106 Facts About Norm O'Neill

Norman Clifford Louis O'Neill was a cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia.

Norm O'Neill bowled occasional leg spin and was regarded as one of the finest fielders of his era.

Norm O'Neill later became a cricket commentator and his son Mark O'Neill played cricket at state level.

Norm O'Neill was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame by the CA in 2018.

The son of a builder, Norm O'Neill was born in Carlton, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales.

Norm O'Neill had no cricketing associations on his father's side of the family, but his maternal uncle, Ron Campion, played for the Glebe club in Sydney Grade Cricket.

Norm O'Neill accompanied his uncle to cricket from the age of seven and was given batting practice at the end of each session.

At Bexley Primary school, Norm O'Neill was denied a chance to play cricket as the school did not field a team.

Under his uncle's guidance, Norm O'Neill joined the St George Cricket Club, in the Sydney Grade competition.

Norm O'Neill steadily moved up through the grades and broke into the first grade side at the age of 16.

Norm O'Neill attributed his failures to over-aggressiveness and resolved to improve his patience.

Norm O'Neill was listed to bat in the lower middle order but after the top order had made a big start, Miller brought Norm O'Neill up.

Norm O'Neill came in against the second new ball and was clean bowled.

Norm O'Neill was dropped and did not play another match for the season, but had gained invaluable experience.

At the start of the season, with many players still on international duty during the closing stages of the tour to England and the subsequent stopover in the Indian subcontinent, Norm O'Neill was recalled and made 60 and 63 not out against Queensland at the start of the season.

Norm O'Neill ended the season with 567 runs at 43.61, and earned selection for a non-Test tour of New Zealand under Ian Craig, in a team composed mainly of young players.

Norm O'Neill made 102 not out in the only "Test" match that he played, helping to set up a ten-wicket win.

Norm O'Neill's 233 was made in little over four hours and featured 38 fours.

Norm O'Neill's performances played a large part in his state's fifth consecutive title.

Norm O'Neill was offered a fee more than 25 times that for a single Test match, as well as travel costs and accommodation, to trial with the Yankees.

Norm O'Neill agreed, but Irish dissuaded him less than a week before his scheduled departure.

Norm O'Neill decided to abstain from hooking, while attacking the spin of Jim Laker with a series of sweep shots.

Norm O'Neill scored 85 against Western Australia and then made 84 not out for New South Wales against England.

Norm O'Neill was selected for an Australian XI, which played the tourists in a dress rehearsal before the Tests.

Norm O'Neill made one and two as Australia were crushed by 345 runs.

Nevertheless, Norm O'Neill was selected to make his debut in the five-Test series against England, playing in all of the matches.

The First Test in Brisbane was a low scoring match described by Australian captain Richie Benaud as producing "some of the slowest and worst cricket imaginable", Norm O'Neill made 34 in Australia's first innings of 186 to help secure a lead of 52.

Norm O'Neill then top-scored with an unbeaten 71 in the second innings, guiding Australia to an eight-wicket victory.

Norm O'Neill scored 71 of the last 89 runs scored while he was at the crease, refusing to be dried up by the England's usage of leg theory.

Wisden opined that Norm O'Neill had "saved a game that had been tortuous for days".

Norm O'Neill struck 77 in the rain-affected drawn Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground and followed this with 56 in the Fourth Test in Adelaide.

Outside the Tests, Norm O'Neill scored 155 and 128 against Victoria and Western Australia respectively as New South Wales completed their sixth successive Sheffield Shield win.

Norm O'Neill made his maiden Test century of 134 in the first innings to give Australia a 245-run lead.

Norm O'Neill then took his maiden Test wicket in Pakistan's second innings, that of Shujauddin.

The chase was on schedule with Norm O'Neill partnering Neil Harvey when the Pakistanis began wasting time to prevent an Australian victory.

Norm O'Neill failed to make double figures in the final Test, which was drawn, but ended the series with 218 runs at 72.66.

Norm O'Neill returned to form with a leg-side dominated 163 in a high-scoring draw in the Third Test at Brabourne Stadium in Bombay.

