Gustavus William Francis Blake Kelly (2 April 1877 – 16 August 1951) was an Irish

cricketer 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 ...

. A right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

and a right-arm

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bowler, he played 18 times for the

Ireland cricket team The Ireland men's cricket team represents All-Ireland in international cricket. The Irish Cricket Union, operating under the brand Cricket Ireland, is the sport's governing body in Ireland, and they organise the international team. The team ha ...

between 1895 and 1914 including nine first-class matches. He also played first-class

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 ...

for

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

and the MCC.First-class matches played by Gus Kelly
at CricketArchive

Early life

Born in Dublin, he first attended

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a Catholic voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814. It features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel '' A Portrait of the Artist ...

, then a centre of excellence for cricket before boarding at

the Oratory School The Oratory School () is an HMC co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Catholic Church, Catholic boarding and day school for pupils aged 11–18 located in Woodcote, north-west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, England. F ...

, near Reading, Berkshire, where he was a key member of the Oratory XI. He lastly spent a short time at

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College or Stonyhurst is a co-educational Catholic Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing education for boarding school, boarding and day school, day pupils, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition. It is ...

, Lancashire, before going up to

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

Playing career

Kelly made his debut for Ireland against

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

in August 1895. He played twice more for Ireland that month, including a match against the MCC at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

, but it would be six years before he again featured in high-level cricket. He made his first-class debut playing for Oxford University against Surrey in May 1901. He played for the university against

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

the following month, before returning to the Ireland side to play against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He played four more first-class matches for Oxford University that year, gaining his

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when he played against

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in July. He played ten first-class matches for Oxford University in 1902, including a matches against his native Ireland and the touring Australian team, and returned to the Ireland team for a match against London County in June 1903. He played three more times for Ireland before he made his first-class debut for them against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in May 1907. He also played for Ireland against South Africa that year. His appearances for Ireland were sporadic over the rest of his career, playing against

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(twice) and Yorkshire in 1908, against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 1910 and 1911 before he played a first-class match for the MCC against Oxford University in June 1912. He played for Ireland against South Africa that year, and played twice more against Scotland before his career came to an end in July 1914.

Statistics

In all matches for Ireland, Kelly scored 204 runs at an

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of 8.87 with a top score of 30 against South Africa in June 1901. He took 41

wickets In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at each end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a ...

at an

of 17.12, with a best

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

bowling performance of 5/42 against Scotland in July 1910, the only time he took five wickets in an innings for Ireland.

Personal life

In 1900, he married Eily Mary Comyn, whose brother Dan Comyn was a splendid opening bat for Dublin University, Phoenix and Ireland. Two of their sons, Acheson and Gustavus, both played for Ireland. He served as High Sheriff of Roscommon in 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Gustavus 1877 births 1951 deaths Cricketers from Dublin (city) Irish cricketers Oxford University cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People educated at Clongowes Wood College People educated at The Oratory School Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford High sheriffs of Roscommon