvigorated his career. Brown progressed through the grades and reached the club's First XI, where he performed steadily to earn selection for New South Wales in 1932–33.
Pre-war career
right|thumb|Brown during his days with New South Wales
Making his first-class debut for New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield match against Queensland on 11 November 1932, Brown was run out for a duck without facing a ball, while opening with Jack Fingleton.
The following season, in the opening match of the season against Queensland at Brisbane in November 1933, Brown amassed two further half-centuries to end with 878 runs for the season at an average of 67.53, which placed him second behind Bradman in the first-class run-scoring aggregates. When the selectors met to discuss the tour party for the 1934 tour of England, Brown and Fingleton had similar figures, but with the incumbent Victorian opening pair of Bill Ponsford and captain Bill Woodfull firmly in place, there was only one spot available for a reserve opener. A disappointed Fingleton disagreed and wrote to Woodfull, saying "You have chosen chaps who do not like fast bowling".
Brown missed selection for the tour opener against Worcestershire—in which Australia traditionally fielded its first-choice XI—before making his debut in the second match against Leicestershire. Batting at number 3 against Lancashire in the final tour match before the Tests, Brown scored 119. After compiling 351 runs at 43.88 in the opening tour matches, and an unbeaten 62 in the second innings, guiding Australia to an eight-wicket victory over the Gentlemen of England. At the home of cricket, Brown made his maiden Test century, scoring 105 in the first innings.
It was the start of a barren month for Brown, who passed 30 only once in 11 first-class innings, totalling 171 runs at 15.55. He ended the unproductive sequence with an unbeaten 100 against Nottinghamshire.
He was unable to pass 20 in the final two Tests and ended the series with 300 runs at 33.33. Despite his inability to make a substantial contribution, Australia won the Fifth Test by 562 runs to reclaim the Ashes 2–1. He started the season with the testimonial match for Woodfull, who retired upon returning to Australia. and remains an Australian Test record for the first wicket against South Africa. Brown did not taste victory with his home state during the season; the closest Queensland came was a one-wicket loss to New South Wales.
Brown started the tour patchily, although Australia won each of their first four matches by an innings. In his first four innings, Brown passed five only once, scoring 72 against Oxford University. Hedley Verity then bowled Bradman for 18, leaving the score at 101, before Stan McCabe fell after a quickfire 38 with the score at 3/152. Brown registered his century in 193 minutes, during an innings highlighted by his driving on both sides of the wicket. After Lindsay Hassett was dismissed for 56 following a 134-run partnership, Australia reached stumps at 5/299, with Brown on 140. which was crucial in Australia's eventual retention of the Ashes.
Brown had another strong campaign in the following year, netting 857 runs at 61.21, including three centuries. Despite this, Queensland had another poor season, losing five of their six matches. His best effort was a 98 against South Australia, denied a century by a run out. Queensland lost more than they won, with two victories and three losses. In the opening tour match against Auckland, Brown elected to bat and opened with 68 as Australia amassed 579 and took victory by an innings and 180 runs. This was followed by a match against Canterbury in Christchurch, in which Brown top-scored with 137. This laid the foundation for a total of 8/415 and another innings victory. Brown made his second consecutive century in the third match against Otago at Carisbrook in Dunedin, again top-scoring with 106 in an eight-wicket victory. He made 34 in the final tour match as Australia defeated Wellington in another innings victory.
The tour culminated in a match against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. With regular captain Don Bradman missing, Brown led a team that included seven Test debutants. The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first on a wet wicket, which came about after a week of rain before the match. New Zealand managed to reach 4/37 at lunch, before the sun emerged and caused the wicket to turn into a sticky with unpredictable bounce. McCool was given the ball and ended the match on his second delivery.
Mankad
Brown returned to first-class cricket in 1947–48, scoring 192 runs at 38.40 in the first three matches of the season.
The dismissal ended another low-scoring innings, and Australia batted only once in a shortened match. Morris—who had established himself as one of Australia's first-choice opening batsmen during Brown's injury layoff during the previous season—was rested for the Fifth Test as the Australian Board trialled potential candidates for the 1948 tour of England. Morris was omitted after losing a coin toss to Barnes. Brown partnered Barnes, making 99 in the first innings before being run out. India eventually fell to another innings defeat, so Brown did not have another opportunity to score a Test century on home soil. His Test aggregate in Australia stood at 223 runs at only 33.86, in contrast to his away average of 1,369 runs at 50.70.
