#33: Victor Trumper
A beloved batting genius, Vic's modesty as a man transcended even his magnificence as a player
By Angus Fontaine
Even 93 years after he died in great pain of Bright's disease aged just 37, Victor Trumper's name lives on - in the form of the new Sydney Cricket Ground grandstand dedicated to his memory last week - but mostly in the poetic souls of cricket connoisseurs for whom he remains the ultimate batting immortal.
The enigma of Trumper stems largely from the rhapsody of those who saw him play. Yet to look at his playing record and judge him by the numbers was, as one scribe put it, like trying to measure the beauty of a Mozart sonata by adding up all the notes. He had no style, but was all style. "On every sort of wicket against every type of bowler, Trumper enhanced the eye, inspired his side, demoralised his enemies and made run-getting appear the easiest thing in the world," wrote another.
It had always been so. Grandson of a hatter and son of a boot clicker, Trumper was a "short, spare, narrow-shouldered boy" who cultivated his talent in the back-streets of Surry Hills and Paddington, a cover drive from the SCG itself. He once batted for six straight weeks in the schoolyard of Crown Street High. When his father asked him how school was, Vic chirped: "I'm still in!"
After cracking the NSW team at 17, Trumper was exiled for two years. When he returned it was with scores of 82, 123, 125, 85, 120, 133 and 162, finishing the season with an average of 204.20. It earned him late inclusion on the Australian team's 1899 tour of England where, in his second Test, he stroked a masterly 135 which won the match. He followed it a fortnight later with the first triple century by an Australian in England.
Trumper's phenomena as a batsman transcended the playing field even then. When he emerged from a London music hall and spotted a boy shivering in the rain selling sheet music, he went over, bought the boy's entire stock and sent him home flush. "If there was a bad seat on a train, he was in it," said a teammate. "If the sleeping compartment happened to be over the wheels, once could be sure that Victor would change his place to take it. He was always helping someone."
Except bowlers. In 1902, Trumper's wizardry hit unparalleled heights when he scored the first century before lunch in a Test, a chanceless 103 at Old Trafford. Ten days on, he became the first man to make two centuries in one match. A legend grew. "His swift and apparent daring, the audacity of his prancing footwork, were governed by technique of rare accuracy and range," wrote one. The better the bowling and the worse the wicket, the greater Trumper's genius rose to the challenge. Wisden acclaimed him "the best batsman in the world" yet his self-effacement held that, despite 11 tons on tour, he showed no interest in kicking on beyond 128 - he made his runs, then got out to give others a go.
Already a deity in England, Trumper stamped himself into Sydney folklore by crashing 335 in 180 minutes for Paddington at Redfern Oval on 31 January 1903. One towering hit broke a window three storeys up. For 70 years after it was left as is, in tribute. A young man who dismissed him for a duck that golden summer said: "I felt like a boy who had killed a dove."
A teetotaller and non-smoker, Trumper married Sarah Ann Briggs and moved to Chatswood in 1904, the same year he opened a Market Street sports store he soon sent bust by giving away most of his stock. Such a fate befell the bat with which he scored his incredible 185 at Sydney in 1903 - sold to a young fan half-price.
Charity, like batting, was second nature to Trumper. He always arrived early to games and, with pockets full of loose change, handed out pennies to urchins hoping to buy tickets. Those that made it in got a show few forgot. Once, a young braggart called him "overrated". Trumper blocked the first ball then spanked the next 10 clear out of the ground.
But this angel in white had a shadow over him. Always tinged by sickness, Trumper's health worsened as the 20th century wore on.
While speckled with brilliance, the remainder of Vic's career was hampered with sickness. He conjured pristine form to welcome South Africa's first tour in 1911, stroking 159 and 214 not out to top the averages with 94.43 and a last great effort came in Christchurch in 1914 where, over 293 runs in 178 minutes, "his glory shone for one last moment with an unearthly brilliance." Incandescent as he was, Vic achieved these feats in odd socks, mud-spattered and crumpled shirts and wielding a battered blade he'd rubbed with broken glass for grip.
Trumper died in St Vincents Hospital this week 93 years ago, and his death knocked war off front pages and halted the nation cold. The funeral procession that followed remains the largest in Sydney's history. Every living first class cricketer fit and able lined the procession route from Chatswood to Waverley Cemetery via Bennelong Point to farewell him. But it was the people who wept most. A great man and glorious hero - the dreamer of all their dreams - was dead.
Lifeline
1877 Born in Surry Hills, son of a boot-clicker
1899 Debuts for Australia on record-breaking tour of England.
1902 First man to score a century before lunch, rated "best batsman in world" by Wisden
1903 Hits 185 in Sydney v England and a fable-esque 335 in Redfern
1908 Becomes first treasurer of Rugby League
1909 Opens new sports store near Wynyard Station, goes broke
1914 Plays his last game, soon hospitalised
1915 Dies June 28, buried after biggest funeral in Sydney history
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