Hurtle Willsmore

Hurtle Binks Willsmore (26 December 1889 – 17 September 1985) was a South Australian first-class cricketer and Australian rules footballer for West Torrens Football Club.

Early life The son of George Arthur Willsmore, a general carrier, and Elizabeth (née Jeanes), Willsmore was the youngest of eight children with two sisters and five brothers.

Sporting career

An all-round sportsman, Willsmore made his South Australian Football League (SAFL) debut in 1908 for West Torrens Football Club while still a schoolboy, playing as a centre-half back for three seasons.

After graduating from Prince Alfred College, Willsmore joined South Australian Grade Cricket League club West Torrens for the 1908/09 season, and in his first match, against Glenelg, made 161 not out. The next year Willsmore transferred to Adelaide University Cricket Club,

Willsmore made his first-class debut for South Australia on 16 January 1914, against the touring New Zealand cricket team at the Adelaide Oval, scoring 57 (his highest first-class score) and eight, and taking one wicket for thirty eight runs (1/38) and 1/46. On the strength of this performance, Willsmore was selected for his Sheffield Shield debut, for South Australia against Victoria at the Adelaide Oval, taking 4/65 in Victoria's second innings, which was to be his best first-class bowling figures. He was reportedly chosen to tour New Zealand with an Australian team but never received his letter of invitation.

Willsmore was chosen for all four of South Australia's first-class matches in the 1914/15 Australian domestic season, the last before the temporary cessation of first-class cricket due to the war. While preliminarily a batsman, Willsmore was also an effective leg-spin bowler, once taking 7/50 in a district match in 1914/15 against East Torrens. Around this time, a journalist wrote "Willsmore bowled splendidly. He flighted the slows with excellent judgment, and dropped them down on a fine length. Most of his runs were made from powerful straight drives."

Following the resumption of cricket at the end of World War I, Willsmore transferred to Adelaide grade club Sturt as captain In another case of injury-related bad luck, Willsmore was also forced to miss a match against New South Wales in 1919/20 when he had the webbing on his hand split open while fielding during a trial match earlier in the week.

Willsmore played two more first-class matches in the 1920/21 season before being omitted but continued to play for Sturt, including a match in the 1921/22 season against University when he hit each of the first seven deliveries he faced for six, and then boundaries from the next three, reaching his 50 from nine deliveries; an unbeatable record for the quickest half century in terms of deliveries faced. Referring to this innings, a journalist wrote "Hurtle Willsmore was a hard, but not wild hitter, and this demoralising burst of hitting was the result of perfectly timed strokes."

Willsmore had his best club season in 1924/25, scoring three centuries and two half-centuries from seven innings He also coached Scotch's cricket team and saw seven of his pupils play first-class cricket; Willsmore also initiated an annual cricket competition between Scotch, Hale School in Perth, Western Australia and Melbourne's Haileybury College.

Willsmore worked at Scotch until his retirement in 1957, in the process becoming "one of the great cornerstones" of the college. A history of Scotch College declared "Hurtle was one of the most popular masters to ever teach at Scotch, and renowned for his patience, whether working with a class of mathematicians or coaching a group of promising cricketers."

Personal life On 28 September 1915, Willsmore married Muriel Winifred Thomas at Woodville Methodist Church. Their daughter Christobel was born on 21 August 1918.

Willsmore died aged 95 on 17 September 1985 after a long illness. Muriel predeceased him but Willsmore was survived by Christobel, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.