Invincibles tour
In any case, Brown had done enough to be chosen to tour England in 1948 with the team that became known as the Invincibles, although Barnes and Morris were the first-choice opening combination. Brown top-scored with 200 in an innings victory. In the following match against Essex, he combined with Bradman in a second-wicket partnership of 219 in 90 minutes, ending with 153 as Australia scored a world-record 721 runs in one day. Australia proceeded to another innings victory, and Brown completed his third century in as many innings with 108 against Oxford University. He proceeded to add a fourth century in less than three weeks, with 122 against Nottinghamshire, and made an unbeaten 81 against Hampshire. Thus, Brown gained selection in the First Test at Trent Bridge, batting out of position in the middle order, whereas Harvey was dropped despite making a century in Australia's most recent Test against India.
Brown made 17 in his only innings as Australia won by eight wickets. He was unable to replicate the Test centuries he made in the preceding tours, scoring 24 and 32. Barnes was injured in the Third Test, but Brown was not recalled for the Fourth Test; instead, Lindsay Hassett was promoted to open with Morris, while the teenaged Harvey came into the middle-order and struck 112. Brown then scored 140 against Derbyshire immediately after the Fourth Test, in a dour display that displeased spectators, and then scored consecutive centuries against Kent and the Gentlemen of England after the Tests. He ended with eight centuries and a total of 1,448 runs on the tour at an average of 57.92, It was his best career bowling figures, having amassed only six wickets in his first-class career. Brown had a reasonable domestic season in 1948–49 to press his claim for a Test recall. He scored 626 runs at 41.73, the sixth highest aggregate of the season, with a century and three fifties. Queensland won two and lost three games. In their first five matches of the season, Queensland lost three times, before Brown's 190 in the last match against South Australia set up a nine-wicket win.
Style
right|thumb|Bill Brown flicks a ball to the leg side. Brown was regarded as a cautious starter who was reluctant to use his full array of strokes. He hooked occasionally and scored the majority of his off-side runs with the cut shot. Ray Robinson said that Brown was "the most serene batsman I ever saw play for Australia". Brown was known for his self-effacing nature and was well liked among teammates and opponents alike. He developed his skills through persistent training with professional sprinters in order to improve his anticipation and speed off the mark. He was the first Queenslander in 23 years to serve as a national selector. His brief tenure as a national selector was marked by abuse and harassment from parochial Queenslanders, upset that he did not include his fellow statesmen in the Test team. Brown's sports store was vandalised and he resigned as a selector within a year.
Upon Bradman's death in February 2001, Brown became the oldest living Australian Test cricketer, greatly amused by the fame that came with the title. Highly regarded by Australian cricketers of the modern era, Steve Waugh invited Brown to present Test debutant Adam Gilchrist with his baggy green. In March 2008, Brown died in Brisbane at the age of 95. He was the last surviving Invincible to have played Test cricket before World War II and his death left only four living members of Bradman's 1948 team. and in 2009 was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.
Test match performance
Bill Brown's Test career batting performance. The red bars indicate the runs that he scored in an innings, with the blue line indicating the [[batting average (cricket)|batting average in his last ten innings. The blue dots indicate an innings where he remained not out.
|-
! style="text-align:left;" | Opposition
!| Matches
!| Runs
!| Average
!| High Score
!| 100 / 50
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:left;" |
|| 13
|| 980
|| 42.60
|| 206 not out
|| 3/3
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:left;" |
|| 3
|| 128
|| 42.66
|| 99
|| 0/1
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:left;" |
|| 1
|| 67
|| 67.00
|| 67
|| 0/1
|- style="text-align:right;"
| style="text-align:left;" |
|| 5
|| 417
|| 59.57
|| 121
|| 1/4
|- style="text-align:right; border-top:solid 2px grey;"
| style="text-align:left;" | Overall
|| 22
|| 1,592
|| 46.82
|| 206 not out
|| 4/9
|}