Robert Neil Harvey was born on 8 October 1928 and is an Australian former cricketer who was a member of the Australian cricket team between 1948 and 1963, playing in 79 Test matches.
198 Facts About Neil Harvey
2.
Neil Harvey was the vice-captain of the team from 1957 until his retirement.
3.
An attacking left-handed batsman, sharp fielder and occasional off-spin bowler, Harvey was the senior batsman in the Australian team for much of the 1950s and was regarded by Wisden as the finest fielder of his era.
4.
One of six cricketing brothers, four of whom represented Victoria, Neil Harvey followed his elder brother Merv into Test cricket and made his debut in January 1948, aged 19 and three months.
5.
Neil Harvey was the youngest member of the 1948 Invincibles of Don Bradman to tour England, regarded as one of the finest teams in history.
6.
In 1957, Neil Harvey was passed over for the captaincy and was named as the deputy of Ian Craig, who had played just six matches, as Australia sought to rebuild the team with a youth policy following a decline in the team.
7.
Craig later offered to demote himself due to poor form, but Neil Harvey prevented him from doing so.
8.
At any rate, Craig fell ill the following season, but Neil Harvey had moved interstate, so Richie Benaud was promoted to the captaincy ahead of him.
9.
Neil Harvey continued in the deputy's role until the end of his career, but he was captain for only one Test match.
10.
Neil Harvey was best known for his extravagant footwork and flamboyant stroke play, as well as his fielding.
11.
In 2009, Neil Harvey was one of the 55 inaugural inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
12.
Neil Harvey was the fifth of six boys born to Horace Neil Harvey.
13.
Neil Harvey played his first game aged nine as a wicket-keeper in the North Fitzroy Central School team, the average age of which was 14.
14.
At the start of the season, Neil Harvey was selected for a trial match.
15.
The Victorian state team played against the Rest of Victoria, and Neil Harvey represented the latter.
16.
Neil Harvey made 18 in his only innings during his first-class debut against Tasmania.
17.
Neil Harvey said that his effort was inspired by elder brother Merv, who gained Test selection in the same year.
18.
At the time, Tasmania was not part of Sheffield Shield, and Neil Harvey made his Shield debut against New South Wales.
19.
Neil Harvey was dismissed without scoring in the first innings before making 49 in the second innings in an emphatic 298-run win over their arch-rivals.
20.
Neil Harvey dominated a partnership of 120, making 69 in his second match against the guileful leg spin of Doug Wright.
21.
Neil Harvey's opponents had no doubt that he would become a Test player.
22.
Neil Harvey ended his debut first-class season with 304 runs at 50.66.
23.
Merv had already gained Test selection, but soon Neil Harvey was attracting more attention.
24.
Neil Harvey was selected for an Australian XI, which played the Indians before the Tests in what was effectively a dress rehearsal.
25.
Neil Harvey made 32 in the first innings and was unbeaten on 56 in the second as the hosts succumbed for 203 and suffered a 47-run loss.
26.
Neil Harvey reached 35 in each of his next five innings for Victoria, including two fifties.
27.
Three months after his 19th birthday, Neil Harvey made his entry into international cricket, in the last two Tests against India.
28.
Neil Harvey batted at No 6 and made 13 in his only innings on debut in the Fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval as Australia swept to an innings victory.
29.
Neil Harvey brought up the mark with an all run five, having turned a short ball from Lala Amarnath towards the square leg boundary.
30.
The innings in replacing Bradman was taken to be symbolism of the fact that Neil Harvey had been tipped to become Australia's leading batsman.
31.
Neil Harvey had scored 733 runs at 52.36 for the season.
32.
At first, Neil Harvey struggled in the English conditions, failing to pass 25 in his first six innings.
33.
Neil Harvey had scored a solitary run when he hit a ball to Len Hutton at short leg, who dived forwards and grabbed it with both hands before dropping it.
34.
Neil Harvey was reprieved on 12; he charged the bowling but the wicketkeeper fumbled the stumping opportunity.
35.
