Brian Hurn

Brian Hurn

Personal information
Born	(1939-03-04)4 March 1939 Angaston, Australia
Died	18 October 2015(2015-10-18) (aged 76) Angaston, Australia
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium fast
Role	All-rounder
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1957/58–1966/67	South Australia
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 31 Runs scored 842 Batting average 21.05 100s/50s 0/2 Top score 79* Balls bowled 4132 Wickets 56 Bowling average 37.91 5 wickets in innings 2 10 wickets in match 0 Best bowling 5/62 Catches/stumpings 22/–
Source: Cricinfo, 8 November 2015

Brian Morgan Hurn OAM (4 March 1939 – 18 October 2015) was an Australian first-class cricketer and politician who served as Mayor of Barossa Council.

Early life

Born in Angaston in the Barossa Valley of South Australia, Hurn first came to attention when he scored an unbeaten 108 in the inaugural Country Schoolboys Carnival in 1952. He attended the prestigious Prince Alfred College in Adelaide.

Sports career

Hurn played first for the South Australian Colts side in the South Australian Grade Cricket League (the level below first-class cricket in South Australia) before switching to Kensington Cricket Club. He made his first-class cricket debut for South Australia on 1 November 1957, against Western Australia at the Adelaide Oval, scoring thirty and zero and taking three wickets for 67 runs (3/67) and 1/30. Hurn was still living in the Barossa at the time and was the last player living outside Adelaide to picked for the South Australian side until Rick Darling. in 1975.

Described as "a fast-medium bowler with a side-on action", Hurn's best moment came in December 1958 when he took 5/62 against the touring English side, including leading batsmen Ted Dexter, Colin Cowdrey and Tom Graveney.

Hurn continued to play for South Australia intermittently over the next decade, playing his final first-class match on 13 January 1967, against Queensland at the Gabba, making an unbeaten 79 (his highest first-class score) and four and taking 0/11. Following the end of his first-class career, he continued to play for Kensington until his retirement in the 1977/78 season. In all Hurn scored 4358 runs in Grade cricket at 21.79 and took 615 wickets at 16.93.

Hurn also played Australian rules football for the Angaston Football Club in the Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association, winning the Mail Medal for the competition's best player.

Political career

Hurn later served as Mayor of Barossa Council from 1996 to 2014. He was awarded a National Medal in 1994 "for diligent long service to the community in hazardous circumstances", a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1999 "for service to local government through the Barossa Council, and to the community of Angaston", an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 "for service to Country and Metropolitan Football and SANFL Clubs" and a Centenary Medal in 2001 "for service to the community through local government at regional and state levels."

Family

Hurn's son William played 135 games for Central District Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and his grandson Shannon Hurn currently captains West Coast in the Australian Football League (AFL). His granddaughter Ashton Hurn was elected to state parliament as the member for Schubert at the 2022 South Australian state election.

Sources

• Page, R. (1984) South Australian Cricketers 1877-1984, Association of Cricket Statisticians: Retford, Nottinghamshire.
• Sando, G. (1997) Grass Roots, South Australian Cricket Association: Adelaide. ISBN 1 86254 435 2.
• Sexton, M. (2017) Chappell's Last Stand, Affirm Press: Melbourne. ISBN 9781925584424.

External links

• Brian Hurn at ESPNcricinfo