TP STRICKLAND 1875-1955

When you next visit Melbourne and when you next hop on a Melbourne tram, tip your hat to Tom Percival Strickland.

His senior cricket career was brief and mostly insignificant but he straddled the old ‘Sydney Club Cricket’ competition and the revitalized ‘Sydney Electoral Cricket’, the forerunner of Grade Cricket or Premier Cricket.

Aged 17 and recently enrolled in Engineering at Sydney University, Strickland appeared twice in the University 1sts in 1892-93, the last season of Club Cricket, and one more time in 1893-94, at the dawn of Electoral Cricket. (1st Grade cap no17). His four innings in the 1sts realized just 14 runs: 6,4,0 and 4. He played no more at that level. He achieved more, however, outside the boundaries of the cricket fields.

From 1887 until 1893, he had flourished in the classrooms and on the cricket fields of Sydney Grammar School.

In the 1891-92 SGS 1st XI, he batted early in the order. But for “nervousness”, he “would have been one of our best batsmen.” He played straight drives crisply and cut the ball sweetly. In 1892-93, just before going up to the University, he again opened the batting for SGS and in a low-scoring season, he was considered the best batsman in the school.

In the Matriculation Exams of 1893, he achieved Class I passes in Latin, German and French and Class II in Maths. Armed with three scholarships and a Gold Medal for Proficiency at the Senior Examinations of 1892, he enrolled in the Department of Engineering.

His family lived at the majestic sandstone home, ‘Dun Aros’ in Crescent Rd Manly. While he had two sisters, he was the only son of Annie (nee Mason) and Thomas Arthur Strickland 1835-1888, a Sydney merchant, partner in Young and Lark in Moore St. His father’s tragic death, drowned in a boating accident outside North Head on Sunday 3 June 1888, forced 12 year old Tom into becoming ‘head of the house.’ Mr Strickland had left home with a ‘servant’ early in the morning to go fishing in a dinghy. A sudden squall overturned the boat and, even though he was a strong swimmer, Mr Strickland drowned as he struck out for shore to get help for his servant. Tom was required to give evidence before the Coroner’s Court which convened a few days later.

Tom went back to school, now responsible for his widowed mother and his sisters and he responded with maturity in his studies and with increasing prowess on the cricket fields.

When a Manly side of 22 was selected to play at Manly Oval against the touring English Test side captained by the formidable WG Grace just before school resumed in February 1892, 16 year old Tom was chosen. But he was bowled by the left arm slows of Bobby Peel for 0. Peel was to take 1754 wickets in 1st class cricket and 102 wickets in only 20 Tests before misbehaviour under the influence of alcohol all but terminated his career. Manly’s XXII scraped together 98 and the Englishmen won comfortably. What stories might Tom have told his Grammar classmates at College Street when he returned to school? He’d played against the legendary WG and had faced the enigmatic Bobby Peel.

His reputation as a cricketer reached the University selectors who chose him in the 1sts’ side to play Carlton in March 1893 when he had just begun attending lectures. The University 1sts were held together only by the consistency of their veteran captain, Tom Garrett. On University no1 Oval, TP Strickland batted at number 8 and made 6 but Garrett’s 90 was more than half the total.  Carlton replied promisingly at first but Garrett’s damaging bowling earned him 6 for 30 and University led by 72. When University batted again, Strickland batted at first drop but was bowled for 4. Nevertheless, he was selected for the next match, against Belvedere. This time, University’s collapse, was complete. Garrett made 1. No one got to double figures and University were knocked over for 31. Strickland was out for 0. When Belvedere reached 0 for 60, rain set in a reduced University’s misery  to a 1st innings loss only.

Strickland prospered in Civil Engineering and prepared for another cricket season. 1893-94 was the first season of Electoral Cricket but this did not seem to affect the University side significantly as they were able to select students, graduates and some who were neither. When 18 year old TP Strickland was chosen for the round 3 match against East Sydney at the SCG, he took the field behind 35 year old Tom Garrett and some other older undergraduates such as the 22 year old Engineering student Norman White.

Again he batted at 8; again he failed with 4; again University was bowled out cheaply, for 136. But something different happened. On the second day, Easts lost their last 7 for 30 (Garrett 5-34) and University had a slender lead which they had increased to 254 when stumps were drawn. 3rd Year Medicine student, Erskine Robison was 113 not out, University’s first century in Grade Cricket. He was to die only six years later while working in a TB sanitorium in Germany. The third day was washed out and University remained the only side to defeat the Premiers, East Sydney.  Strickland had played his last 1st Grade game but he continued to score runs in 2nd Grade and to act as Honorary Secretary of the Club for two seasons and to play tennis and to win glittering academic prizes, When he graduated, B Eng in March 1897, it was with 1st Class Honours and with the Gold Medal.

He was awarded a scholarship to McGill University in Montreal where he earned a Masters in Science before working for some time in New York. Returning to Sydney in 1902, he was appointed Assistant Engineer of the NSW Government Railways and Tramways and he married Gertrude Emily Hayes 1875-1961. They were to have three daughters.

From 1921 to 1938, Strickland was Chief Engineer of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board. He inherited a ramshackle 216 trams with an astounding 21 different designs and he set about designing a new standard tram. The ‘W Class’ tram was in operation until 1969 and a successor the ‘W8 Class’ which survives.

He made just 14 runs in 4 innings for University 1sts and he played just one ‘1st Grade’ game but when he died aged 79, many Melbournians tipped their hat to him.

 

JAMES RODGERS