By James Rodgers
This man died 50 years ago this May.
He was Don Bradman’s acknowledged boyhood cricket hero.
The first of only two who have played Tests for Australia in cricket and rugby.
Played for his school 1 st XI for six years.
Hit 226 for NSW 2 nd XI against Victoria 2 nd XI while still at school aged 16.
Scored 83 on debut for NSW while still at school aged 18.
Served and was wounded in the 1 st AIF in the Great War.
Is one of the few dentists to have represented Australia at cricket.
The Sports Centre at Newington College was named in his honour in 2013.
Donald Bradman was taken by his father to see his first 1 st class match in February
1921 when he was 12. It was the 5 th Test Australia v England at the Sydney Cricket
Ground. Years later, in 1976, Sir Donald Bradman wrote a letter to me: “No doubt all
small boys who aspire to success in sport have their legendary heroes. I was no
exception. I was fortunate to have set up my boyhood hero one who remained greatly
loyal and respected by everyone.”
In describing his hero, Sir Donald used expressions like: “modest demeanour”,
“gentlemanly behaviour”, “set an example of all that was best in life and sport”,
“transparent modesty”.
Who inspired such feelings even fifty-five years later? The hero had scored only 32 in
Australia’s emphatic victory at the SCG; he had caught England’s enigmatic Charlie
Parkin.
The man was John Morris (Johnny) Taylor (1895-1971) , Newington College, 1 st
AIF, 20 cricket Tests, two rugby Tests, B.D.Sc Sydney University, hero of the boy
from Bowral.
What was it about Taylor that entranced young Donald Bradman? His personality
and character and charm were endearing qualities much admired by teammates and
opponents. The 12-year-old could not have known those qualities. Only later, playing
with or against him or playing with those who knew him, did Bradman come to
appreciate Taylor the person.
The young Donald may have been able to appreciate Taylor’s style as a cricketer.
Taylor had a small, slight, wiry physique. Max Bonnell observes that he had “that
innate timing and suppleness that characterizes so many great batsmen”.
(Summertime Blues: 150 Years of Sydney University Cricketers, 2006, page 108)
Ray Robinson saw him and observed wristy strokes.
Johnny Moyes played with him and regarded him as a most attractive player.
In the field, athleticism caught the eye; he threw swiftly and accurately.
He had been a schoolboy prodigy at Newington College, a Methodist school in
Stanmore, Sydney, located near the Taylor family home in Middleton Street along the
western boundary of the school. Johnny was a student at Newington from the age of
ten in 1906 until 1915.
His father was Reverend JG Morris Taylor, a Methodist minister who was on the
Council of Newington College, later appointed President of the Methodist
Conference. Johnny’s mother was his father’s second wife, Lucy (née Moffitt).
He scored fifteen centuries for the Newington 1st XI including three double
centuries. His last innings for the school was a triumphant 293. He played in the 1 st
XV for five years, represented the Athletics team for five years and shot in the rifle
team for four years. He was awarded “triple colours” five times, a unique feat in
Newington’s history. In a 1915 school photo, the left side of his blazer is festooned
with colours, badges, honour pockets.
Selected for the NSW Colts’ XI in December 1913 on the strength of his school feats,
but yet to play Grade cricket, he announced himself with a sublime 226 before he was
run out as NSW amassed 548 against the Victorian Colts’ XI. In February 1914,
before resuming at Newington after the summer holidays, and yet to debut with the
Petersham Club, he was chosen for NSW for their game against Tasmania at the SCG.
Coming to the crease at 2-131, he scored freely until bowled for 83. Back at
Newington, he swapped his NSW cap for his Newington cap and continued to dissect
schoolboy bowling.
On the other hand, his academic record at Newington was modest. When stirring
news of the Anzacs at the Dardanelles dominated news throughout 1915, Johnny,
having no intention to sit matriculation exams for Sydney University, joined the
public service as a clerk in the Water and Sewerage Board, having made his debut
with the Petersham Club in 1914. There he scored consistently during two seasons
before making the decision that would affect the rest of his life.
On 8 October 1916, two days short of his twenty-first birthday, he enlisted in the 1 st
AIF after presenting written permission from his parents. Regimental number 33013.
Gunner, 1 st Field Artillery. In February 1917, he left Sydney on the Oesterley and
trained at Larkhill in England before being sent to the Western Front in November.
He served in the front line near Amiens helping to distribute ammunition at AIF
headquarters. He was shot in the right knee, evacuated to hospital in London, and
not released until June 1918.
