Joe Darling
Encyclopedia
Joseph "Joe" Darling CBE
(21 November 1870 – 2 January 1946) was an Australian cricketer
who played 34 Test matches
as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain
, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including three centuries
. Darling toured England four times with the Australian team—in 1896, 1899, 1902 and 1905; the last three tours as captain. He was captain of the Australian cricket team in England in 1902
, widely recognised as one of the best teams in Australian cricket history.
He was a stocky, compact man and a strong driver of the ball, playing most of his cricket as an opening batsman
. He was a patient batsman and was known for his solid defence, but he was able to score quickly when required. In Sydney in 1897–98, he scored 160 in 165 minutes, including 30 boundaries
to assist his team in defeating the English. He was the first man to score 500 runs in a Test series and was also the first to score three centuries
in a series. His captaincy was disciplinarian in nature but his teammates respected his broad cricket knowledge. Even tempered with a strong personality, he was a stickler for fair play on the field. His teammates gave him the nickname
"Paddy" due to a supposed resemblance to the Australian boxer, Frank "Paddy" Slavin.
His cricket career was interrupted several times due to his obligations as a farmer, first growing wheat in South Australia, and later as a wool-grower in Tasmania
. He was a member of several bodies dedicated to agriculture in Tasmania, including the responsible authority for the Royal Hobart Show
. He was a pioneer in activities such as rabbit
eradication and pasture improvement. He entered politics in 1921, standing as an independent in the Tasmanian Legislative Council
, where he was a forceful speaker. He retained his seat in the Tasmanian Parliament until his death following a gall bladder operation in 1946.
, the sixth son of John Darling, a grain merchant and his wife Isabella, née Ferguson. He was educated at Prince Alfred College
, where he took an interest in cricket. At the age of 15, he scored a record 252 runs
in the "inter-collegiate" match, the annual fixture against fierce rival St Peter's College
. His future Test team mate, Clem Hill
, would later beat this record, scoring 360. Not long after, he was included in a combined South Australian
/Victoria
XV that played the Australian XI in 1886. He made only 16 runs, but the manner in which he made them saw senior players hail him as a future champion.
His father, disapproving of Darling's fondness for sport, sent him away from his cricket and Australian rules football
teams to spend twelve months at Roseworthy Agricultural School
. Later, Darling worked in a bank for a time and before his father appointed him manager of one of a wheat farm. Working on the farm added size and strength to an already stocky and athletic frame. He was selected for the South Australian team at age 19, but his father would not allow him time off the farm to play.
After two years in the bush, Darling returned to Adelaide
and cricket. He opened a sports store on Rundle Street, Adelaide
and was soon selected to represent South Australia in inter-colonial cricket. He made his first-class cricket
debut against New South Wales
at the Adelaide Oval
; scoring 5 and 32 as South Australia won the match by 237 runs. The next season, against the touring England team captained by Andrew Stoddart
, Darling made 115, his maiden first-class century
.
, at the Sydney Cricket Ground
, saw Darling make his Test debut. In an innings where Australia make 586 runs, including centuries for George Giffen
and Syd Gregory
, Darling was dismissed for a golden duck
, bowled
first ball by Tom Richardson
. He played in all five Tests in the series, scoring 258 runs at an average of 28.66 per innings. He was included in the Australian team to tour England in 1896, where he topped the scoring aggregates for the tour with 1555 runs at an average of 29.90, including three centuries. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
stated that Darling "proved himself perhaps the best of present-day left-handed batsmen" during the tour. England won the series two Tests to one.
Andrew Stoddart brought another team to Australia to contest The Ashes
in 1897–98. Australia won the series comfortably, four Tests to one. Darling started the season poorly, scoring a duck and one against the tourists for South Australia in a match in which team mate Clem Hill
scored a double century. Darling went on, however, to dominate the series with the bat. His maiden Test century, 101 in the First Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground
after Australia was made to follow-on
, was the first made by a left-hander in Tests. It was not enough to prevent England winning by nine wickets.
In the Third Test in his home town of Adelaide, Darling scored 178 runs and Australia won the match by an innings and 13 runs. He reached his century by hitting Johnny Briggs
over the eastern gate and into the nearby park. This is the only time in Ashes Tests where a player has reached 100 with a hit out of the ground. During this innings, he also became the first player to hit a six in a Test in Australia (prior to 1910, a six was awarded only if the ball was hit out of the ground). He later also hit the first six in a Test in England. Returning to Sydney for the Fifth and final Test, Darling scored 160 runs from 253 scored in total. He batted for 165 minutes, hitting 30 boundaries
as Australia successfully chased 273 in the fourth innings. His first 100 came in 91 minutes; at the time, the fastest Test century scored. By the end of the season, Darling became the first player to score 500 runs in a series and the first player to score three centuries in a series.
