Brian Morgan Hurn (4 March 1939 – 18 October 2015) was an Australian first-class cricketer and politician who served as Mayor of Barossa Council.

Early life

Born in Angaston in the Barossa Valley of South Australia, 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 in Adelaide.

Sports career

Hurn played first for the South Australian Colts side in the South Australian Grade Cricket League (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 South Australia on 1 November 1957, against Western Australia at the Adelaide Oval, 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 Australian Test cricketer. His tendency to play the cut and hook shots provided much entertainment, but also meant that he was inconsistent and error-prone. It has be ...

. 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, Colin Cowdrey and Tom Graveney. Hurn continued to play for South Australia intermittently over the next decade, playing his final first-class match on 13 January 1967, against Queensland at the Gabba, 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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

for the

Angaston Football Club The Angaston Football Club, nicknamed the ''Panthers'', is an Australian rules football club located in Angaston, a town on the eastern side of the Barossa Valley in South Australia. The club, established in 1879, currently plays in the Baross ...

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 Barossa Council 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 (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 in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and his grandson Shannon Hurn currently captains

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). His granddaughter Ashton Hurn was elected to state parliament as the member for Schubert 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 House of Assembly (the lower house, whose members were elected at the 2018 election), and half th ...

References

Sources

* Page, R. (1984) ''South Australian Cricketers 1877-1984'',

Association of Cricket Statisticians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Statis ...

: 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