42 Facts About Merv Harvey

Mervyn Roye Harvey was a cricketer who played in one Test match for Australia in 1947.

Merv Harvey then served in the Royal Australian Air Force as an airframe fitter, losing his best cricketing years to the war.

An opening batsman, Merv Harvey was described by Neil as "the greatest cricketer of us all" and known for his attacking style and penchant for hooking fast bowlers.

Merv Harvey made 12 and 31 before being dropped immediately due to Barnes' recovery.

Merv Harvey retired at the end of the season, having played only 22 first-class matches in an interrupted career.

Merv Harvey captained his state five times during the post-war phase of his career, standing in when regular captain Lindsay Hassett was away on national duty.

Merv Harvey was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales to Horace "Horrie" and Elsie Harvey.

Merv Harvey was the second child in the family and the oldest son.

Merv Harvey himself played for the Rita Social Club after moving to Fitzroy.

Much of the batting skill displayed by the Merv Harvey brothers has been attributed to these games played on the unpredictable bounce of the bumpy laneway.

Merv Harvey was the first of the brothers to attend the nearby George Street State School and join the Fitzroy Cricket Club as they reached their early teens.

All of the Merv Harvey brothers were recipients were of this medal.

In 1932, Merv Harvey captained the Victorian Under-15 schoolboys team on a tour of Queensland and one of his players was future Victorian and Australian teammate Keith Miller.

Merv Harvey was run out for four in the first innings and then made eight as his team succumbed to a 227-run defeat.

Merv Harvey made 14 in the first innings, bowled by O'Reilly for the second innings in a row.

Merv Harvey enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force at Fitzroy on 12 May 1942 and was a member of the 30 Squadron.

Merv Harvey served as an airframe fitter during World War II, which severely interrupted his sporting career, and first-class cricket was cancelled after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor prompted the outbreak of hostilities in the Pacific.

Merv Harvey was discharged on 25 January 1946 with the rank of aircraftman.

Jacobs believed that Merv Harvey would have been selected for Australia in the period otherwise interrupted by war.

Merv Harvey responded by striking a career-best 163 to help his team to an innings win.

Merv Harvey then made 57 before being dismissed by Alec Bedser as the hosts fell for only 204 in pursuit of 449 for victory, losing by 244 runs.

Rain curtailed the match, and the game did not reach the second innings; Merv Harvey made 22 in his only opportunity.

Merv Harvey could manage only 9 as Victoria amassed 548 in their first innings.

Merv Harvey made 13 in an innings victory over Queensland and continued to be overlooked.

Merv Harvey went on to make 136 in what was generally regarded as his best innings.

Merv Harvey famously hooked leading Australian paceman Ray Lindwall, the fastest in the world at the time, over the fence into the public bar for six.

Merv Harvey made 30 and 44, failing to capitalise on his starts to make a big score with a Test vacancy beckoning; incumbent opener Sid Barnes was injured and unavailable for the Fourth Test.

Nevertheless, Merv Harvey was selected to play his only Test, the Fourth Test at Adelaide, filling in for the injured Barnes.

Merv Harvey opened with Arthur Morris, and made 12 in the first innings before being bowled by Bedser while playing an aggressive shot.

The target was not a realistic offer and Morris and Merv Harvey put on an opening stand of 116 before the latter was bowled for 31 by the medium pace of occasional bowler Norman Yardley.

Merv Harvey ended his season by scoring 10 in his only innings of Victoria's second tour match against England, which was drawn, and was 3 not out in the first innings of the Shield match against South Australia when it was washed out.

Merv Harvey made his captaincy debut in the latter match as Lindsay Hassett was representing Australia in the Fifth Test, and his bowlers dismissed South Australia for 222 in Victoria's only innings in the field.

Merv Harvey was overlooked for the Australian XI for the Test trial against India the following week.

Merv opened and made 45 as Victoria ended with 331; the Harvey brothers had scored almost half the runs.

Ray and Merv Harvey put on an unbeaten partnership of 27 to take Victoria to a nine-wicket win.

The trio then proceeded to play together in the next match against Western Australia two weeks later and Merv Harvey captained the team as Hassett was away on Test duty.

One run later, Merv Harvey was out for 141 in what turned out to be his final first-class century; later, Ray made only 1.

Victoria only batted once in each innings and Merv Harvey made 7 and 36 respectively.

Merv Harvey was an attacking opening batsman, strong on the drive and fond of hooking fast bowling.

Merv Harvey worked for more than five decades for the same engineering firm, and lived with his wife Myrtle in the western industrial suburb of Footscray.

Merv Harvey had two sons, Jeff and Graeme, both of whom played in first grade for Fitzroy.

Merv Harvey was a member of the All-Australian team eight times and won the Brownlow Medal twice, in 1997 and 1998, for the best and fairest player.