Warwick Armstrong

Warwick Armstrong is one of finest captains Australia has ever produced. Armstrong was the proud skipper of the 1920-21 Ashes team that thrashed visitors England 5-0 and thereby became the first team to whitewash England in an Ashes series. Making his first-class debut at the age of 19 with Victoria, Armstrong broke into the national side just 3 years later in 1902. However, his cricketing career was interrupted by the First World War from 1912-1920. Armstrong made his first Test century against South Africa in 1902 but had to wait six years for his second ton, this time against England in 1908. He ended his career with 6 Test centuries and 8 fifties. His most notable performance with the bat in international cricket came in the year 1921 when he scored back-to-back hundreds against the visiting English.

Armstrong had to wait for the end of the great war to take over captaincy. By then, he was over forty years but he ended his career by achieving something that not many have done. He won 8 out of the 10 Tests as captain, drawing two games, thereby becoming one of the few captains to end their career with an unbeaten record. Australia toured England in 1921 after drubbing them 5-0 at home and also won the away series 3-0. Impressed by his leadership skills, former England cricketer Frank Foster said, "I honestly think that Australia have got to thank one man, one man only for their success. That man is Warwick Armstrong, probably one of the best captains ever sent to England from Australia". Armstrong also got a warm reception after reaching home and also received a cheque of 2500 Australian pounds from the then Australian Prime Minister, Billy Hughes.

The 6 foot 3 inches tall Armstrong was primarily a leg-break bowler who could also bowl seam-up. His best bowling performance with the ball came at Lord's in 1909 when he rattled the English batsmen to claim 6 wickets for just 35 runs in their second innings. Eventually, he ended his 50-Test international career with 87 wickets. Armstrong had a better time with the ball at first-class level. He played 269 games and took a whopping 832 wickets at an average of 19.71 with the best coming against Nottinghamshire in 1902 picking up 8 wickets for 47 runs.

The fine all-rounder ended his cricketing career, a year later after quitting international cricket in 1922. During his playing days he also worked as a pavilion clerk at the Melbourne Cricket Club and later became an agent for a scotch-whisky distributor after retirement, apart from writing about cricket for a Sydney daily. After 68 years and 52 days, Armstrong was laid to rest in Sydney. He was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1903 and was also inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2000.

by MS Ramakrishnan