Norm O'Neill scored 113 in the first innings to help a depleted team take a 137-run first innings lead and prevent India from squaring the series.

Norm O'Neill was Australia's leading scorer in the Tests, with 376 runs at 62.66.

Norm O'Neill made his highest first-class score of 284, against an Indian President's XI in Ahmedabad.

Norm O'Neill was the top scorer for the whole subcontinental Test tour, with 594 runs in eight matches at 66.00.

Norm O'Neill then struck 181 in the first innings of the opening match at Brisbane, his highest Test score.

Norm O'Neill then struck 114 as his state defeated the tourists by an innings, and he made 40 and a duck as the Australians took the series lead in the Second Test.

Norm O'Neill made 70 and 71 in the Third Test loss in Sydney, one of the few players able to combat Lance Gibbs effectively, top-scoring in the first innings and second top-scoring in the second innings.

Norm O'Neill then made 65 in the second innings in the Fourth Test at Adelaide, where Australia held on by one wicket for a draw.

Norm O'Neill contributed 48 in the second innings of the Fifth Test as Australia appeared headed for a series victory.

Norm O'Neill gained attention during the summer for frequently losing his wicket by impulsively sweeping.

Norm O'Neill was selected for the tour of England in 1961, and he warmed up by scoring centuries in consecutive matches against Tasmania for the Australian squad.

Norm O'Neill followed this with a 74 against Lancashire before a 124 two matches later against Glamorgan, which was described by Wisden as the best of the season.

Norm O'Neill scored 73 against Gloucestershire and made 122 on his first appearance at Lord's, against the Marylebone Cricket Club, in what was effectively a dress rehearsal for the Tests.

Norm O'Neill continued his form with an unbeaten 104 against Kent between the Tests.

Norm O'Neill returned to the county matches and scored 162 against Lancashire, before scoring 27 and 19 as England squared the series in the Third Test at Headingley.

Norm O'Neill then scored 142 against Northamptonshire, but the hosts were able to tie the scores when stumps were drawn with four wickets in hand.

Norm O'Neill made his first century against England in the Fifth Test at The Oval with 117 as Australia drew the match to take the series.

Norm O'Neill did so after being given a "lucky coin" by a spectator and being dropped at second slip when he was on 19.

Norm O'Neill scored 324 runs at 40.50 in the Tests and was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 1962.

Norm O'Neill left English soil with 138 against Minor Counties, in a non-first-class match.

Norm O'Neill then made his first century in over a year, scoring 131 against Western Australia for his state.

Norm O'Neill completed his preparation for the Tests by helping New South Wales to defeat Dexter's men by an innings.

Norm O'Neill made 56 in the First Test drawn at Brisbane but failed to pass 20 in the next two matches, which were shared by the two teams.

Norm O'Neill scored 73 in the Fifth Test in Sydney to finish the series with 310 runs at 34.44, substantially below his career average of 53.8 prior to the series.

Norm O'Neill took two wickets, one in each of the Third and Fifth Tests, removing Fred Titmus and Dexter respectively.

Outside the Tests, Norm O'Neill struggled and passed 25 once in eight other non-Test innings.

Norm O'Neill played in seven matches and had a productive series, scoring 541 runs at 41.54 including a century and four fifties.

Norm O'Neill bowled more frequently than usual taking seven wickets at 53.29.

Norm O'Neill continued his resurgence with 36 and 61 not out the following fixture against Victoria, but was injured during the second innings and forced to retire hurt.

Norm O'Neill returned and scored half centuries in each of the next two Tests.

Norm O'Neill took two wickets to end the series with 285 runs at 40.71 and three wickets at 32.33.

Norm O'Neill added a further two half-centuries in the remaining Shield matches.

Norm O'Neill retained his place for the 1964 tour to England, and scored a century against Western Australia for the touring squad before departing for the northern hemisphere.

Norm O'Neill then added 151 and 17 not out, leading the way as the Australians defeated the MCC by nine wickets in a dress rehearsal for the Tests.