Darling was chosen by his team mates as captain for the 1899 Australian team touring England. The team was one of the strongest seen in England to that time, with the cricket reference book Wisden stating, "By common consent the [1899 Australians] formed the strongest combination that had come from the Colonies since the great side captained by Mr. W. L. Murdoch
in 1882." and that "Darling proved himself one of the very best captains that ever took a team into the field." The Australians lost only three of the 35 matches they played on the tour, winning 16 and another 16 finishing in draws. The only Test to reach a decisive result was the Second Test at Lord's
, where Australia won by ten wickets due in part to centuries by Hill and Victor Trumper
and a ten wicket haul by fast bowler
Ernie Jones
. Aside from Hill
, Darling was seen by Wisden as the best batsman among the Australians. Wisden claimed, "Up to a certain point the responsibilities of captaincy seemed to tell against Darling, but during the last weeks of the tour he played marvellous cricket." Over the tour, he scored 1941 runs at an average of 41.29, topping both the averages and the aggregate for his team, and was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
.
Darling's deeds as a cricketer had reconciled his father to his sporting endeavours, but not to his sports store operation. In 1900, his father purchased "Stonehenge", a sheep station
covering 10000 acres (4,046.9 ha) in central Tasmania
and ordered Darling to run the property on pain of exclusion from his will
. Darling complied with his father's wishes and moved his family to the remote station, 34 kilometres (21.1 mi) along a dirt track from the nearest town, tiny Oatlands
. Darling stood out of first-class cricket for nearly two years.
It was not until December 1901 that Darling was convinced to return by the Melbourne Cricket Club
to captain the Australians against the touring English for the first three Tests only. The English, captained by Archie MacLaren, won the First Test in Sydney convincingly by an innings and 124 runs. The Second Test in Melbourne was played on a rain-affected pitch. MacLaren won the toss
and sent Australia in to bat on the "sticky wicket
". Within three hours, both teams had been dismissed; Australia holding a lead on the first innings of 51 runs. Realising the danger the pitch held to his leading batsmen, Darling re-ordered the batting line-up and opened the batting himself alongside Hugh Trumble
. The pair held out the English for 90 minutes; Darling considered his 32 runs one of his best innings . Nevertheless, Barnes managed to grab five wickets in the final half-hour to leave the Australians 5/48 when stumps was called. Twenty five wickets fell in the day's play. Importantly, Australia had a 99 run lead and batsmen of the calibre of Hill, Trumper, Reggie Duff
and Warwick Armstrong
still to bat. The next day, on a perfect pitch, the Australian batsmen established a match-winning lead, eventually winning the Test by 229 runs. In the Third Test in Adelaide, Australia became the first team to score over 300 runs to win the fourth innings of a Test match. Darling, along with Hill and Trumble, led the record making run chase; Darling scored 62 runs. Hugh Trumble captained the final two Tests as Darling returned to his farm. Australia won both Tests and the series to retain The Ashes.
. In what was a very cold and wet summer, the Australian team won a close fought series against the strong English team two Tests to one. Given the strength of the opposition, this Australian team is often referred to as one of the best Australian teams ever assembled. The team included players of the calibre of Trumper, Hill, Armstrong, Trumble and Monty Noble
; all of whom would be later included in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. The team lost only two matches during the tour, with Wisden saying, "No travelling team ever strove harder for victory or more completely subordinated all personal considerations to the prime object of winning matches. They formed a splendid all-round combination".
The First Test at Edgbaston
finished in a draw. Rain saved the Australians after they were dismissed for only 36 in their first innings; Wilfred Rhodes
took seven wickets for only 17 runs. Rain again ruined the Second Test at Lord's when the final two days were washed out. The Third Test, the only Test match played at Bramall Lane
, saw Australia win by 143 runs due in part to a century by Hill and Noble taking 5/51. Darling was dismissed twice by Barnes without scoring, the first Test captain to make a "pair". Australia won the Fourth Test at Old Trafford by three runs; Trumble took ten wickets for the match. The last batsman, Fred Tate
, came in with England needing eight runs to secure victory. Darling brought the field in and Trumble prevented Rhodes scoring from the last three balls of his over
. This left Tate to face Jack Saunders
, who dismissed him with the fourth ball of his over to win the match for Australia. England won the Fifth and final Test at the Oval
by one wicket. Chasing 263, England were 5/48 when Gilbert Jessop
scored a century in 75 minutes to help England to victory.
The star for the Australians was Trumper who scored 2,570 runs, easily beating Darling's own record for a colonial batsman in an English season set in 1899. So important was Trumper to the Australian team that Darling, who had previously checked that all the Australians were on board the carriage to the ground, was later simply to ask "Is Vic aboard?" before giving the driver the go-ahead. Darling himself had a mixed tour with the bat.
On the return trip to Australia, the touring team stopped to play three Tests against South Africa, the first between the two nations. Australia won the series two Tests to nil, but Darling's own form was poor. In successive innings, Darling made 0, 14, 6, 4 and 1. After the tour, he returned to Stonehenge and took a two year break from first-class cricket. In his absence, Monty Noble captained the Australian team against the touring English in 1903–04.
down the leg side, where Darling had placed up to seven fielders. These measures, unpopular with the English public, saw 19 matches on the tour finish in draws, three more than the 16 matches won by Australia. Wisden said, "Leaving aside Duff's long score at the Oval, Darling was the finest batsman on the side in the Test games, playing superb cricket under very trying conditions." At Old Trafford in the Fourth Test, he made 73 out of 105 in less than ninety minutes. His innings included thirteen boundaries
, all but one of them being drives. Despite his efforts, England still won the Test by an innings and 80 runs.
