Waite Mervyn Image 2 South Australia 1938

Description

Kent Town, Adelaide, South Australia born all rounder Mervyn Waite was a hard-hitting right-handed batsman and right-arm off-spin and medium pace bowler who set a record for the highest score in Adelaide District cricket competition when he made 339 in 434 minutes out of West Torrens’s total of 492 at The Adelaide Oval in March 1936. He made his State debut for South Australia in 1930-31, and took a hat-trick against E.R.T. Holmes’ visiting M.C.C team at The Adelaide Oval in November 1935.

He played two Tests for Australia on the 1938 tour of England at Leeds and The Oval and opened the bowling. At The Oval, where England made 903-7 declared, his analysis was 72-16-150-1, the wicket being that of Denis Compton, bowled for 1 after coming in when the score was 547-4. As only 8 runs had been added since Eddie Paynter was lbw to Tiger O’Reilly without scoring, the Australians might have viewed this as a breakthrough but for the presence of Len Hutton at the other end.

On the tour, Waite did well enough as an allrounder without making himself indispensable to score 684 runs with an average of 25.33, taking 56 wickets at 25.96. At Bramall Lane, on a pitch affected by rain, he took his career best 7-101 in Yorkshire’s first innings with a mixture of swing and off-spin, securing him a place in the Headingley Test. He did not take a wicket at Headingley, but his partnership of 37, of which he scored 3, for the seventh wicket with Don Bradman saw Australia edge ahead on the first innings and helped Bradman move towards his third century in successive Test innings on the ground. Australia won this match to retain The Ashes.

In 1939-40, as South Australia compiled 821-7 declared against Queensland, he scored 137, the only first class hundred of his career, and added 281 with Jack Badcock in a record fifth wicket partnership for the State. It was also against Queensland, after the War, that he made his last appearance, finishing with memorable figures of 4-11 as Queensland scored 101 to win by five wickets.

In all first class cricket, 103 matches from 1930-31 till 1945-46, Waite scored 3,888 runs with an average of 27.77 with 23 half centuries in addition to his single hundred, and took 192 wickets at 31.61 with a best of 7-101, taking 5 five wicket hauls, holding 66 catches in first class play.

Waite was also a leading Australian rules footballer in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), first at West Torrens then Glenelg, the combined Glenelg/West Adelaide Second World War side, and finally with South Adelaide. In total he played 142 league games, kicking 343 goals, and was the leading goalkicker at West Torrens in 1931, 1932 and 1934.

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