Jimmy Matthews


Thomas James Matthews was an Australian Test cricketer. Bowling leg breaks, he is the only player to have taken two hat-tricks in the same Test match.

International cricket career

"Possibly the best all-round cricketer Williamstown has produced", Matthews played in eight Test matches for the Australian cricket team, two in Australia in the 1911/12 season, and six in the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England. He played first-class cricket for Victoria in the seasons from 1906/07 to 1914/15, playing in 67 first-class matches in all, although 28 were played for Australia on the 1912 tour of England.
He is famed for being the only player to have ever taken two hat-tricks in the same Test match. In the opening Test of the 1912 Triangular Tournament, playing against South Africa at Old Trafford, he took a hat-trick in each innings. He took the last three wickets in South Africa's first innings, to prevent them avoiding the follow on; later the same day, 28 May 1912, he took a second hat-trick in the second innings. None of the dismissals required the assistance of any fielders: the first batsman was bowled, then two were leg before wicket, then another bowled, and finally two more caught and bowled. South African wicket-keeper Tommy Ward was his third victim in both hat-tricks, being the only known instance of a king pair on debut in Test cricket.
Matthews took no other wickets in the match, giving him match figures of 6 wickets for 54 runs, but he did take a further 9 wickets in the series, including 4/29 in the fifth match of the series, again against South Africa.

Football

Prior to becoming an international cricketer Matthews played Australian rules football for the Williamstown in the Victorian Football Association in 1905–1906 and 1908–1910; and for St Kilda in the Victorian Football League in 1907. He was primarily a full-forward, and his 46 goals for Williamstown in the 1906 season was the second-highest of any player in the VFA that year; He also kicked 30 goals in 1910.

Military Service

He enlisted in the First AIF in July 1915, and was discharged on medical grounds in November 1917.

Post-war

Matthews worked as a groundsman at Williamstown Cricket Ground. He died at the Caulfield Military Hospital on 14 October 1943.