Nicholas "Tom" Cole (12 July 1844 – 27 January 1924), sometimes known as T. N. Cole, was an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

who officiated in one Test match in

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 ...

in 1884. Cole was born in Australia. He was a left-arm round-arm bowler who was the first exponent of round-arm bowling in Adelaide. He was the first bowler in Adelaide cricket to take ten wickets in an innings. He played senior club cricket in

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 ...

and represented

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 several matches in the 1870s. He took nine wickets in the match against

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

's English team in 1873-74. The opening round of matches in the Adelaide competition in the 1881-82 season was held in his

benefit Benefit(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Benefit'' (album), by Jethro Tull, 1970 * "Benefits" (''How I Met Your Mother''), a 2009 TV episode * "Benefits", a 2018 song by Zior Park * ''The Benefit'', a 2012 Egyptian action film Busin ...

. His sole Test match as umpire was the First

Ashes Ashes may refer to: * Ash, the solid remnants of fires. Media and entertainment Art * ''Ashes'' (Munch), an 1894 painting by Edvard Munch Film * ''The Ashes'' (film), a 1965 Polish film by director Andrzej Wajda * ''Ashes'' (1922 film), ...

Test played between

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 ...

at the

Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

in December 1884, when the Australian captain Billy Murdoch refused to accept the experienced English player and administrator

James Lillywhite James Lillywhite (23 February 1842 – 25 October 1929) was an English Test cricketer and an umpire. He was the first ever captain of the English cricket team in a Test match, captaining two Tests against Australia in 1876–77, losing the fir ...

as umpire. This was also the only Test match umpired by fellow Australian umpire Isaac Fisher. A

timeless Test A timeless Test is a match of Test cricket played under no limitation of time, which means the match is played until one side wins or the match is tied, with theoretically no possibility of a draw. The format means that it is not possible to play ...

, the match lasted four days, starting on 12 December and ending on 16 December, with 14 December as a rest day. Despite the batting prowess of Australia's

Percy McDonnell Percy Stanislaus McDonnell (13 November 1858 – 24 September 1896
— '' Bobby Peel Robert Peel (12 February 1857 – 12 August 1941) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire between 1883 and 1897. Primarily a left-arm spin bowler, Peel was also an effective left-handed batsman ...

taking 8 wickets in the match (3/68 and 5/51) and

Billy Bates Willie Bates (19 November 1855 – 8 January 1900), known as Billy Bates, was an English cricketer. Skilled with both bat and ball, Bates scored over 10,000 first-class runs, took more than 870 wickets and was always reliable in the field. A ...

5/51 in Australia's first innings. The Australian side had been weakened by the absence of

Fred Spofforth Frederick Robert Spofforth (9 September 1853 – 4 June 1926), also known as "The Demon Bowler", was an Australian cricket team pace bowler of the nineteenth century. He was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a Tes ...

and

Billy Midwinter William Evans Midwinter (19 June 1851 – 3 December 1890) was a cricketer who played four Test matches for England, sandwiched between eight for Australia. He was the only cricketer to have played for Australia and England in Test matches aga ...

;

George Giffen George Giffen (27 March 1859 – 29 November 1927) was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia ...

played despite suffering from rheumatism, and

Alec Bannerman Alexander (usually "Alick"; also "Alec") Chalmers Bannerman (21 March 1854 – 19 September 1924) was an Australian cricketer who played in 28 Test matches between 1879 and 1893. Bannerman made his Test debut at Melbourne in 1879, joining broth ...

damaged his finger attempting to stop a ball in the field and was absent hurt in the Australian second innings. Cole was still umpiring in Adelaide senior cricket in the 1890s. He worked as a bootmaker in Adelaide. He died at his home in

aged 79.

References

* Pollard, Jack, ''Australian Cricket: 1803-1893, The Formative Years''. Sydney, The Book Company, 1995. ()

External links

First Test match, Australia v England
''

Wisden 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 ...

'', 1886
Profile
from

Cricinfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

Profile
from CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Tom Australian Test cricket umpires 1844 births 1924 deaths

See also

References

External links