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Full name | Montague Alfred Noble | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Chinatown, Sydney, Australia |
28 January 1873|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 22 June 1940 Randwick, New South Wales, Australia |
(aged 67)|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | MA, Alf, Mary Ann | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting style | Right-hand batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling style | Right-arm medium pace | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1893–1919 | New South Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricInfo, 9 February 2008 |
Montague Alfred Noble (28 January 1873 – 22 June 1940) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian all-rounders. He scored 13,975 first class runs between 1893 and 1920 and took 624 wickets. He made 37 centuries – including a best of 284 in 1902 – and set several partnership and high-score records for his State team.
He played 42 Tests for his country, and captained the team for 15 of these between 1903 and 1909. Only the 12th captain of his country, he won eight of these games, lost five and drew two. Between his first Test in January 1898 and his last in August 1909, he scored 1,997 runs at 30.25 and took 121 wickets at 25.00. He complemented his only century, 133 in 1903, by scoring 16 half-centuries. Noble played 39 of his 42 Tests against England, and the other three against South Africa.
In later life, he coached and played for club level teams, including Paddington Cricket Club with which he had a long-standing connection throughout his career. He moved from banking to dentistry, and published his exegesis on cricket, Gilligan's Men. His elder brother, Ted Noble, also played briefly for New South Wales.
Noble was born in Sydney on 28 January 1873. He was the youngest of eight sons of Joseph and Maria Noble, who emigrated from Egham, Surrey, England. He "made a name" for himself in grade cricket with the Paddington club and first played for New South Wales (NSW) as a teenager. He toured New Zealand with NSW in 1893, and in 1894 scored a 152* against an England touring team under Andrew Stoddart which drew English attention to his batting. This cemented his place in the state side, and he was a significant contributor to NSW's consecutive Sheffield Shield victories in 1895-96 and 1896-97.