Neil Harvey then hit the winning runs with a six over the sightscreen, ending unbeaten on 18 not out.
36.
The omission signified that Neil Harvey was on the outer with regards to Test selection.
37.
Neil Harvey was batting well enough and simply getting out early.
38.
Neil Harvey scored 36 and 76 not out against Lancashire at Manchester and an unbeaten 100 at Hove against Sussex in only 115 minutes in the last match before the First Test.
39.
Neil Harvey was the 12th man because of his fielding abilities, and spent a large proportion of time on the field due to an injury to pace spearhead Ray Lindwall.
40.
Neil Harvey forced his way into the team with a scoring sequence of 49,56,43,73* and 95.
41.
Neil Harvey then scored 43 and 73 against Surrey and had taken a catch amongst a flock of pigeons.
42.
Neil Harvey volunteered to play as a makeshift opener and promised Bradman that he would reach the target quickly.
43.
Neil Harvey ended unbeaten on 73 and the Australians arrived at Wimbledon on time.
44.
Neil Harvey then added 95 against Gloucestershire, attacking the off spin of Tom Goddard.
45.
Neil Harvey's knock had taken 177 minutes and included 14 fours.
46.
Neil Harvey was eventually out for 112 from 183 balls, bowled by Laker while playing a cross-batted sweep.
47.
Neil Harvey's shot selection prompted Bradman to throw his head back in disappointment.
48.
Neil Harvey ended as the first Australian left-hander to score a century on his Ashes debut, in an innings noted for powerful driving on both sides of the wicket.
49.
Neil Harvey had only one more innings in the series, scoring 17 in the Fifth and final Test at The Oval where Australia won by an innings.
50.
Neil Harvey added centuries in consecutive matches after the Tests against Somerset and the South of England.
51.
Neil Harvey was an acrobatic fielder, regarded as the best in the Australian team.
52.
Fingleton said that Neil Harvey was "by far the most brilliant fieldsman of both sides, who was to save many runs in the field".
53.
Neil Harvey was twelfth man in the early Tests because of his fielding and he took several acclaimed catches throughout the tour.
54.
Neil Harvey scored 72 and 75 in Victoria's totals of 165 and 197 as they lost to arch-rivals New South Wales by 88 runs, but his only other score beyond 50 was an 87 for Lindsay Hassett's XI in a Test trial at the end of the season.
55.
Neil Harvey was forced to shoulder more responsibility in the batting order now that Bradman had retired and Sid Barnes took an extended break.
56.
The youngest player in the team, Neil Harvey rose to the challenge by establishing several Australian records.
57.
Neil Harvey started the tour well and was highly productive in seven first-class matches leading into the Tests.
58.
Neil Harvey scored 100 and 145 not out against North Eastern Transvaal and Orange Free State.
59.
Neil Harvey then made an even 100 in the second match, a week before the First Test.
60.
Neil Harvey had scored 480 runs at 60.00 in the matches leading up to the Tests.
61.
Neil Harvey then scored 23 not out to guide Australia to an eight-wicket victory in the second innings.
62.
On 40, a ball from Tufty Mann broke through his defence and Neil Harvey thought himself bowled, only to see that the ball had goven for byes.
63.
However, Mann and Tayfield began to tire in the heat and Neil Harvey began to score more quickly, reaching 50 in 137 minutes by the lunch break.
64.
Neil Harvey registered his slowest ever century on his way to guiding his team to an improbable victory by five wickets.
65.
Neil Harvey brought up the winning runs by clipping a ball from Mann to the midwicket boundary.
66.
Neil Harvey continued his productive sequence in the Fourth Test in Johannesburg, scoring an unbeaten 56 and 100 in a drawn match.
67.
Neil Harvey had amassed four centuries in consecutive Tests in the series and had scored six in his first nine Tests, totally 959 runs at 106.55.
68.
Neil Harvey's fast scoring made him a crowd favourite and marketing drawcard in South Africa.
69.
When Neil Harvey was rested for a tour match in East London, media complaints prompted Australian selectors to reverse their decision.
70.
