Brian Morgan Hurn (4 March 1939 – 18 October 2015) was an Australian

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er and politician who served as Mayor of

Barossa Council Barossa Council is a local government area in the Barossa Valley in South Australia. The council area covers 912 square kilometres, and had a population of over 23,000 in the 2016 Census and 25,066 in the 2021 census. History Barossa Council ...

Early life

Born in Angaston in the

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major list of wine-producing regions, wine-producin ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, Hurn first came to attention when he scored an unbeaten 108 in the inaugural Country Schoolboys Carnival in 1952. He attended the prestigious

Prince Alfred College Prince Alfred College is a private, independent, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town, South Australia, Kent Town, near the Adelaide city centre, centre of Adelaide, South Australia. One of th ...

in Adelaide.

Sports career

Hurn played first for the South Australian Colts side in the

South Australian Grade Cricket League South Australian Premier Cricket (previously known as South Australian District Cricket and South Australian Grade Cricket) is the semi-professional State league based in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia. It is currently the highest level o ...

(the level below first-class cricket in South Australia) before switching to Kensington Cricket Club.Page, p. 21. He made his first-class cricket debut for

on 1 November 1957, against

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

at the

Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

, scoring thirty and zero and taking three wickets for 67 runs (3/67) and 1/30. Hurn was still living in the Barossa at the time and was the last player living outside Adelaide to picked for the South Australian side until

Rick Darling Warrick Maxwell Darling (born 1 May 1957), known as Rick Darling, is a former Australia national cricket team, Australian Test cricket, Test cricketer. His tendency to play the cut and hook shots provided much entertainment, but also meant that ...

in 1975. Described as "a fast-medium bowler with a side-on action", Hurn's best moment came in December 1958 when he took 5/62 against the touring English side, including leading batsmen

Ted Dexter Edward Ralph Dexter, (15 May 1935 – 25 August 2021) was an England international cricketer. An aggressive middle-order batsman of ferocious power and a right-arm medium bowler, he captained Sussex and England in the early 1960s. He captain ...

Colin Cowdrey Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, (24 December 1932 – 4 December 2000) was an English cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1976, and in 114 Test matches for England from 1954 to 1975. He was born i ...

and

Tom Graveney Thomas William Graveney (16 June 1927 – 3 November 2015) was an English first-class cricketer, representing his country in 79 Test matches and scoring over 4,800 runs. In a career lasting from 1948 to 1972, he became the 15th player to scor ...

. Hurn continued to play for South Australia intermittently over the next decade, playing his final first-class match on 13 January 1967, against

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

, making an unbeaten 79 (his highest first-class score) and four and taking 0/11. Following the end of his first-class career, he continued to play for Kensington until his retirement in the 1977/78 season. In all Hurn scored 4358 runs in Grade cricket at 21.79 and took 615 wickets at 16.93.Sando, p. 98. Hurn also played

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

for the Angaston Football Club in the Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association, winning the Mail Medal for the competition's best player.

Political career

Hurn later served as Mayor of

from 1996 to 2014. He was awarded a National Medal in 1994 "for diligent long service to the community in hazardous circumstances", a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

(OAM) in 1999 "for service to local government through the Barossa Council, and to the community of Angaston", an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 "for service to Country and Metropolitan Football and SANFL Clubs" and a Centenary Medal in 2001 "for service to the community through local government at regional and state levels."

Family

Hurn's son William played 135 games for

Central District Football Club Central District Football Club is an Australian rules football club that plays in the South Australian National Football League. Based in Elizabeth in the City of Playford, about 25 km north of Adelaide, the club's development zones include th ...

in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

(SANFL) and his grandson

Shannon Hurn Shannon William Hurn (born 4 September 1987) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). From South Australia, he excelled at both cricket and football at junior level, a ...

currently captains West Coast in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). His granddaughter Ashton Hurn was elected to state parliament as the member for

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

at the

2022 South Australian state election The 2022 South Australian state election was held on 19 March 2022 to elect members to the 55th Parliament of South Australia. All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly, House of Assembly (the lower house, whose members were electe ...

References

Sources

* Page, R. (1984) ''South Australian Cricketers 1877-1984'', Association of Cricket Statisticians: Retford, Nottinghamshire. * Sando, G. (1997) ''Grass Roots'', South Australian Cricket Association: Adelaide. . * Sexton, M. (2017) ''Chappell's Last Stand'', Affirm Press: Melbourne. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurn, Brian 1939 births 2015 deaths Australian cricketers South Australia cricketers Mayors of places in South Australia People from Angaston, South Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Cricketers from South Australia People educated at Prince Alfred College Australian sportsperson-politicians Sportsmen from South Australia Kensington cricketers 20th-century Australian sportsmen