Melville James "Mel" McInnes (30 August 1915 in

Prospect, South Australia Prospect is the seat of the City of Prospect and an inner northern suburb of greater Adelaide. It is located north of Adelaide's centre. Surrounding suburbs include Kilburn, Fitzroy, Medindie and Devon Park. The suburb has boundaries of Ma ...

– 23 July 1996 in

Adelaide, South Australia 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 ...

) was an Australian cricket Test match umpire. He umpired 16

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 1951 and 1959. His first match was between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 22 to 25 December 1951 (the first Test to include play on Christmas Day), won by the West Indies after dismissing Australia for 82 in the first innings. McInnes' partner in this match was Ron Wright. McInnes' first international match was the England against

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

match in January 1951. He no-balled

Doug Wright Douglas Wright (born December 20, 1962) is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Known for his extensive work in the American theatre in both plays and musicals, he has received numerous accolades including the Pulitzer Prize an ...

three balls in succession for overstepping, and this courageous act may have led to his first Test appointment the following year. His last match – also at Adelaide and with Ron Wright as his partner - was between Australia and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 30 January to 5 February 1959. This was won by Australia by 10 wickets largely due to 170 by Colin McDonald and 9 wickets to

Richie Benaud Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales cricket team, New South Wales and Australia national cricket team, Australia. Following his retirement from international cricket in ...

. McDonald pulled a thigh muscle and had resumed batting with a runner, when a Run out appeal was made at the bowler’s end. McInnes had moved to the same side as the runner to view the action, and after giving McDonald out to the appeal, had to reverse his decision, as the runner was behind him and out of his view. In the 1979 Australia Day Honours McInnes was awarded an

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

medal (OAM) for his umpiring services. According to his ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' obituary he "won a solid reputation for his judgement, impartiality and bearing, but became mired in controversy on the 1958-59 tour f Australia by Englandwhen he was blamed by the English press after some bad decisions and for not stamping out

throwing Throwing is a physical action that consists of mechanically accelerating a projectile and then releasing it into a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a distant target. ''Throwing'' typically refers to hand-throwing by a ...

and dragging among the Australian fast bowlers". (Presumably ''Wisden'' had bowlers

Ian Meckiff Ian Meckiff (born 6 January 1935) is a former cricketer who represented Australia in 18 Test matches between 1957 and 1963. A left-arm fast bowler, he is best known for two matters that were unrelated to his skill as a player: he was the batsma ...

and

Gordon Rorke Gordon Frederick Rorke (27 June 1938 – 5 July 2025) was an Australian cricketer who played in four Test matches in 1959. Biography Rorke made his Test debut in January 1959 in the Fourth Test of The Ashes series against England in Adelaide. ...

in mind with this comment.)

Johnnie Moyes Alban George "Johnny" Moyes (2 January 1893 – 18 January 1963) was a cricketer who played for Southern Redbacks, South Australia and Victorian Bushrangers, Victoria. Following his brief playing career, Moyes, a professional journalist, later ...

in 1959 thought "McInnes, in my opinion, ranks with Hele and Crockett as the finest Australia has produced … McInnes adopted the English idea of never rushing into a decision and perhaps that is why he makes so few mistakes". McInnes stood six feet four and a half inches tall, and 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

for

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

and cricket for

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

before enlisting in the

AIF AIF, A.I.F., AiF or aif may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Argumenty i Fakty'' (AiF), a Russian newspaper * Australians in Film (AiF), a Los Angeles-based organisation for the promotion of Australian actors and filmmakers * Aspen Ideas ...

in 1940. He served as a captain in the Middle East and in New Guinea. He worked in the state public service.

References

* Moyes, A. G., ''Australian Cricket: A History'', Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1959. * Pollard, Jack, ''Australian Cricket: 1948-1995, The Packer Years''. Sydney, The Book Company, 1995. * ''

Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'', 1997 edition (obituary, p. 1410)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McInnes, Mel 1915 births 1996 deaths Australian Test cricket umpires Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers North Adelaide Football Club players Prospect cricketers

See also

References

External links