Neil Harvey finished the season with 55 in an Australian total of 55 before the tourists dismissed a South African XI for 49 and 90 to complete an innings victory.
71.
Neil Harvey had trouble with Alec Bedser's in-swingers in the early part of the series and Bedser was the only Englishman to dismiss Neil Harvey in the first three Tests.
72.
The Second Test in Melbourne was low scoring; Neil Harvey made 42 and 31 as Australia won after neither team passed 200.
73.
Neil Harvey performed steadily through the series, with 39,43 and 68 in the next two Tests, which were both won.
74.
Neil Harvey then made one and 52 in the Fifth Test defeat; it was the first in his 14 Tests and Australia's first since World War II and came on his home ground in Melbourne.
75.
Outside the Tests, Neil Harvey scored 141 in a win over South Australia and then added 146 in the second innings of a match against New South Wales to stave off defeat.
76.
Neil Harvey ended the season with 1099 runs at 45.79.
77.
Neil Harvey had difficulties in dealing with the dual spin bowling combination of Alf Valentine and Sonny Ramadhin, who bowled left arm orthodox and leg spin respectively and accounted for him six times in the Tests.
78.
Neil Harvey's only fifty was an 83 in the first innings of the Fourth Test in Melbourne.
79.
Neil Harvey had a poor season overall, scoring only 551 first-class runs at 32.41 without managing a single century.
80.
Neil Harvey top-scored in the first innings and was the second top-score in the second.
81.
Neil Harvey then top-scored with 190 in the Third Test in Sydney to set up a large first innings lead of 270 and an innings victory.
82.
Neil Harvey alone made more than his opponents in the first innings and the innings saw him complete 1000 Test runs against the South Africans in only eight Tests.
83.
Neil Harvey made it consecutive centuries in as many matches, with 84 and 116 in Adelaide.
84.
Neil Harvey took his first of three wickets at Test level, that of Russell Endean as a depleted Australian attack could not defeat the visitors who finished seven wickets down.
85.
Neil Harvey compiled his third consecutive century and highest Test score of 205 as Australia amassed 520 in the first innings.
86.
Neil Harvey accumulated 834 Test runs at 92.66 in the series.
87.
Neil Harvey totalled 1,659 runs at 63.81 for the season, the second highest tally for a season in Australian history, just 31 runs behind Bradman's record.
88.
However, Neil Harvey muttered "I wouldn't want to break a record that way" and managed only 13.
89.
Neil Harvey made 2,040 at 65.80 and his ten centuries were twice that of the next best in the side.
90.
Neil Harvey started the first-class campaign with an unbeaten 202 against Leicestershire, setting up an innings victory.
91.
Neil Harvey struck 109 against the Minor Counties, 103 against Lancashire, 82 and 137 not out against Sussex and 109 against Hampshire.
92.
However, in the First Test at Trent Bridge, Neil Harvey had a duck and two and falling twice to Bedser as Australia hung on for a draw in a rain-affected contest.
93.
Neil Harvey added a second century in as many innings with 118 in an innings win over Northamptonshire.
94.
Neil Harvey then struck 122 in the rain affected Third Test at Manchester; he helped Australia take a 42-run first innings lead, but was out for a duck in the second innings.
95.
Neil Harvey then returned to Headingley, the venue of his famous innings five years earlier.
96.
Neil Harvey quickly scored 34 at a run a minute, and Australia had made 111 in 75 minutes and were on schedule for a win.
97.
The match ended in a draw, and Neil Harvey described Bailey's tactics as "absolutely disgusting".
98.
Neil Harvey scored 346 runs at 34.60 for the series; in a low-scoring series, this placed him second behind captain Lindsay Hassett.
99.
Neil Harvey failed to pass 41 in the four first-class matches remaining after the Tests.
100.
Neil Harvey scored 639 runs at 42.60, including a century against New South Wales and four fifties.
101.
Neil Harvey had a few near-misses during the season; he scored 97 against Queensland in two matches and made 88 against South Australia.
102.
