Peter Burge

Peter John Parnell Burge (17 May 1932 – 5 October 2001) was an Australian cricketer who played in 42 Test matches between 1955 and 1966. After retiring as a player he became a highly respected match referee, overseeing 25 Tests and 63 One Day Internationals.

He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1965 and in 1997 was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for service to cricket as a player, administrator and international referee, and to harness racing."

Early life Burge was born in Kangaroo Point, Queensland, a suburb of the city of Brisbane, into a cricketing family. His father Thomas John "Jack" Burge was a salesman who rose to be a departmental manager of D. & W. Murray, a retail outlet, before becoming a state representative for Nile Industries, a textile firm. Jack Burge represented Eastern Suburbs in Brisbane's grade cricket competition and later became a cricket administrator. The elder Burge served on the Queensland Cricket Association executive from 1945 until his death in 1957. Peter recalled "My dad was the best frustrated Test cricketer I ever knew. He always wanted to play, was involved in it for as long as I could remember."

Aged thirteen he moved to Anglican Church Grammar School, one of the state's elite private schools, and represented Queensland in a schoolboy competition in Sydney, scoring 100 against Victoria. He played in the first XI in his final three years and made his first-grade debut in his final year. He remained a wicketkeeper and batted at number three. When he was considered for state selection, his father had to stand aside from the Queensland selection panel.

In the following 1953–54 season, Burge found a regular place and began the season in November with 103 against a New South Wales attack which included Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller and Richie Benaud. was dropped for the final two Tests. He had his first full and consistent Test series. After making 35 in the opening match in Madras, which Australia won by an innings,

In the 1956–57 Australian season, scored consistently heavily for the first time at first-class level. He opened his campaign with centuries in consecutive matches against Western Australia and Victoria, and failing to convert his starts into large scores in the middle part of the season—he registered seven consecutive scores between 20 and 80—he registered his maiden first-class double century in the final match of the summer, 210 against Victoria, having been dropped first ball. Returning to Queensland duties, he initially failed to capitalise on his starts, with four scores between 30 and 60 in five innings, before striking 101 and 171 against South Australia and Victoria respectively. He ended with 332 runs at 47.42.

Burge ended the tour with half-centuries in the last two first-class matches.

A heavily built man, Burge was a combative player who was regarded as quiet and genial off the field. An attacking player, he was known for his penchant for the hook shot and his ability against fast bowling. Burge is one of the few cricketers to be given out handled the ball. In a Shield match against New South Wales in 1958–59, the ball struck him on the pad and went up in the air. Unconsciously, he put up a hand and the ball landed in his palm.

In 2009 Burge was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame. The Peter Burge Oval cricket ground in Brisbane is named in his honour.