Whiz Morris
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Harold Marsh Morris | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 16 April 1898 Wanstead, Essex, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 18 November 1984 (aged 86) Brighton, Sussex, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Whiz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1919–1932 | Essex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 21 July 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Harold Marsh "Whiz" Morris (16 April 1898 – 18 November 1984) was an English amateur cricketer. He played for Essex between 1919 and 1932 and was captain of the team between 1929 and 1932.[1]
Morris was educated at Repton School, where he captained the First XI, and Cambridge University, where he was unable to find a place in the cricket team.[2] He was a regular member of the Essex side in the 1920s, batting usefully and fielding superbly.[2] In 1927 he scored 143 against Somerset[3] and, a couple of weeks later, 166 against Hampshire, when he added 233 in 140 minutes for the fourth wicket with Jack Russell.[2]
Although Morris played only three matches in 1928, the Essex committee chose him to captain the team for the 1929 season, replacing Johnny Douglas. The 46-year-old Douglas opposed the appointment on the grounds that Morris was unqualified both as a cricketer and a captain, but Morris captained the team with reasonable success for the next three seasons.[2] In 1930 the county finished sixth in the County Championship, owing in part to the "infectious enthusiasm" of Morris's captaincy.[4] Although he was appointed captain for the 1932 season he was unavailable for all but two matches, and resigned the captaincy. His Wisden obituary described him as a batsman as "a good stylist, who drove and cut well, [who] looked at his best capable of more than he in fact accomplished".[2]
References
[edit]- ^ "Whiz Morris". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Wisden 1987, p. 1244.
- ^ "Somerset v Essex 1927". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
- ^ The Cricketer Annual 1930-31, p. 18.
External links
[edit]- Whiz Morris at ESPNcricinfo
- Whiz Morris at CricketArchive (subscription required)
- 1898 births
- 1984 deaths
- People educated at Repton School
- English cricketers
- Essex cricketers
- Alumni of the University of Cambridge
- Cambridge University cricketers
- People from Wanstead
- Cricketers from the London Borough of Redbridge
- Essex cricket captains
- English cricketers of 1919 to 1945
- L. H. Tennyson's XI cricket team