After losing six tosses against his English opposite number Stanley Jackson
during the summer, Darling decided on a different approach before the Scarborough Festival
match late in the tour. At the toss, he approached Jackson stripped to the waist and suggested, in fun, a wrestle for choice of innings.
The 1905 tour was Darling's last Test cricket foray, as he claimed that continuing to tour was unfair to his wife. He retired from first-class cricket during the 1907–08 season. In his first-class career, Darling made 10635 runs, including 19 centuries at an average of 34.52. In club cricket in Adelaide, Joe scored heavily. He averaged 144 for East Torrens Cricket Club in 1899–1900, 98.66 for Adelaide Cricket Club
in 1896–97 and 86.20 for Sturt Cricket Club
in 1904–05. He continued to make runs in Tasmanian club cricket right through middle age. In 1921, he made 100 runs in an hour, including 29 in one eight-ball over playing for Claremont Cricket Club. At age 52, he made 133 not out during a successful run chase where his team, Break-o'-Day, made 6/219 in 90 minutes.
He was contemptuous of the newly formed Australian Board of Control for International Cricket Matches
(now known as Cricket Australia), who he saw as attempting to remove control of international cricket tours from the players. He would often refer to cricket administrators as "Dead Heads". He later represented the Tasmanian Cricket Association as a delegate to the Board of Control.
Following his retirement from big cricket, Darling returned to his Tasmanian sheep station, where he was involved in a range of agricultural activities. He pioneered measures to eradicate rabbits
, an introduced pest then in plague proportions throughout Australia. He was an active member of organisations such as the Tasmanian Stock Holders and Orchardists' Association and the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania
, the organising body of the Royal Hobart Show
. Darling imported South Australian merino
rams to improve his flock, and his wool topped the Hobart sales on several occasions. He also introduced subterranean clover
to Tasmania.
In 1919, Darling moved from Stonehenge to Claremont House, around which the Hobart
suburb of Claremont
later formed. He was elected to the Cambridge electorate in the Tasmanian Legislative Council
in 1921 as an independent. He retained his position in the Parliament until his death in 1946. In Parliament, one of his colleagues was Charles Eady
, his teammate from the 1896 tour of England. Darling was recognised by his colleagues as a forceful, no-nonsense speaker. In the 1930s, he won an exemption from land tax for small farmers, and toward the end of his parliamentary career, a Royal Commission
was appointed to investigate charges Darling had made regarding maladministration. The findings of the commission, released after his death, saw a government Minister
and two others found guilty of accepting bribes. Darling was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(CBE) in 1938 in recognition of his work as a member of the Legislative Assembly.
Darling married Alice Minna Blanche Francis, a wheat farmer's daughter from Mundoora, South Australia
in 1893. Together they raised 15 children: ten sons and five daughters. After surgery for a ruptured gall bladder, Darling died in Hobart on 2 January 1946. He was buried at Cornelian Bay
cemetery after a Congregationalist ceremony and was survived by his wife and twelve of his children.
Darling had a stocky, compact build, standing 5 feet 8 inches (1.72 m) and weighing 12 stone 12 pounds (82 kg). His teammates thought his dark hair, blue eyes and moustache were similar to the boxer, Frank "Paddy" Slavin, and he answered to the nickname "Paddy" during his time in cricket. His time working on his father's farm had developed his strength. During his first game for South Australia, he was challenged to a naked wrestle by the fast bowler and ex-miner Ernie Jones
, an informal initiation into the team. To his team mates' surprise, Darling managed to defeat the much larger Jones.
The left-handed Darling was a strong driver of the ball who showed the batsman the full face of the bat. When necessary, he was a dour defender of his wicket. His fellow players thought that was sometimes unnecessarily defensive in his approach to batting and that he was at his best when driving hard. His South Australian and Australian team mate George Giffen
thought that no Australian's cut shots travelled faster past point.
Darling had a strong personality and an independent outlook. Those who knew him well thought him destined to be a leader in whatever he undertook. He shunned strong drink and tobacco and found it difficult to tolerate overindulgence in alcohol. Normally even-tempered, he did show displeasure at the heckling from the crowd at Lord's at his obstinate defensive effort in the face of an Australian batting collapse. He was a stickler for fair play, but his actions against the English batsman KS Ranjitsinhji would today be seen as gamesmanship
. During the bowler's approach and after the bowler had looked at the field, the Australian fielders moved behind Ranjitsinhji's back. This worried the Indian prince when playing his leg glance and eventually saw him left out of the English team.
