Patrick Covell Derrick McCarthy (24 October 1919 – 23 December 2007) was a

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

-born cricketer 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 ...

for

in the 1940s before moving to

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 playing for

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

in the 1950s.

In Ceylon

Pat McCarthy attended

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a Single-sex education, boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh (priest), Joseph Mar ...

, where he played in the cricket team for several years. In March and April 1936 he was a member of the Royal College team that toured Australia, the first tour of Australia by an Asian cricket team at any level of cricket. He was the team's highest scorer on the tour. He captained the team to victory in the Royal-Thomian match in March 1938. Two weeks after the Royal-Thomian match, aged 18, McCarthy played for Ceylon in a one-day match against the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

, scoring 24 batting at number four. He was one of several players from

who were invited to play for The Rest in the

Bombay Pentangular The Bombay Tournament was an annual cricket competition held in British India between 1892 and 1946. Until 1936, matches were played on either the Bombay Gymkhana Ground, Gymkhana Ground in Bombay or the Deccan Gymkhana Ground in Poona, and then ...

over the years, appearing in the match against

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

in 1938-39. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

McCarthy served with the Ceylon Garrison Artillery from 1940 until 1946, when he was demobilised with the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. He represented Ceylon in their match against the Indian touring team in 1944-45, and against the Australian Services team in 1945-46. McCarthy worked in Ceylon as a surveyor. He played for Nondescripts Cricket Club in Colombo, scoring two double-centuries, ten centuries and over fifty half-centuries before leaving for Australia in 1948.

In Australia

McCarthy played for several clubs in Perth grade cricket. He set a record for

Mount Lawley Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, Co ...

which still stands when he scored 857 runs in the 1950-51 season. He appeared for the first time for Western Australia towards the end of the 1950-51 season, scoring a "hurricane" 88 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 ...

in his second match, when he added 90 in 80 minutes for the fifth wicket with Wally Langdon. On 6 February 1954 he was batting against

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 ...

at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

when the Duke of Edinburgh, in Australia during the 1954 Royal Visit, briefly stopped by to watch. McCarthy and his partners John Rutherford and Arnold Byfield added 61 runs in the 45 minutes in which the Duke was present, McCarthy hitting several boundaries. McCarthy was dismissed later for 98. One Sydney cricket writer described his innings as being of "almost prehistoric majesty and virility".

Personal life

McCarthy married Yvonne Kelaart in Colombo in February 1942. They had two sons. Yvonne died in 1988, and Pat died in 2007.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Pat 1919 births 2007 deaths Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Sri Lankan cricketers All-Ceylon cricketers Sri Lankan emigrants to Australia Nondescripts Cricket Club cricketers Western Australia cricketers The Rest (Bombay) cricketers Place of birth missing

In Ceylon

In Australia

Personal life

See also

References

External links