He was fit enough to play his first game of cricket for two years when he was chosen
for the Dominions’ XI against an England XI in a one-day game at Lord’s. After the
Armistice, Johnny was selected in the 1 st AIF side that played in England, South
Africa and Australia. He had suffered from dysentery in France and was hospitalised
again in South Africa. His wounds and the effects of dysentery were to follow him for
many years and probably affected his Test career. His 20 Tests produced 997 runs at
36.5. His record in England rarely did justice to his talent. In 1926, his health failed
and he did not score a 1 st class century. The last three Tests of his career produced
only 13 runs.
Max Bonnell observes in Summertime Blues: “Wristy elegance was no counter to the
ball that seamed from damp wickets or swung away under overcast skies.”
In September 1920, he had resumed his 1 st Grade career with the Gordon Club and
was selected for NSW. On the strength of his AIF XI performances and his batting
average of 84.3 for NSW in 1920-21, he made his Test debut against England in
Sydney in December 1920. He made 34 and 51 and kept his place for all five Tests.
The series resulted in five victories for Australia, the first ever 5-0 series result.
Returned soldiers were permitted to enrol at Sydney University without
matriculating. In 1922, after touring England with Warwick Armstrong’s victorious
Australian side, Johnny became one of the first students in the Dentistry Faculty. He
resided at St Andrew’s College within the University, threw himself into his studies
and into the sports offered by his College and by the University. He was awarded
Blues for Cricket and Rugby in 1922.
His two Rugby Tests were in 1922 against the New Zealand Maoris, games not
recognised as full Test Matches until 1985. JM Taylor is properly acknowledged as a
dual international, an honour he did not live to enjoy. Taylor is in the chronicles as
Wallaby no.178 and Test cricketer no.112. These numbers mean so much to players.
In his two games, playing at five-eighth and centre, Taylor scored tries in both
games. The first was played at the Sydney Showground where he had enlisted less
than six years before.
On one memorable morning in November 1923, he swam for his College in various
races, changed, had lunch and walked down to the University Oval where he put the
pads on after winning the toss against Waverley. When the first wicket fell early,
Johnny observed to his team-mates that he was “a bit tired - I think I’ll have to get
them quickly.”
University’s second wicket fell at 126. Taylor announced to his new partner, Jim
Garner, that a nail in his boot was cutting into his foot and hampering his running.
He decided to negate the need for running between wickets by searching out
boundaries. The result included two Club records that still stand. Taylor and Garner
put on 291 for the 3 rd wicket. Taylor’s majestic innings of 253 in 233 minutes
included 158 in boundaries, still the Club’s highest score in any grade since the Grade
Competition began in 1893 (but equalled by Ed Cowan in 2006-07). Taylor’s 253 was
part of the 961 runs he scored in 1 st Grade that season including four successive
innings that produced 552 runs.
As his studies progressed to graduation (with a prize for Orthodontics in 1926) and
onto dental practice, he played irregularly and without the dominance of earlier
years. A first ball duck for NSW in 1927 signalled his final 1 st class innings. During
1927 and 1928 he set up practice in Singleton until he returned to Sydney, where he
was employed as a dentist with the Sydney City Council.
Club cricket boundaries changed. Johnny married a widow, Barbara Liddle Reid, in
July 1930. He moved residence and resumed his career with Gordon, then Balmain,
finally with Northern District in 1933-34 when, aged 38, his six innings produced
only 132 runs. He did manage one more stylishly nostalgic innings of 77 against one
of his former clubs, Sydney University.
From then he became increasingly known as a kindly North Shore dentist, moving
from Ryde to Roseville, then Turramurra. He and his wife produced one son, Hugh
Reid Morris Taylor, who became a TV director and producer.
Memories of Johnny’s cricket career gradually faded and his natural modesty meant
that he spoke very little about it. He died in May 1971 and his obituary in the Sydney
University Cricket Club’s Annual Report of 1971 was written by Dr HO Rock, an old
team mate with Sydney University and the NSW state side. Rock first met Johnny
during a game in 1912 when Rock was playing for The King’s School and Taylor for
Newington. Rock recalled: “We all felt very privileged to have a Test player in our
side. Always polite, unassuming, and modest to a degree”.
Modern-day players look uncomprehendingly when his name is mentioned.
Anniversaries and modern achievement resurrected his prodigious feats and
impeccable character.
In 1956, he shared a testimonial game at the SCG with Arthur Mailey, Test spinner of
renown and gifted illustrator. In 1924 Taylor and Mailey combined in a last wicket
stand of 127 against England, the Australian Test record that stood for 89 years until
Phillip Hughes and Ashton Agar put on 163 at Edgbaston.
The Sydney University Cricket Club’s award for the most runs in a season was named
after JM Taylor in 2005. The Club added him to its the Club’s exclusive Hall of Fame
in 2016. At Newington College, the Sports Centre, opened in 2013, is now quite
correctly named in his honour.
And, throughout his long life, Sir Donald Bradman consistently named Johnny
Taylor as his boyhood cricket hero.
