Jimmy Matthews

For other people of the same name, see James Matthews (disambiguation).

Jimmy Matthews

Personal information
Full name	Thomas James Matthews
Born	(1884-04-03)3 April 1884 Mount Gambier, South Australia
Died	Caulfield, Victoria
Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling style	Legbreak
International information
National side	Australian
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class Matches 8 67 Runs scored 153 2149 Batting average 17.00 24.98 100s/50s 0/1 0/14 Top score 53 93 Balls bowled 1081 7582 Wickets 16 177 Bowling average 26.18 25.46 5 wickets in innings 0 8 10 wickets in match 0 1 Best bowling 4/29 7/46 Catches/stumpings 7/0 56/0
Source: [1]

Thomas James Matthews (3 April 1884 – 14 October 1943) was an Australian Test cricketer. He bowled leg breaks.

International cricket career

He played in eight Test matches for the Australian cricket team, two in Australia in the 1911/12 season, and six in the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England. He played first-class cricket for Victoria in the seasons from 1906/07 to 1914/15, playing in 67 first-class matches in all, although 28 were played for Australia on the 1912 tour of England.

He is famed for being the only player to have ever taken two hat-tricks in the same Test match. In the opening Test of the 1912 Triangular Tournament, playing against South Africa at Old Trafford, he took a hat-trick in each innings. He took the last three wickets in South Africa's first innings, to prevent them avoiding the follow on; later the same day, 28 May 1912, he took a second hat-trick in the second innings. None of the dismissals required the assistance of any fielders: the first batsman was bowled, then two were leg before wicket, then another bowled, and finally two more caught and bowled. South African wicket-keeper Tommy Ward was his third victim in both hat-tricks, being the only known instance of a king pair on debut in Test cricket.

Matthews took no other wickets in the match, giving him match figures of 6 wickets for 54 runs, but he did take a further 9 wickets in the series, including 4/29 in the fifth match of the series, again against South Africa.

Outside cricket

Prior to becoming an international cricketer Matthews played Australian rules football with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League and Williamstown in the Victorian Football Association. He was primarily a full-forward, and his 46 goals for Williamstown in the 1906 season was the second-highest of any player in the VFA that year.

See also

• Test cricket hat-tricks
• List of Victoria first-class cricketers

Sources

• Atkinson, G. (1982) Everything you ever wanted to know about Australian rules football but couldn't be bothered asking, The Five Mile Press: Melbourne. ISBN 0 86788 009 0.

External links

• Jimmy Matthews's statistics from AFL Tables
• Player profile: Jimmy Matthews from ESPNcricinfo
• Scorecards from Cricket Archive
• Cricket's Unsung Legend - The Jimmy Matthews Story by James Brear, 2012. Published by Ken Piesse Cricket Books.