Neil Harvey stood firm while Tyson scattered the stumps of his partners, and he farmed the strike ruthlessly, protecting the tailenders and counter-attacking the England fast bowlers, relying on the cut shot and clipping anything on his pads through the leg side.
103.
Neil Harvey continued to attack the bowling, and he hooked Tyson over fine leg's head for four.
104.
Neil Harvey had played what many observers thought was the greatest innings of his life, a defiant, unbeaten 92, exactly half of the Australian innings of 184 in which no other batsmen reached 15.
105.
Neil Harvey ended with 354 runs at 44.25 for the series.
106.
Neil Harvey scored a pair of 62s in a 36-run win over New South Wales, 95 and 66 against Queensland and 82 and 47 in a match for a Tasmania Combined XI against England.
107.
Neil Harvey began with two consecutive centuries, scoring exactly 133 in both the First and Second Tests at Kingston and Port-of-Spain respectively.
108.
Neil Harvey totalled 650 runs at 108.33 for the series.
109.
Neil Harvey had expunged his demons that he experienced against Ramadhin and Valentine in the previous series.
110.
Neil Harvey struck 128 and 76 against a New South Wales team composed mainly of Test players, but Victoria's arch-rivals hung on for a draw with three wickets in hand.
111.
Neil Harvey added two further centuries and a 96, and all of these innings came in the span of a month in which he amassed 612 runs.
112.
Neil Harvey began to run into some form after that, scoring 45 against Cambridge University before the match against the Marylebone Cricket Club, which fielded a virtual England Test team in what was effectively a dress rehearsal for the Tests.
113.
Neil Harvey then made a duck and ten as Australia took the series lead in the Second Test at Lord's.
114.
Neil Harvey made 11 as Australia were bowled out for 143 and forced to follow on in the Third Test played on a turning pitch at Headingley.
115.
Neil Harvey then contributed 69 of 140 in the second innings of the Third Test at Headingley, when the rest of the team struggled to deal with Laker and Lock, who spun England to an innings victory.
116.
However, Neil Harvey was unable to repeat his defiant form over the next three weeks.
117.
The Fourth Test in Manchester was the low point, when Neil Harvey managed a pair, falling both times to Laker, who took a world record 19 wickets.
118.
The debacle at Old Trafford was part of a three-week trough during which Neil Harvey scored only 11 runs, including three consecutive ducks in a 17-day period that yielded not a solitary run.
119.
Neil Harvey then returned to productivity with 145 against Warwickshire and added a further half-century in the remaining matches.
120.
Neil Harvey compiled 197 runs at 19.70 in five Tests with two half centuries.
121.
Such was the dominance of the Laker-Lock-led attack that Neil Harvey was Australia's fifth-highest runscorer in the Tests and fourth in the first-class matches.
122.
Neil Harvey failed to pass double figures in a one-off Test against Pakistan in Karachi, the first between the two countries.
123.
Neil Harvey ended with 253 runs at 63.25 for the series.
124.
Neil Harvey replaced Johnson as Victorian captain and was the logical choice as successor to the Test captaincy, as the most experienced member of the team.
125.
Neil Harvey was surprisingly overlooked for the captaincy, which went to Ian Craig, who had replaced Miller as New South Wales skipper.
126.
The day after the captaincy announcement, the Neil Harvey-led Victorians met Craig's New South Welshmen at the SCG in the last match of the Shield season.
127.
Neil Harvey admitted to being irked by the board's snub and felt that it was because of his blunt nature.
128.
Neil Harvey asked for a gentleman's agreement to allow a substitute for McDonald.
129.
Neil Harvey made 209 and later forced New South Wales to follow-on.
130.
Neil Harvey said that his first double century for Victoria "gave me as much pleasure as any innings I had ever played".
131.
Neil Harvey finished his only season as Victorian captain by leading the Shield averages with 836 runs at 104.50.
132.
Neil Harvey was unable to maintain his form from the Australian season after crossing the Tasman to face the New Zealanders.
133.
Outside the international matches, Neil Harvey was productive, and he totalled 460 runs at 46.00 for the tour.