The journalist Ray Robinson
wrote that "of all Australian captains he came closest to being a disciplinarian". Regardless, his team mates continued to select him as captain, trusting in his knowledge and understanding of the game. On a wet day during the 1899 tour, a delay in play saw some of the Australians accept an invitation to the Player's
tobacco factory in Nottingam. While away, the weather cleared and play began with Darling leading a team of five Australians and five substitutes onto the field. Darling later called a team meeting that saw the culprits fined ₤5 for breaching team rules. His approach to the hard-drinking Ernie Jones
was similarly tough. To ensure that the fast bowler would not drink to excess, he selected Jones as twelfth man in a match against an English county team. When Jones refused to play, a team meeting saw him facing expulsion from the team. Darling spoke to him privately and made it clear that without an apology to his team mates and a promise to curb his drinking, he would be on the next boat bound for Australia. The firm and prompt action had a lasting effect on team discipline during his time as Australian captain. Wisden noted that "as a captain he inspired his men to reveal their best form." As a captain he was a reformer, suggesting rule changes that included making six runs the reward for clearing the boundary rather than the entire ground, and using of sawdust to fill holes in bowler's run-ups.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(21 November 1870 – 2 January 1946) was an Australian cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
who played 34 Test matches
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
as a specialist batsman between 1894 and 1905. As captain
Captain (cricket)
The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player...
, he led Australia in a total of 21 Tests, winning seven and losing four. In Test cricket, he scored 1657 runs at an average of 28.56 per innings, including three centuries
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
. Darling toured England four times with the Australian team—in 1896, 1899, 1902 and 1905; the last three tours as captain. He was captain of the Australian cricket team in England in 1902
Australian cricket team in England in 1902
The Australian cricket team toured England during the 1902 English cricket season. The five-Test series between the two countries has been fondly remembered; in 1967 the cricket writer A.A. Thomson described the series as "a rubber more exciting than any in history except the Australia v West...
, widely recognised as one of the best teams in Australian cricket history.
He was a stocky, compact man and a strong driver of the ball, playing most of his cricket as an opening batsman
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
. He was a patient batsman and was known for his solid defence, but he was able to score quickly when required. In Sydney in 1897–98, he scored 160 in 165 minutes, including 30 boundaries
Boundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
to assist his team in defeating the English. He was the first man to score 500 runs in a Test series and was also the first to score three centuries
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
in a series. His captaincy was disciplinarian in nature but his teammates respected his broad cricket knowledge. Even tempered with a strong personality, he was a stickler for fair play on the field. His teammates gave him the nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
"Paddy" due to a supposed resemblance to the Australian boxer, Frank "Paddy" Slavin.
His cricket career was interrupted several times due to his obligations as a farmer, first growing wheat in South Australia, and later as a wool-grower in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
. He was a member of several bodies dedicated to agriculture in Tasmania, including the responsible authority for the Royal Hobart Show
Royal Hobart Show
The Royal Hobart Show is an annual event held at the Royal Showgrounds in Glenorchy in October. The event focuses on the rural exploits of Tasmanians with events such as livestock judging and wood chopping. Also popular at the event are show bags and rides....
. He was a pioneer in activities such as rabbit
Rabbits in Australia
In Australia, rabbits are a serious mammalian pest and are an invasive species. Annually, European rabbits cause millions of dollars of damage to crops.-Effects on Australia's ecology:...
eradication and pasture improvement. He entered politics in 1921, standing as an independent in the Tasmanian Legislative Council
Tasmanian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the House of Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart...
, where he was a forceful speaker. He retained his seat in the Tasmanian Parliament until his death following a gall bladder operation in 1946.
Early life and career
Darling was born on 21 November 1870 in Glen Osmond, South AustraliaGlen Osmond, South Australia
Glen Osmond is a small suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Burnside located in the foothills of the Adelaide Hills.-References:...
, the sixth son of John Darling, a grain merchant and his wife Isabella, née Ferguson. He was educated at Prince Alfred College
Prince Alfred College
Prince Alfred College is an independent, day and boarding school for boys, located on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town, near the centre of Adelaide, South Australia...
, where he took an interest in cricket. At the age of 15, he scored a record 252 runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
in the "inter-collegiate" match, the annual fixture against fierce rival St Peter's College
St Peter's College, Adelaide
St Peter's College, , is an independent boy's school in the South Australian capital of Adelaide...
. His future Test team mate, Clem Hill
Clem Hill
Clement "Clem" Hill was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five...
, would later beat this record, scoring 360. Not long after, he was included in a combined South Australian
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
/Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
XV that played the Australian XI in 1886. He made only 16 runs, but the manner in which he made them saw senior players hail him as a future champion.
His father, disapproving of Darling's fondness for sport, sent him away from his cricket and Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
teams to spend twelve months at Roseworthy Agricultural School
Roseworthy College
Roseworthy Agricultural College was an agricultural college in Australia. It is north of Adelaide and west of Roseworthy town. It was the first agricultural college in Australia, established in 1883. It is now part of the University of Adelaide....
. Later, Darling worked in a bank for a time and before his father appointed him manager of one of a wheat farm. Working on the farm added size and strength to an already stocky and athletic frame. He was selected for the South Australian team at age 19, but his father would not allow him time off the farm to play.
