Richard Benjamin Terry (25 November 1852 – 10 July 1910) was an Englishman who umpired the historic first Test match played between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 15 to 19 March 1877. His colleague was Curtis Reid. He also umpired in the second Test match, played two weeks later in Melbourne, partnered by Sam Cosstick.

Life and career

Ben Terry came from

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, and was engaged by the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Groun ...

as a professional bowler in 1875, having been recommended by

Robert Allan Fitzgerald Robert Allan "Fitz" Fitzgerald (1 October 1834 – 28 October 1881) was an English cricketer and administrator who served as Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Secretary. Fitzgerald was born at Purley House in Berkshire, but was brought up at Shal ...

, the secretary of

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

, and

Richard Daft Richard Daft (2 November 1835 – 18 July 1900) was an English cricketer. He was one of the best batsmen of his day, the peak of his first-class career (which lasted from 1858 to 1891) being the 1860s and early 1870s. Life and career Born ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. He arrived in Melbourne in January 1876, bringing more than 200 cricket bats to sell. In 1876-77, when he umpired the first two Tests at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

as part of his duties, his annual salary was 150 pounds; although his match performances for Melbourne were disappointing, he was highly regarded as a practice bowler. He remained as one of the club's professionals until after the 1880-81 season, then returned to Britain. He played three matches for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

from 1877 to 1881. He scored 60 runs at an average of 12 with a top score of 30, and took 6 wickets at an average of 15.66, with best figures of 3 for 23 against

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in his first match in 1877-78. He married Phoebe Wallington in Melbourne on 20 November 1877. After umpiring the two Tests, Terry continued to stand as an umpire in

first-class matches First class (or 1st class, Firstclass) generally implies a high level of service, importance or quality. Specific uses of the term include: Books and comics * ''First Class'', a comic strip in ''The Dandy'' (1983-1998) * ''X-Men: First Class' ...

in Melbourne, and occasionally Sydney, until 1881, when he returned to Britain. At the Australians' request, he also umpired a few of the matches played by the Australian touring teams to England in

1882 Events January * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in New York at the ...

and

1884 Events January * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London to promote gradualist social progress. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera '' Princess Ida'', a satire on feminism, premières at the Savoy The ...

. In 1882 he was the professional with the

Langholm Langholm , also known colloquially as the "Muckle Toon", is a burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Langholm lies between four hills in the valley of the River Esk in the Southern Uplands. Location and geography Langholm sits n ...

Cricket Club in Scotland. In 1891 he was still a professional cricketer, living in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. In 1906 he was a "flourishing bookmaker" in Scotland. He died in Edinburgh in 1910.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terry, Ben English Test cricket umpires English cricketers Victoria cricketers Melbourne Cricket Club cricketers 1852 births 1910 deaths Cricketers from Nottingham

Life and career

See also

References

External links