Ray Harvey

Raymond Harvey (3 January 1926 – 6 January 2011) was an Australian former first-class cricketer who played for Victoria in the 1940s and 1950s. He was the brother of Australian Test batsmen Merv and Neil and first-class cricketer and umpire Mick Harvey. Ray Harvey was an attacking and talented batsman but failed to reach international standards and only managed to hold down a regular position in the Victorian team in two seasons in the 1950s. This failure to match the standards set by his Test-capped brothers was often attributed to a lack of single-mindedness and hunger.

Harvey was born into a working-class, devoutly Methodist family. His father was a keen amateur cricketer and an instilled a love of the game in his six sons, all of whom played for Fitzroy in Victorian Premier Cricket. Harvey made his first class debut in the middle of the 1947–48 season, and played his first two matches for Victoria alongside his more decorated brothers Merv and Neil. However, he performed poorly and did not play a match in the following summer and for the two subsequent seasons, he played in only three games but contributed little to his team's cause. In 1951–52 he made five appearances, gaining selection only when Victoria's Test players were busy representing Australia. The following season, he gained selection for the last three matches and broke through for his maiden first-class century, having never previously passed 50.

Having broken through at the end of the preceding summer, Harvey played his first full season for Victoria in 1953–54, despite the availability of the Test players for the whole campaign. He scored two centuries and five half centuries against full strength teams from other states and was rewarded with selection in Lindsay Hassett's testimonial match, which was effectively a Test trial match. Harvey ended the season with 699 runs at a batting average of 49.92. At the start of the following season, Harvey was included in an Australian XI for a match against the touring England cricket team for a Test trial match. However, rain curtailed the match and turned the playing surface into a sticky wicket hostile to batting. Harvey made only seven in his only innings. He played in all of Victoria's matches for the season, despite a form slump—he scored only 206 runs at 18.72. He was then overlooked for state selection until 1958–59, when he regained his position late in the season and made 97 and 86 in consecutive innings. However, the following season, he made only sporadic appearances despite the absence of the Test players overseas and aggregated only 133 runs at 16.62 in four matches and he was never selected for Victoria again. He shone mainly for Fitzroy in Victorian Premier Cricket, scoring 19 centuries and 9,146 runs in first-grade competition, both of which are still club records.

Early years

Ray Harvey's father, Horace "Horry" Harvey moved to Broken Hill, New South Wales where he worked for BHP driving horse-drawn trailers. In 1914, he married Elsie May Bitmead and their first two children, daughter Rita and son Mervyn, were born in the mining town. The family relocated to Newcastle, a mining town and harbour in New South Wales and had two more sons, Mick and Harold there. Here they played cricket with a tennis ball, homemade cricket bat and a kerosene tin for a wicket. As the laneway meant that the playing area was long and narrow, the young boys also had to learn to play the ball straight in accordance with orthodox cricket technique. and a miniature bat. All were right-handed batsmen with the exception of Neil.

All of the children attended the nearby George Street State School and one by one the brothers joined the Fitzroy Cricket Club as they reached their early teens. The club had a program whereby they gave a medal for every local school to award to the best cricketer in their ranks in that year. The successful student would then be given access to all of the club's facilities. All of the Harvey brothers were recipients were of this medal. At Fitzroy, they came under the influence of former Victorian all-rounder Arthur Liddicut and the club's veteran captain Joe Plant. The Harveys had no formal coaching, and their father, although a regular presence at the club, chose to stay in the background as their respective careers developed. Horace did not advise his sons on how to bat, allowing them to formulate their own style and technique. According to the Harvey brothers, it was their mother who was vocal and extroverted, in contrast to their reserved father. Saturday night entertainment for the family typically consisted of dinner after the day's cricket matches for Fitzroy and Plant, Liddicut and other club personnel were often invited. Harvey made his First XI debut for Fitzroy in 1941–42. In 1943–44, he scored a club record of 817 First XI runs in a season. In 1942–43, Neil was promoted to Fitzroy's First XI, joining Merv, Mick and Ray. During that season, the family held down the first four batting positions for Fitzroy; Merv and Mick opened the batting and Ray and Neil came in after them. Ray continued to play for Fitzroy over the next two decades when he was not required by Victoria. Outside cricket, Harvey was an electrical fitter and he worked for the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board.

The three brothers played together in the next match against Western Australia. Merv captained the team as Hassett was away on Test duty. Victoria batted first and Ray made only 1. In the second innings, Ray 15, not batting with his brothers in a drawn match.

The brotherly trio was broken up for the match against Queensland, as Neil was selected for the Australian team. Merv dropped after this match, and Ray made 9 and 15 alongside Neil in the next fixture against New South Wales, a six-wicket win. ending with 1/24 from four overs. Despite the extra vacancies, Ray was only selected for one match, against Tasmania, making 9 and 45 in a four-wicket win. He did so despite the fact that there were no Tests scheduled for the Australian season, A week later, he started the new year by scoring 110 as Victoria batted first and took a 117-run first innings lead against South Australia. He made only 10 in the second innings but his state completed a 290-run win nonetheless. Harvey's run-scoring tapered away in the last two matches of the season; he made 74 runs in three innings in the match. Nevertheless, he ended the season with 699 runs at 49.92; he had made the same number of runs in his first six first-class seasons since his debut in 1947–48. As a result, Ray was not chosen for the Test team alongside his brother during the season. Harvey faced a full-strength team with Australia's two leading Test bowlers Benaud and Davidson. He made 86 in the first innings but managed only 6 in the second before being removed by Benaud, as the Victorians ended 37 runs short of victory with five wickets in hand when time ran out. Harvey made six in his only innings in the last match of the season against Queensland. He ended the season with 233 runs at 46.60. opening up more vacancies in the Sheffield Shield. Harvey was given a recall in December 1959. However, he was not successful and failed to convert his starts into substantial scores, making 8, 36, 12, 25, 22 and 20 in three matches. In the last of these matches, he took his career-best bowling figures of 3/26, in the first innings against South Australia. He dismissed the top-scorer John Lill for 176 and his other victims were Michael Clingly and Peter Trethewey. Neil said that Ray's footwork was suspect and that the stronger bowlers in domestic cricket were able to exploit this. Neil said that if Ray had been able to rectify his weakness, then he could have become a Test player for Australia. Australian captain Bill Lawry said that Harvey was one of the two best district cricketers he had faced. Aside from his batting, Harvey was an occasional leg spinner, and was known for his fielding ability.