John Conway (3 February 1842 – 22 August 1909) 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 who played

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 ...

from 1861–62 to 1879–80. He organised the first Test match in March 1877, and Australia's first cricket tour in 1878. He was also an accomplished

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 ...

er who captained the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

between 1866 and 1871.

Career

A right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast round-arm bowler, Conway played for Victoria in Australia. He played a single match for

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

in New Zealand in 1880 and played in a total of ten first-class matches. His best bowling figures came in 1866–67, when he took 6 for 42, bowling 50.2 four-ball overs unchanged throughout the

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 ...

innings. Conway is best remembered for his work as an organiser and promoter of international cricket. He acted as the Australian agent for the English team that toured Australia in 1876–77, and towards the end of the tour he arranged for the leading players from

and Victoria to play a "Grand Combination Match" against the English team 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 ...

. This match is now regarded as the first Test match. The success of this match and another hastily arranged match shortly afterwards led Conway and several of the Australian team to contemplate the feasibility of a tour of England. Despite the objections of the state cricket associations, Conway organised and managed the inaugural Australian tour of England in 1878. The tour began in November 1877 with matches in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

before the main tour of England, and continued with a tour of North America and some final matches in Australia, concluding in January 1879. The tour, undertaken for profit, yielded about 1000 pounds for each of the eleven players, and 1200 pounds for Conway. For many years, Conway worked as a journalist covering football, cricket, horse racing and coursing. He also acted as agent for English cricket teams that visited Australia in 1881–82 and 1884–85.''The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket'', Oxford, Melbourne, 1996, p. 119.

Personal life

Conway and his wife Elizabeth had seven children, but only their son Leslie married. Conway's relatives included the cricketer Sydney Donahoo, a nephew, and the writer Ronald Conway, a grandson.Lazenby, p. 3. Conway died at his home in

Frankston, Victoria Frankston ( ) is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Located south-east of the Melbourne central business district via the Monash Freeway and EastLink, it is in the Local government areas of Victoria, local government area of the City ...

in August 1909, aged 67. Attendees at a small private funeral included

Tom Horan Thomas Patrick Horan (8 March 1854 – 16 April 1916) was an Australian cricketer who played for Victorian Bushrangers, Victoria and Australia national cricket team, Australia, and later became an esteemed cricket journalist under the pen name ...

and

Frank Allan Francis Erskine Allan (2 December 1849 – 9 February 1917) was an Australian cricketer who represented Victoria cricket team, Victoria in first-class cricket, first-class intercolonial cricket in Australia, intercolonial matches and made one T ...

from the 1878 team.

References

External links

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John Conway: "and one man in his time plays many parts…"
1842 births 1909 deaths 19th-century Australian sportsmen Australian cricketers Victoria cricketers Otago cricketers Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Cricketers from Victoria (state) Melbourne Cricket Club cricketers Carlton Football Club (VFA) players Melbourne Football Club (pre-VFA) players People from the Colony of Victoria {{Australia-cricket-bio-1840s-stub