Thomas Robert McKibbin (10 December 1870 – 15 December 1939) 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 in five

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 ...

from 1895 to 1898.

Early life

McKibbin was born in Raglan, on the outskirts of

Bathurst, New South Wales Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Region, Bathurst Regional Council. Founded in 1815, Bathurst is ...

. He was educated at All Saints' College, an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

school in Bathurst.

Cricket career

McKibbin came to attention when he visited Sydney to play in the annual Country Week carnival in 1894. He was so successful that, despite being called for throwing, he was immediately included in 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 ...

team.''The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket'', Oxford, Melbourne, 1996, pp. 147–48. A right-arm bowler who imparted tremendous spin to the ball and was able to bowl both off-breaks and leg-breaks, he played for New South Wales from 1894–95 to 1898–99. In his third first-class match, he took 5 for 19 and 9 for 68 against

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, followed by 6 for 123 and 8 for 66 in the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

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 ...

. He made his Test debut for Australia a few days later in the last match of the 1894–95 series against England. McKibbin was enabled to achieve exceptional spin by his unusually flexible wrist. A contemporary report noted: "Placing his arm upon a table, with the hand palm down, he can, keeping the forearm rigid, twist his hand around from the wrist until his palm faces upward." He sometimes had his action questioned, but he was never called for throwing in first-class cricket. Australian cricket team 1896

McKibbin took 101 first-class wickets at an average of 14.26 on the Australians' tour of England in 1896. In the match against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

he took 6 for 27 and 7 for 11, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

. After the tour, ''

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 ...

'' commented, "In a long experience of first-class cricket we have never seen any bowler get on such a break both ways as he did at

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

in the first match against

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

." He played in two of the Tests, taking 11 wickets at an average of 14.72. In 1896-97 McKibbin set a record for the

when he took 44 wickets in the season, in four matches, a record which stood until 1934–35, when Chuck Fleetwood-Smith took 60 wickets in six matches. McKibbin's figures that season included 7 for 51 and 8 for 74 against South Australia in Adelaide.

Later life

After his cricketing career ended, McKibbin was employed by an engineering firm and travelled the Australian states installing

shearing Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a '' shearer''. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year (depending upon dialect, a sheep may be sai ...

machines. He also spent some time prospecting for gold in

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 ...

. Later he was in partnership with his brother who had pastoral interests in the Bathurst district. After suffering ill-health for nearly 10 years, McKibbin died in December 1939, leaving a widow.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKibbin, Tom 1870 births 1939 deaths Australia Test cricketers New South Wales cricketers Australian cricketers Cricketers from Bathurst, New South Wales