After two years in the bush, Darling returned to Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and cricket. He opened a sports store on Rundle Street, Adelaide
Rundle Street, Adelaide
Rundle Street is a street in the East End of Adelaide, South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street in the west to East Terrace, where it becomes Rundle Road. Its former western extent, which ran to King William Street, was closed in 1972 to form the pedestrian street of Rundle Mall...
and was soon selected to represent South Australia in inter-colonial cricket. He made his first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut against New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
at the Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
; scoring 5 and 32 as South Australia won the match by 237 runs. The next season, against the touring England team captained by Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Stoddart
Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English cricketer and rugby union player. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.-Cricket career:...
, Darling made 115, his maiden first-class century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
.
Consolidation
The First Test of 1894–95 against EnglandEnglish cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
, at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, saw Darling make his Test debut. In an innings where Australia make 586 runs, including centuries for George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen 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 during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
and Syd Gregory
Syd Gregory
Sydney Edward Gregory , sometimes known as Edward Sydney Gregory, was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. At the time of his retirement, he had played a world-record 58 Test matches during a career spanning 1890 to 1912...
, Darling was dismissed for a golden duck
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
, bowled
Bowled
Bowled is a method of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is covered by Law 30 of the Laws of cricket.A batsman is out bowled if his wicket is put down by a ball delivered by the bowler...
first ball by Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson
Tom Richardson was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back , a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled...
. He played in all five Tests in the series, scoring 258 runs at an average of 28.66 per innings. He was included in the Australian team to tour England in 1896, where he topped the scoring aggregates for the tour with 1555 runs at an average of 29.90, including three centuries. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
stated that Darling "proved himself perhaps the best of present-day left-handed batsmen" during the tour. England won the series two Tests to one.
Andrew Stoddart brought another team to Australia to contest The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
in 1897–98. Australia won the series comfortably, four Tests to one. Darling started the season poorly, scoring a duck and one against the tourists for South Australia in a match in which team mate Clem Hill
Clem Hill
Clement "Clem" Hill was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five...
scored a double century. Darling went on, however, to dominate the series with the bat. His maiden Test century, 101 in the First Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
after Australia was made to follow-on
Follow-on
Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...
, was the first made by a left-hander in Tests. It was not enough to prevent England winning by nine wickets.
In the Third Test in his home town of Adelaide, Darling scored 178 runs and Australia won the match by an innings and 13 runs. He reached his century by hitting Johnny Briggs
Johnny Briggs (cricketer)
Johnny Briggs was a left arm spin bowler for Lancashire County Cricket Club between 1879 and 1900 who still stands as the second-highest wicket-taker in the county's history after Brian Statham...
over the eastern gate and into the nearby park. This is the only time in Ashes Tests where a player has reached 100 with a hit out of the ground. During this innings, he also became the first player to hit a six in a Test in Australia (prior to 1910, a six was awarded only if the ball was hit out of the ground). He later also hit the first six in a Test in England. Returning to Sydney for the Fifth and final Test, Darling scored 160 runs from 253 scored in total. He batted for 165 minutes, hitting 30 boundaries
Boundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
as Australia successfully chased 273 in the fourth innings. His first 100 came in 91 minutes; at the time, the fastest Test century scored. By the end of the season, Darling became the first player to score 500 runs in a series and the first player to score three centuries in a series.
Captaincy
Billy Murdoch
William Lloyd Murdoch was an Australian cricketer, who captained the Australian team on tours to England in 1880, 1882 , 1884 and 1890...
in 1882." and that "Darling proved himself one of the very best captains that ever took a team into the field." The Australians lost only three of the 35 matches they played on the tour, winning 16 and another 16 finishing in draws. The only Test to reach a decisive result was the Second Test at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
, where Australia won by ten wickets due in part to centuries by Hill and Victor Trumper
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
and a ten wicket haul by fast bowler
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
Ernie Jones
Ernie Jones
Ernest Jones was an Australian sportsman, playing Test cricket and Australian rules football....
. Aside from Hill
Clem Hill
Clement "Clem" Hill was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five...
, Darling was seen by Wisden as the best batsman among the Australians. Wisden claimed, "Up to a certain point the responsibilities of captaincy seemed to tell against Darling, but during the last weeks of the tour he played marvellous cricket." Over the tour, he scored 1941 runs at an average of 41.29, topping both the averages and the aggregate for his team, and was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
.
Darling's deeds as a cricketer had reconciled his father to his sporting endeavours, but not to his sports store operation. In 1900, his father purchased "Stonehenge", a sheep station
Sheep station
A sheep station is a large property in Australia or New Zealand whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or south-west of the country. In New Zealand the Merinos are usually in the high country of the South...
covering 10000 acres (4,046.9 ha) in central Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
and ordered Darling to run the property on pain of exclusion from his will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
. Darling complied with his father's wishes and moved his family to the remote station, 34 kilometres (21.1 mi) along a dirt track from the nearest town, tiny Oatlands
Oatlands, Tasmania
Oatlands is an important historical village built on the shores of Lake Dulverton in the centre of Tasmania, Australia. Oatlands is located 84 km north of Hobart and 115 km south of Launceston on the Midland Highway...
