Maxwell George O'Connell (born 4 April 1936 in

Alberton, South Australia Alberton is a metropolitan suburb in the west of Adelaide, South Australia, about 20 minutes drive from the city. Part of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, it is bordered by the suburbs of Rosewater, South Australia, Rosewater, Queenstown, Sout ...

) was an Australian Test cricket match umpire. He umpired 20

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

between 1971 and 1980. His first match, was the Fifth Test in the 1970–71 Ashes series at

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 21 January to 26 January 1971. In his first over as Test umpire he called "over" and turned to walk to square leg after

John Snow John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology and early germ theory, in part because of hi ...

bowled the last ball. As a result he missed the England wicket-keeper

Alan Knott Alan Philip Eric Knott (born 9 April 1946) is a former cricketer who represented England at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). Knott is widely regarded as one of the most eccentric characters in cricket and as o ...

catching

Keith Stackpole Keith Raymond Stackpole MBE (10 July 1940 – 22 April 2025) was an Australian cricketer who played in 43 Test matches and six One Day Internationals between 1966 and 1974. He went on to become a cricket commentator on radio and television i ...

and had to give him not out. Snow wrote that he 'could quite understand his actions which illustrate the pressure umpires are also under in a Test',p101-102, John Snow, Cricket Rebel, Hamlyn, 1976 and they were able to joke about it afterwards. Stackpole continued to 30,

Ian Chappell Ian Michael Chappell (born 26 September 1943) is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. Known as "Chappelli", he is considered as one of the greatest captains the game has seen.

scored a century and Australian captain

Bill Lawry William Morris Lawry (born 11 February 1937) is an Australian former cricketer and commentator who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia in 25 Test matches, winning nine, losing eight and drawing eight, and led Australia ...

declared the second innings closed with

Rod Marsh Rodney William Marsh (4 November 1947 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian professional cricketer who played as a wicketkeeper for the Australian national team. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 ...

on 92, depriving him the chance of becoming the first Australian wicket-keeper to score a century. O'Connell's partner was

Lou Rowan Louis Patrick "Lou" Rowan (2 May 1925 – 3 February 2017) was an Australian Test cricket umpire who umpired the first One Day International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 5 January 1971. He umpired 25 Test matches between 1963 and 1971 an ...

. In 1971/72 season, a scheduled tour of Australia by

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 ...

was cancelled following political and moral protests against the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

policies of the South African government. In its place a 'World Team' visited Australia and played a series of Test standard, although never officially recognised. O'Connell stood in one of these matches, and witnessed

Garfield Sobers The Right Excellent Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, NH, AO, OCC (born 28 July 1936), also known as Sir Gary or Sir Garry Sobers, is a Barbadian born former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974. A highly skilled bowle ...

score 254, an innings regarded by some witnesses as the greatest ever played. O'Connell stood, with Tom Brooks in the Centenary Test Match between Australia and England, played at Melbourne on 12 March to 17 March 1977, won by Australia by 45 runs – identical to the result of the first Test 100 years before.

Dennis Lillee Dennis Keith Lillee, (born 18 July 1949) is a retired Australian cricketer rated as the "outstanding fast bowler of his generation".

took 11 wickets,

finally achieved a century against England, debutant

David Hookes David William Hookes (3 May 1955 – 19 January 2004) was an Australian cricket player and coach. He played for the Australia national cricket team and domestic cricket for South Australia, later coaching Victoria. An aggressive left-handed ba ...

hit English captain

Tony Greig Anthony William Greig (6 October 194629 December 2012) was a South African-born cricketer and commentator. Greig qualified to play for the England cricket team by virtue of his Scottish father. He was a tall () all-rounder who bowled both ...

for five consecutive fours,

Rick McCosker Richard Bede McCosker (born 11 December 1946) is a former Australian cricketer. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 Cricket World Cup. McCosker played in 25 Test matches and 14 One Day Internationa ...

batted with a broken jaw, and Derek Randall scored a gallant 174, in a memorable match, attended by many of the past great names of Australian and English cricket. O'Connell's last Test match was between Australia and the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

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 ...

on 26 January to 30 January 1980, won comfortably by the powerful visitors by 408 runs. His colleague was Mel Johnson, the eleventh other umpire to partner him at Test level. O'Connell also umpired six

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

matches between 1975 and 1981. Although never a

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, O'Connell represented South Australia as a batsman at interstate Second XI standard. O'Connell was also a well-respected Australian Football player and umpire, having played for both Sturt and

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

in the

SANFL 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. ...

, and then umpiring the 1967 Grand Final.. He was awarded Life Membership of the SANFL Umpires Association in 2004.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Max 1936 births Living people South Australian National Football League umpires Australian Test cricket umpires Australian One Day International cricket umpires Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) Sturt Football Club players Australian rules footballers from South Australia

See also

References

External links