Happy Birthday, Victor Trumper

Victor Trumper

A birthday tribute to the one few have read about and none of the present era has seen in action may seem immaterial, yet every cricket aficionado deserves to be aware of this Australian who stood out among his contemporaries and won the hearts of his countrymen and opposition alike.

It is as if by an unspoken proclamation that Australian batsmen have always preferred accumulating runs to playing with grace. The finest of the Australians have believed in enhancing their reputation by sheer quantity, and not quality, of runs. More than being a stylist, the average Australian has always chosen to be a run-getter.

Unlike the Englishmen who mesmerized the world by the elegance and sophistication of their stroke-play, the Baggy Greens have more often than not disregarded style and focused on the practical requirement of scoring big. The sole exception – the very first in the cricketing island – goes by the name of Victor Thomas Trumper.

Legitimately regarded as the finest batsman of his time, Trumper was a unique blend of Australian practicality and English sense of individuality. He went on to carve a niche for him in the hearts of his countrymen and succeeded in welcoming accolades unalloyed with exaggerated superlatives.

Be it his exploits with the willow or the transiency of his health and consequent failure to do justice to his talent or his unexpected demise at an early age – everything associated with Trumper was as surreal as it could ever get. The lens of time has provided a mythical status to his accomplishments as he remains that fabled artist who used to flatter with technique and reign on unorthodoxy.

Trumper’s achievements shine like an illuminated manuscript in the midst of fetid volumes of mediocrity and ordinariness. It was his unorthodox style and versatility that elevated him among his contemporaries and aided his reputation of being invincible on treacherous wickets.

His ability to hold his ground on uncovered wickets that had undergone enough torture by the sun and the rain to trouble even the classically equipped batsmen made him a ominous threat to the opposition. His persistent success against the likes of Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst on sticky wickets portrayed him as a special talent in pre-war Australia.

The appeal of his style blossomed from his natural gift, which he consciously safeguarded from being refined by copybook technique. While his flawless harmony of hands and eyes remains a skill impossible to be replicated, his obstinate ignorance of the principles of sophisticated batsmanship defies scrutiny and ends up being a substance of magnificence.

That his instinctively natural fashion of scoring runs gave him an edge on damp wickets more than on true, fast ones is a fairly accepted theory. His score of 74 out of Australia’s total of 122 on a sticky MCG wicket in January, 1904 is one of the many instances where he stood tall among the ruins and prompted Jack Fingleton’s famous essay – Never another like Victor.

His unyielding resistance and ability to break the bowler’s spine was on full display during his unbeaten 300 against Sussex at Hove on his first tour in 1899. He kissed his zenith in 1902 with a series of brilliant efforts including 11 centuries in that summer. It was the same year at Old Trafford that he scripted history as the first man to score a century before lunch on the first day of a Test match.

As an artist of his trade, Trumper was fascinating regardless of conditions. His fluency lent a peculiar beauty to his strokes that appeared to be splendidly effortless and exceedingly effective. As C.B. Fry mentions, “He had no style, and yet he was all style. He had no fixed canonical method of play, he defied all orthodox rules, yet every stroke he played satisfied the ultimate criterion of style – the minimum of effort, the maximum of effect.”

Statistics, however, are not kind enough to this exponent of lavish innovation who made batting look like the easiest job on the planet. In 48 Test matches, Trumper’s scorecard reads 3163 runs at an unflattering average of 39.04. He hit eight centuries with the highest of 214 not out against South Africa at the Adelaide Oval in 1910-11, and 13 half-centuries.

It is unanimously accepted though, that Trumper’s genius far transcends the mere barrier of numbers and establishes its position with a firmness which only its possessor could boast of.

His concluding feat at Lancaster Park where he contributed 293 to a record 8th wicket partnership of 433 runs with Arthur Sims for a touring eleven against Canterbury only fifteen months before his demise touches a poignant chord on the instrument the strings of which he had meticulously tuned throughout his illustrious career.

The 1903 Wisden Cricketer of the Year was popular among his teammates for his modesty and generosity despite being aware of his talents and abilities. His down-to-earth behavior and humble manners charmed his followers who lined the streets to watch his funeral cortege on its way to Waverly Cemetry in 1914.

Ninety-nine years after this great Australian was laid to rest, his name continues to kindle memories of his exploits and his achievements continue to remain immortal in their own rights. And as the Earth completes its revolution round the sun for the 136th time, the cricket lover whispers his tribute to an age-old photograph paled by the desertion of time: Happy Birthday, Victor!