. Darling stood out of first-class cricket for nearly two years.
It was not until December 1901 that Darling was convinced to return by the Melbourne Cricket Club
Melbourne Cricket Club
The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
to captain the Australians against the touring English for the first three Tests only. The English, captained by Archie MacLaren, won the First Test in Sydney convincingly by an innings and 124 runs. The Second Test in Melbourne was played on a rain-affected pitch. MacLaren won the toss
Coin flipping
Coin flipping or coin tossing or heads or tails is the practice of throwing a coin in the air to choose between two alternatives, sometimes to resolve a dispute between two parties...
and sent Australia in to bat on the "sticky wicket
Sticky wicket
Sticky wicket is a metaphor used to describe a difficult circumstance; it originates from difficult circumstances in the sport of cricket.-Origins:...
". Within three hours, both teams had been dismissed; Australia holding a lead on the first innings of 51 runs. Realising the danger the pitch held to his leading batsmen, Darling re-ordered the batting line-up and opened the batting himself alongside Hugh Trumble
Hugh Trumble
Hugh Trumble was an Australian cricketer who played 32 Test matches as a bowling all-rounder between 1890 and 1904. He captained the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wickets in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average of...
. The pair held out the English for 90 minutes; Darling considered his 32 runs one of his best innings . Nevertheless, Barnes managed to grab five wickets in the final half-hour to leave the Australians 5/48 when stumps was called. Twenty five wickets fell in the day's play. Importantly, Australia had a 99 run lead and batsmen of the calibre of Hill, Trumper, Reggie Duff
Reggie Duff
Reginald Alexander Duff was an Australian cricketer who played in 22 Tests between 1902 and 1905....
and Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Armstrong
Warwick Windridge Armstrong was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921 and was undefeated, winning eight Tests and drawing two...
still to bat. The next day, on a perfect pitch, the Australian batsmen established a match-winning lead, eventually winning the Test by 229 runs. In the Third Test in Adelaide, Australia became the first team to score over 300 runs to win the fourth innings of a Test match. Darling, along with Hill and Trumble, led the record making run chase; Darling scored 62 runs. Hugh Trumble captained the final two Tests as Darling returned to his farm. Australia won both Tests and the series to retain The Ashes.
Return to cricket
Darling agreed to once again lead the Australian cricket team in England in 1902Australian cricket team in England in 1902
The Australian cricket team toured England during the 1902 English cricket season. The five-Test series between the two countries has been fondly remembered; in 1967 the cricket writer A.A. Thomson described the series as "a rubber more exciting than any in history except the Australia v West...
. In what was a very cold and wet summer, the Australian team won a close fought series against the strong English team two Tests to one. Given the strength of the opposition, this Australian team is often referred to as one of the best Australian teams ever assembled. The team included players of the calibre of Trumper, Hill, Armstrong, Trumble and Monty Noble
Monty Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian...
; all of whom would be later included in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. The team lost only two matches during the tour, with Wisden saying, "No travelling team ever strove harder for victory or more completely subordinated all personal considerations to the prime object of winning matches. They formed a splendid all-round combination".
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
finished in a draw. Rain saved the Australians after they were dismissed for only 36 in their first innings; Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
took seven wickets for only 17 runs. Rain again ruined the Second Test at Lord's when the final two days were washed out. The Third Test, the only Test match played at Bramall Lane
Bramall Lane
-Cricket at the Lane:Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70. The site was then away from the town's industrial area, and relatively free from smoke. It was built to host the matches of local cricket...
, saw Australia win by 143 runs due in part to a century by Hill and Noble taking 5/51. Darling was dismissed twice by Barnes without scoring, the first Test captain to make a "pair". Australia won the Fourth Test at Old Trafford by three runs; Trumble took ten wickets for the match. The last batsman, Fred Tate
Fred Tate
Frederick William Tate was an English cricketer who played in one Test in 1902. This was the famous match at Old Trafford which England lost by 3 runs, and with it the series...
, came in with England needing eight runs to secure victory. Darling brought the field in and Trumble prevented Rhodes scoring from the last three balls of his over
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
. This left Tate to face Jack Saunders
Jack Saunders
John Victor Saunders was an Australian cricketer who played in 14 Tests from 1902 to 1908....
, who dismissed him with the fourth ball of his over to win the match for Australia. England won the Fifth and final Test at the Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
by one wicket. Chasing 263, England were 5/48 when Gilbert Jessop
Gilbert Jessop
Gilbert Laird Jessop was an English cricket player, often reckoned to have been the fastest run-scorer cricket has ever known, he was Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1898.Relations...
scored a century in 75 minutes to help England to victory.
The star for the Australians was Trumper who scored 2,570 runs, easily beating Darling's own record for a colonial batsman in an English season set in 1899. So important was Trumper to the Australian team that Darling, who had previously checked that all the Australians were on board the carriage to the ground, was later simply to ask "Is Vic aboard?" before giving the driver the go-ahead. Darling himself had a mixed tour with the bat.