134.
Neil Harvey scored 173 as the tourists crushed their hosts by an innings.
135.
Neil Harvey returned for the remaining Tests and scored 68 in the Third Test to help to force a draw, after Australia had conceded a 221-run first innings lead, but apart from that he had a disappointing series, failing to pass 25 and finishing with 131 runs at 21.83.
136.
Peter Burge, the third member of the selection panel and a Neil Harvey supporter, was comfortable with this, but Neil Harvey relinquished his opportunity to seize the leadership by ordering Burge to retain Craig.
137.
The Tests aside, Neil Harvey continued to score regularly in the other games, and ended with 759 first-class runs at 50.60, with two centuries and five fifties.
138.
Consequently, Neil Harvey received a job offer to work as a sales supervisor for a glass manufacturer in Sydney, so he moved to New South Wales and gave up the Victorian captaincy.
139.
Neil Harvey started the season strongly and scored 326 runs in his first three innings.
140.
Neil Harvey was appointed to captain an Australian XI in a warm-up match against the touring Englishmen, indicating that the selectors were considering him for the Test captaincy.
141.
Neil Harvey scored a duck and 38 and the Australians lost heavily by 345 runs on a wicket with a crater.
142.
In Dhaka, East Pakistan, Neil Harvey made 96 on a matting pitch over rough ground in the First Test, mastering the medium pace of Fazal Mahmood, while his teammates struggled to score.
143.
Neil Harvey's innings allowed Australia to score 225 in reply to the hosts' 200.
144.
Neil Harvey then made 30 in the second innings to help ensure an eight-wicket win.
145.
Neil Harvey scored 54 and 13 not out in the drawn third Test at Karachi.
146.
In India, Neil Harvey scored 114 out of Australia's 468 in the First Test at Delhi, setting up an innings victory for Australia.
147.
Neil Harvey was ineffective apart from a score of 85 in the second innings of the Third Test, which Australia lost.
148.
Neil Harvey then missed the Fourth Test due to injury.
149.
Neil Harvey struggled in the Tests, scoring only 143 runs at 17.88, but prospered against the Caribbean tourists in the tour matches, scoring 326 runs at 81.50.
150.
Neil Harvey began his final tour to England in 1961, and Benaud's regular absences due to a shoulder injury allowed him to lead Australia for a third of the tour matches.
151.
Neil Harvey scored 474 runs at 47.40 in eight matches leading up to the Tests, including centuries against Lancashire and Glamorgan.
152.
Neil Harvey then made 114 in the drawn First Test at Edgbaston.
153.
The injury forced Benaud out of the next Test, meaning that Neil Harvey finally captained Australia at the highest level, in the Second Test at Lord's, with Davidson carrying an injury and wicketkeeper Wally Grout with a black eye.
154.
Neil Harvey gave the new ball to Graham McKenzie, a young paceman playing in his first international series.
155.
Neil Harvey brought the part-time leg spin of Bob Simpson into the attack when Ray Illingworth had just arrived at the crease, and moved himself into the leg slip position.
156.
Neil Harvey sent Peter Burge out to attack the bowling, a tactic that worked as Australia won by five wickets.
157.
The "Battle of the Ridge" was the only time Neil Harvey captained Australia in a Test match.
158.
Benaud returned for the Third Test, when England levelled the series despite twin half-centuries of 73 and 53 from Neil Harvey, who top-scored in both innings on a dustbowl in a match that lasted only three days.
159.
Neil Harvey ended his final tour for Australia with 1452 runs at 44.00 with five centuries.
160.
However, Neil Harvey was not prominent in the team's success and scored only 425 runs at 26.56 with two fifties for the season.
161.
Neil Harvey scored 83,44 and 128 not in his first three interstate innings for the season, and then scored 51,21 and 63 in warm-up matches against England.
162.
Neil Harvey was thus selected in the series against England, his last in international cricket.
163.
The application was refused, but Neil Harvey wrote some bitter criticism of England captain Ted Dexter at the end of the series.
