Thomas Groube

Thomas Underwood Groube (2 September 1857 – 5 August 1927) was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test in 1880. He was the first New Zealand-born Test cricketer.[1]

Tom Groube
The Australians in 1880. Tom Groube is standing at the far right.
Personal information
Full nameThomas Underwood Groube
Born(1857-09-02)2 September 1857
New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand
Died5 August 1927(1927-08-05) (aged 69)
Melbourne, Australia
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium-pace
International information
National side
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1878-79 to 1881-82Victoria
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class
Matches 1 13
Runs scored 11 179
Batting average 5.50 8.52
100s/50s 0/0 0/1
Top score 11 61
Balls bowled 0 0
Wickets 0 0
Bowling average – –
5 wickets in innings 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 0
Best bowling – –
Catches/stumpings 0/0 2/0
Source: Cricinfo

Life and career

Groube's father was Horatio Groube, a Congregational minister who was among the first white settlers in New Plymouth, where Tom was born. The family left New Zealand in the early 1860s as a result of the Second Taranaki War and settled in Melbourne. Tom's paternal grandfather was a rear-admiral in the Royal Navy.[2][3]

Five feet eleven inches tall and slimly built, Tom Groube was a successful batsman in Melbourne club cricket in the late 1870s and early 1880s.[4][5] Between 1878 and 1885 he scored 2350 runs for the East Melbourne club at an average of 44.[6] He played four matches of first-class cricket for Victoria between 1879 and 1881 but with little success.[4] In 1878-79 he averaged 155.33 for East Melbourne, which helped him earn a place in the Australian team to England in 1880.[7] He was a late replacement for Charles Bannerman, who had to withdraw from the selected touring team owing to illness.[8]

Groube's highest first-class score was 61 against Yorkshire in 1880, which was the only time he reached 20 in first-class cricket.[9] He played in the Test at The Oval in 1880, the first-ever Test match in England, but was not successful.[4] He later toured New Zealand with the Australian team in 1880-81, his highest score there being 42 against Canterbury.[10][11]

In later years Groube wrote about cricket and Australian rules football in Victoria for the Weekly Times and The Herald under the pen-names "Old Cricketer" and "Rover".[4][6] He conducted the choir at the Congregational church in Hawthorn, Melbourne, for about 40 years.[12] He was survived by his wife and their three sons.[6]

See also

References
  1. Nigel Smith, Kiwis Declare, Random House, Auckland, 1994, p. 20.
  2. "Death of Mrs. A. M. Proctor". Riverine Grazier: 2. 11 December 1923.
  3. "Miss S. J. Groube". Riverine Grazier: 2. 4 September 1934.
  4. The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket, Oxford, Melbourne, 1996, p. 223.
  5. Jack Pollard, Australian Cricket: The Game and the Players, Hodder & Stoughton, Sydney, 1982, p. 459.
  6. "OLD CRICKETER DIES". Weekly Times (3024). 13 August 1927. p. 86. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  7. "Tom Groube". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  8. A. G. Moyes, Australian Cricket: A History, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1959, p. 210.
  9. "First-class Batting and Fielding Against Each Opponent by Tom Groube". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  10. "The Australians in New Zealand". Evening Star: 5. 24 February 1881.
  11. "Canterbury v Australians 1880-81". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  12. "Death of Mr. T. U. Groube". The Australasian: 38. 13 August 1927.
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