On the return trip to Australia, the touring team stopped to play three Tests against South Africa, the first between the two nations. Australia won the series two Tests to nil, but Darling's own form was poor. In successive innings, Darling made 0, 14, 6, 4 and 1. After the tour, he returned to Stonehenge and took a two year break from first-class cricket. In his absence, Monty Noble captained the Australian team against the touring English in 1903–04.
Final tour and retirement
Before the Australian team to tour England in 1905 was selected, Darling returned to first-class cricket for South Australia. He won selection in the touring squad and was named as captain. A weaker Australian bowling attack saw Darling resort to defensive measures throughout the tour. These measures included directing Armstrong to bowl his leg breaksLeg spin
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin from right to left in the cricket pitch, at the point of delivery. When the ball bounces, the spin causes the ball to deviate sharply from right to left, that...
down the leg side, where Darling had placed up to seven fielders. These measures, unpopular with the English public, saw 19 matches on the tour finish in draws, three more than the 16 matches won by Australia. Wisden said, "Leaving aside Duff's long score at the Oval, Darling was the finest batsman on the side in the Test games, playing superb cricket under very trying conditions." At Old Trafford in the Fourth Test, he made 73 out of 105 in less than ninety minutes. His innings included thirteen boundaries
Boundary (cricket)
Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket:# the edge or boundary of the playing field, and# a manner of scoring runs.-Edge of the field:...
, all but one of them being drives. Despite his efforts, England still won the Test by an innings and 80 runs.
After losing six tosses against his English opposite number Stanley Jackson
Stanley Jackson
Sir Francis Stanley Jackson, GCSI, GCIE, PC, KStJ , known as the Honourable Stanley Jackson during his playing career, was an English cricketer, soldier and Conservative Party politician.-Early life:...
during the summer, Darling decided on a different approach before the Scarborough Festival
Scarborough Festival
The Scarborough Festival is an end of season series of cricket matches featuring Yorkshire County Cricket Club which has been held in Scarborough, on the east coast of Yorkshire, since 1876. The ground, at North Marine Road, sees large crowds of holiday makers watching a mixture of first class...
match late in the tour. At the toss, he approached Jackson stripped to the waist and suggested, in fun, a wrestle for choice of innings.
The 1905 tour was Darling's last Test cricket foray, as he claimed that continuing to tour was unfair to his wife. He retired from first-class cricket during the 1907–08 season. In his first-class career, Darling made 10635 runs, including 19 centuries at an average of 34.52. In club cricket in Adelaide, Joe scored heavily. He averaged 144 for East Torrens Cricket Club in 1899–1900, 98.66 for Adelaide Cricket Club
Adelaide Cricket Club
Adelaide Cricket Club or is a semi-professional cricket club in Adelaide, South Australia. It competes in the South Australian Grade Cricket League, which is administered by the South Australian Cricket Association...
in 1896–97 and 86.20 for Sturt Cricket Club
Sturt Cricket Club
The Sturt Cricket Club is a semi-professional cricket club in Adelaide, South Australia. It competes in the South Australian Grade Cricket League, which is administered by the South Australian Cricket Association ....
in 1904–05. He continued to make runs in Tasmanian club cricket right through middle age. In 1921, he made 100 runs in an hour, including 29 in one eight-ball over playing for Claremont Cricket Club. At age 52, he made 133 not out during a successful run chase where his team, Break-o'-Day, made 6/219 in 90 minutes.
He was contemptuous of the newly formed Australian Board of Control for International Cricket Matches
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket...
(now known as Cricket Australia), who he saw as attempting to remove control of international cricket tours from the players. He would often refer to cricket administrators as "Dead Heads". He later represented the Tasmanian Cricket Association as a delegate to the Board of Control.
Outside cricket
Rabbits in Australia
In Australia, rabbits are a serious mammalian pest and are an invasive species. Annually, European rabbits cause millions of dollars of damage to crops.-Effects on Australia's ecology:...
, an introduced pest then in plague proportions throughout Australia. He was an active member of organisations such as the Tasmanian Stock Holders and Orchardists' Association and the Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania
Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania
The Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania is a Tasmanian Agricultural society based at the Hobart Showgrounds. The RAS organises many of the agricultural shows around Tasmania including the Royal Hobart Show. Originally called the “Van Diemen's Land Agricultural Society” the society was the...
, the organising body of the Royal Hobart Show
Royal Hobart Show
The Royal Hobart Show is an annual event held at the Royal Showgrounds in Glenorchy in October. The event focuses on the rural exploits of Tasmanians with events such as livestock judging and wood chopping. Also popular at the event are show bags and rides....
. Darling imported South Australian merino
Merino
The Merino is an economically influential breed of sheep prized for its wool. Merinos are regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep...
rams to improve his flock, and his wool topped the Hobart sales on several occasions. He also introduced subterranean clover
Subterranean clover
Trifolium subterraneum, the Subterranean clover often shortened to sub clover, is a species of clover native to northwestern Europe, from Ireland east to Belgium...
to Tasmania.
