Albert 'Tibby' Cotter, the fastest bowler Australia had produced before the war and one of the Big Six who walked out in 1912, was killed in action at the Charge of Beersheba on 31 October 1917. He was 33. He had taken 89 wickets in 21 Tests.
Cotter played 21 Tests between 1903 and 1912, taking 89 wickets at 28.64 with a fastest delivery widely regarded as the quickest in the world during his peak years. He was one of the Big Six who refused to tour England in 1912.
Cotter enlisted in 1915 and was posted to the Middle Eastern theatre with the Light Horse. By October 1917 his unit was part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force preparing the assault on Beersheba.
Cotter was a stocky, round-arm, genuinely fast bowler from Sydney who had been Australia's strike weapon from 1903 to 1912. After the Big Six dispute he never played another Test. When war broke out he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, joining the 12th Light Horse Regiment. Posted to Palestine, he was a trooper at the Battle of Beersheba on 31 October 1917 — the famous mounted charge by the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments that took the Turkish defences. Accounts differ on exactly when Cotter fell. Most reliable narratives say he was shot near the wells of Beersheba in the late afternoon, after the charge had succeeded, while clearing Turkish positions. He was buried in the Beersheba War Cemetery. The news reached Australia weeks later and was reported in every major paper. Cotter joined Trumper, who had died of natural causes in 1915, in the lengthening list of Big Six players who would never play Test cricket again.
1903: Test debut for Australia
1912: Withdraws from Triangular tour as one of the Big Six
1915: Enlists in the AIF, 12th Light Horse
31 Oct 1917: Killed in action at Beersheba
1883
Albert Cotter born in Sydney
1903
Test debut against England
1912
Withdraws from Triangular tour
1915
Enlists in AIF
31 Oct 1917
Killed in action at Beersheba
“He bowled as fast as anyone I ever saw.”
Cotter was buried at Beersheba. His name is on the Australian Test cricket roll of honour. The 1917 Wisden carried a brief obituary.
Australia's pre-war strike bowler, killed at 33 in one of the most famous cavalry actions of the war.
Cotter is remembered as both Australia's first genuine fast bowler of the modern era and as one of the most prominent Test cricketers killed in the First World War. His grave at Beersheba is still visited by touring Australian cricket parties.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.