However, Norm O'Neill scored 98 in the first four innings of the opening two Tests and was forced out of the Third Test with a knee injury, the only non-draw of the series, which Australia won.

Norm O'Neill returned for the final two Tests and ended the series with only 156 runs at 31.20 in five Tests without passing fifty and going wicketless.

Norm O'Neill added another century against Kent and two further fifties in the closing stages of the English summer.

Norm O'Neill missed the remainder of the series, the Third Test in Calcutta and a one-off Test in Pakistan.

Norm O'Neill was often injured during the tour, but was at his most productive with the bat since the last series against the Caribbean team four years earlier.

Norm O'Neill made many starts, passing 20 in six of his seven Test innings, but was unable to convert them into big scores.

Norm O'Neill ended with 266 runs at 44.33, missing the Fifth Test due to a broken hand.

Norm O'Neill managed a healthy return with the ball, taking nine of his 17 Test wickets in the series with an average of 25.55.

Norm O'Neill was one of several Australians who took exception to Griffith's bowling action, and he put his name to a series of feature articles in Sydney's Daily Mirror.

Norm O'Neill stated that "If he is allowed to continue throwing, he could kill someone".

Norm O'Neill expressed his desire to not have to face bowling that he deemed to be illegal.

The West Indies lodged an official complaint with Australia, and the Australian Cricket Board replied that it deplored the published comments, although noting that as Norm O'Neill's touring contract had expired at the end of the tour, the point was moot.

Outside the Tests, Norm O'Neill performed strongly in three matches against regional teams, scoring centuries in each of them.

Norm O'Neill scored 125,125, and 101 in his only three innings, against Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados.

Norm O'Neill continued his Shield career while his former teammates were on the other side of the Indian Ocean, compiling 741 runs at 74.10 in a strong season.

Norm O'Neill started the season with 117 against Western Australia, before scoring a pair of 78s in the return match, helping his team to a tense 13-run win.

Norm O'Neill then scored 128 and 22 not out against Victoria and finished his season with 160 and 80 against South Australia, scoring a majority of his team's first innings score.

Norm O'Neill scored 69 runs at 17.25 in two international matches and made his last first-class century, scoring 101 and 58 not out against Auckland.

Norm O'Neill retired upon his return to Australia due to a knee injury.

Norm O'Neill left a reputation as a highly entertaining batsman who did not manage to fulfil his early promise.

Norm O'Neill scored 168 on his new club's first day in the competition.

Norm O'Neill married Gwen Wallace, a track and field athlete who won relay gold for Australia at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

Norm O'Neill co-owned a racehorse with Richie Benaud, Barry Jarman and Ray Steele, named Pall Mallan, and it won a race in 1961.

On 3 March 2008, Norm O'Neill died in Erina, New South Wales, due to the effects of throat cancer.

Norm O'Neill was noted for his nimble footwork, which he used to negate spin bowling; however, this slowed in his later career as he put on weight.

Norm O'Neill often put too much emphasis on his right hand, allowing a large space between his hands on the bat handle, and then turning his right shoulder too square towards the bowler.

The renowned English batsman and captain Wally Hammond said that Norm O'Neill was the best all-round batsman he had seen since World War II.

Norm O'Neill's tall build, strength and good looks drew comparison to his boyhood idol Keith Miller.

Norm O'Neill was criticised for hitting across the line early in his innings.

Norm O'Neill was highly regarded for his style and entertainment values.

Norm O'Neill's style led the British writer EW Swanton to say "the art of batting, he reminded us, was not dead, merely inexplicably dormant".

Later in his career, Norm O'Neill became a nervous and superstitious batsman, particular at the start of an innings.

Norm O'Neill wrote "batting is a lonely business" in his 1964 autobiography Ins and Outs, opining that he sometimes found first-class cricket to be "depressing and lonely".

Norm O'Neill was regarded as an excellent fieldsman at cover, with a powerful and accurate throw, described by Wisden as a "dream throw" honed from a junior career as a baseballer.

Norm O'Neill was named as utility player in the 1957 All Australian baseball team, and his ability was such that he was approached by Major League Baseball scouts.