In 1919, Darling moved from Stonehenge to Claremont House, around which the Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
suburb of Claremont
Claremont, Tasmania
Claremont is a suburb of the City of Glenorchy, part of the greater Hobart area, Tasmania, Australia. It is named after Claremont House, which was built in the 1830s by local settler Henry Bilton, who named it after one of the royal homes of England. Claremont was the home of an Army training...
later formed. He was elected to the Cambridge electorate in the Tasmanian Legislative Council
Tasmanian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the House of Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart...
in 1921 as an independent. He retained his position in the Parliament until his death in 1946. In Parliament, one of his colleagues was Charles Eady
Charles Eady
Charles John Eady was a cricketer who played for Tasmanian clubs and representative sides in the era before Tasmania was accepted into the Sheffield Shield and other competitions...
, his teammate from the 1896 tour of England. Darling was recognised by his colleagues as a forceful, no-nonsense speaker. In the 1930s, he won an exemption from land tax for small farmers, and toward the end of his parliamentary career, a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
was appointed to investigate charges Darling had made regarding maladministration. The findings of the commission, released after his death, saw a government Minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
and two others found guilty of accepting bribes. Darling was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(CBE) in 1938 in recognition of his work as a member of the Legislative Assembly.
Darling married Alice Minna Blanche Francis, a wheat farmer's daughter from Mundoora, South Australia
Mundoora, South Australia
Mundoora is a settlement in South Australia. In 1876, Mundoora was connected to Port Broughton by a horse drawn railway. This has since fallen into disuse. At the 2006 census, Mundoora had a population of 248.-References:...
in 1893. Together they raised 15 children: ten sons and five daughters. After surgery for a ruptured gall bladder, Darling died in Hobart on 2 January 1946. He was buried at Cornelian Bay
Cornelian Bay, Tasmania
Cornelian Bay is a small suburb in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It lies just north of the urban parkland, the Queens Domain. The bay itself is a safe anchorage for yacht owners.A waterfront restaurant and boathouses line the foreshore....
cemetery after a Congregationalist ceremony and was survived by his wife and twelve of his children.
Style and personality
Ernie Jones
Ernest Jones was an Australian sportsman, playing Test cricket and Australian rules football....
, an informal initiation into the team. To his team mates' surprise, Darling managed to defeat the much larger Jones.
The left-handed Darling was a strong driver of the ball who showed the batsman the full face of the bat. When necessary, he was a dour defender of his wicket. His fellow players thought that was sometimes unnecessarily defensive in his approach to batting and that he was at his best when driving hard. His South Australian and Australian team mate George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen 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 during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
thought that no Australian's cut shots travelled faster past point.
Darling had a strong personality and an independent outlook. Those who knew him well thought him destined to be a leader in whatever he undertook. He shunned strong drink and tobacco and found it difficult to tolerate overindulgence in alcohol. Normally even-tempered, he did show displeasure at the heckling from the crowd at Lord's at his obstinate defensive effort in the face of an Australian batting collapse. He was a stickler for fair play, but his actions against the English batsman KS Ranjitsinhji would today be seen as gamesmanship
Gamesmanship
Gamesmanship is the use of dubious methods to win a game. It has been described as "Pushing the rules to the limit without getting caught, using whatever dubious methods possible to achieve the desired end"...
. During the bowler's approach and after the bowler had looked at the field, the Australian fielders moved behind Ranjitsinhji's back. This worried the Indian prince when playing his leg glance and eventually saw him left out of the English team.
The journalist Ray Robinson
Ray Robinson (cricket writer)
Raymond John Robinson was an Australian journalist and author, best known for his writings on the sport of cricket. Born in Melbourne, Robinson attended Brighton State school and joined the Melbourne's The Herald as a copyboy. Given a cadetship with the paper, he reported on Australian football...
wrote that "of all Australian captains he came closest to being a disciplinarian". Regardless, his team mates continued to select him as captain, trusting in his knowledge and understanding of the game. On a wet day during the 1899 tour, a delay in play saw some of the Australians accept an invitation to the Player's
John Player & Sons
John Player & Sons, known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. It is today a part of the Imperial Tobacco Group.-History:...
tobacco factory in Nottingam. While away, the weather cleared and play began with Darling leading a team of five Australians and five substitutes onto the field. Darling later called a team meeting that saw the culprits fined ₤5 for breaching team rules. His approach to the hard-drinking Ernie Jones
Ernie Jones
Ernest Jones was an Australian sportsman, playing Test cricket and Australian rules football....
was similarly tough. To ensure that the fast bowler would not drink to excess, he selected Jones as twelfth man in a match against an English county team. When Jones refused to play, a team meeting saw him facing expulsion from the team. Darling spoke to him privately and made it clear that without an apology to his team mates and a promise to curb his drinking, he would be on the next boat bound for Australia. The firm and prompt action had a lasting effect on team discipline during his time as Australian captain. Wisden noted that "as a captain he inspired his men to reveal their best form." As a captain he was a reformer, suggesting rule changes that included making six runs the reward for clearing the boundary rather than the entire ground, and using of sawdust to fill holes in bowler's run-ups.
Test match performance