Arthur Morris, member of Don Bradman’s ‘Invincibles’, passes away at 93

Morris was considered by Don Bradman as the greatest left-handed batsman ever.

Former Australian cricketer Arthur Morris passed away at the age of 93 on Saturday. Morris represented Australia in 46 Tests, scoring 3,533 runs at an average of 46.48. He was part of the famed 1948 ‘Invincibles’ team and was considered by the late Don Bradman as “the best left-handed batsman he had ever seen.” Morris was later inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame with Bill Woodfull in 2001. Among the various other honours that were bestowed upon him was his inclusion as the opener alongside South African legend Barry Richards in Bradman’s selection of his greatest team in Test history. He was until his death the oldest living Australian Test cricketer and the third-oldest surviving Test cricketer. With Morris’s passing away, Neil Harvey remains the only living member of the ‘Invincibles’. Len Maddocks, on the other hand, is now Australia’s oldest living Test cricketer. READ: Arthur Morris, one of the greatest left-handers of all time

Cricket Australia extends its deepest sympathies to the Morris family following the sad passing of Test legend Arthur, aged 93. Vale.

— Cricket Australia (@CAComms) August 21, 2015

Born in Bondi, an eastern suburb of Sydney, in 1922, Morris moved around the state of New South Wales as a teenager before ultimately settling down in Sydney. He was only 18 years old when he slammed 148 and 111 during the Boxing Day match between New South Wales and Queensland in the Sheffield Shield match. His Test debut was delayed due to the Second World War, and he had to wait until the 1946-47 season to earn his cap.

Morris went on to seal himself in cricket history during Australia’s successful Ashes campaign of 1948, in which he collected 696 runs from nine innings at a staggering average of 87, overshadowing the greatest batsman of all time by a margin of nearly 200 runs.Morris was also famously standing at the non-striker’s end when Bradman was bowled for a duck by Eric Hollies in the final innings of his career in the last Test at the Oval. Bradman’s duck overshadowed Morris’s 196, which played a central part in Australia’s innings and 149-run victory that completed their 4-0 annihilation of their arch-rivals. READ: Don Bradman was very conscious of being a role model, said Arthur Morris

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