Thursday, March 25, 2010

Ron Hamence: The Oldest Test Cap - - Dies in Adelaide at The Age of 94


Hamence, who toured England with Sir Donald Bradman's legendary 1948 team without playing a Test, died at a nursing home in Adelaide on Wednesday night. He was 94.

"He was a lovely man with a great sense of humour," Denis Brien, cricket historian and president of Hamence's West Torrens club, said

Brien said Hamence suffered badly from arthritis in later life, but nursed his wife Nora until she died four years ago.

Hamence is survived by a daughter, Lynette Hallett.

Hamence, born in November 1915, while Australian soldiers were still at Gallipoli, never drove a car in his life.

He was an attacking batsman with brilliant footwork against slow bowlers.

"He once said he used to imagine there was no wicketkeeper, and that he and the bowler were the only two in the game," Brien said.

Hamence made his debut against England in 1947 and played three Tests, with a top score of 30 not out. He had the distinction of making a century in his first and last first-class matches for South Australia.

His death leaves Sam Loxton, 88, Arthur Morris, 88, and Neil Harvey, 81, as the only survivors of the team that toured England undefeated to mark the end of Bradman's career.

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