164.
Neil Harvey was bowled by David Allen in the final innings.
165.
Neil Harvey retired as Australia's most capped player, and a tally of runs and centuries second only to Don Bradman.
166.
Neil Harvey made centuries in two of his last three first-class matches.
167.
Neil Harvey was regarded as a mercurial batsman of great artistry and style.
168.
Neil Harvey's batting against spin bowling in particular was a crowd-pleaser, highlighted by his extravagant footwork in charging the bowlers.
169.
Neil Harvey often charged five paces down the pitch to spinners, with one bowler quipping: "He kept coming so far along the track toward me that I thought he must want to shake my hands".
170.
Neil Harvey was of the belief that any bowling could and should be hit, and he gave the impression that the balls were reaching the boundary with a minimum of power.
171.
Neil Harvey made 67 first-class centuries spread across 35 venues in six countries.
172.
Neil Harvey scored 38 of these overseas, where his average was higher.
173.
Neil Harvey was the first batsman to score more than 10,000 runs for Australian teams at home and abroad.
174.
Neil Harvey's attacking style often led to criticism that his batting was risky, with England captain Len Hutton feeling that he played and missed too much, while dour all-rounder Trevor Bailey quipped: "I wonder how many runs Neil Harvey would make if he decided to stop playing strokes with an element of risk about them".
175.
However, as Neil Harvey progressed in seniority, he eschewed his hook shot and played more conservatively for his team's sake.
176.
Neil Harvey typically evaded bouncers by tilting his head, rather than ducking the ball.
177.
Neil Harvey bowled off spin from a three- to four-pace approach on rare occasions, taking only three wickets in his Test career.
178.
Away from the field, Neil Harvey had a quiet and unassuming manner, in complete contrast to his dynamic batting, and his aversion to smoking and drinking set him apart from the prevailing cricket culture of his period.
179.
Neil Harvey was known for his respect for umpiring decisions and for never appealing for leg before wicket when he fielded in the slips.
180.
Neil Harvey was twice named in the Australian baseball team, but the team was named only for the distinction accorded on the players; that is, they never competed.
181.
Neil Harvey's fielding abilities were regarded by Wisden as the "finest outfielder in the world" during his career.
182.
Neil Harvey covered ground quickly and possessed an efficient method of picking up and returning the ball.
183.
Neil Harvey was an Australian selector from 1967 to 1979.
184.
The Queensland Cricket Association wrote to the board, complaining that Neil Harvey, who was the selector on duty at the Test, had missed two hours of play.
185.
Neil Harvey had been at a race meeting at the invitation of the QCA president.
186.
Neil Harvey accepted immediately because sports stores gave more flexible arrangements for leave to play cricket.
187.
Neil Harvey was sponsored by Stuart Surridge to use their cricket equipment.
188.
Neil Harvey used the same cricket uniforms for more than five years.
189.
Neil Harvey's career extended into a successful business, Har-V-Sales, which distributed tupperware, kitchen and cosmetic products.
190.
Neil Harvey attributed the wins to weak opponents, stating "No I don't think they're up to the world standard they were years ago" and that the 1980s West Indies team were far superior.
191.
Neil Harvey criticised the Australian team for publicly praising the skills of their opponents, believing that they did so to aggrandise their statistical performances against teams he considered to be weak.
192.
Neil Harvey was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2000, in the first annual induction of two players since the inaugural ten members were announced in 1996.
193.
In 2009, Neil Harvey was one of the 55 inaugural inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
194.
Neil Harvey was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.
195.
Neil Harvey vociferously called for Shane Warne and Mark Waugh to be banned from cricket after it was revealed that they accepted money from bookmakers to give pitch and weather information and the ACB privately fined them.
196.
Neil Harvey lamented the decline in player conduct in the modern era, criticising the modern advent of sledging.
197.
In 2002, Neil Harvey called for Mark and Steve Waugh to be dropped from the Australian team, claiming that they were a waste of space.
198.
Neil Harvey received the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen's 2018 Birthday Honours for service to cricket.