Colin Campbell McDonald (17 November 1928 – 8 January 2021) was an Australian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. He played in 47 Test matches from 1952 to 1961, and 192 first-class matches between 1947 and 1963. He was born in

Glen Iris, Victoria Glen Iris is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, South-East Melbourne, south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Boroondara, Boro ...

Biography

An opening batsman, he made his Test debut in the 5th Test against

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in January 1952, alongside fellow debutants George Thoms, also an opening batsman, and Richie Benaud. Uniquely, Thoms and McDonald also opened the batting for the same state team, Victoria, and the same club team,

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...

that season. Thoms retired from cricket to concentrate on his medical career as a

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, and McDonald formed a successful opening partnership with Jim Burke. McDonald played in two stints for 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 ...

. McDonald was the top scorer (32 and 89) in both innings of the 1956 Test, Laker's Match at

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, in which Jim Laker took 19 wickets. His career reached its zenith in

the Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, ...

series against

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in 1958/9. This was illustrated by him scoring the most runs of any player in Test cricket in the calendar year of 1959. He reached his highest Test score, 170, in the 4th Test against England at

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, although he was retired hurt for much of the second day, and a second century in the 5th Test on his home ground in Melbourne. He was also captain of Victoria in 1958/9 and 1960/1. He retired from Test cricket in 1961, during the tour to England, as a result of a wrist injury. He attended

Scotch College Melbourne Scotch College is a private school, private, Presbyterian Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, Victoria, Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Austral ...

and

, and was a schoolteacher for a short period. After working as an insurance broker, he was executive director of

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where he had a pivotal role in building the National Tennis Centre now known as Rod Laver Arena. He was an ABC cricket commentator in the 1960s and 1970s. His elder brother, Ian McDonald played first-class cricket for Victoria, and his mother's cousin, Keith Rigg, played for Victoria and Australia. McDonald published his memoirs, ''CC, The Colin McDonald Story: Cricket, Tennis, Life'' in 2009 with a foreword by Richie Benaud. On 8 January 2021, McDonald died aged 92.

References

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Profile
from Victorian Premier Cricket {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Colin 1928 births 2021 deaths Australia Test cricketers Victoria cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Melbourne Cricket Club cricketers People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Australian cricketers Cricketers from Melbourne Members of the Order of Australia University of Melbourne alumni People from Glen Iris, Victoria 20th-century Australian sportsmen