| Birth name | Thomas Talbert Leon Austin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 9 March 1857 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Melbourne, Colony of Victoria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 11 February 1941 (aged 83) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Russell, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Otago Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Gerald Austin (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Warehouseman, orchardist | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Cricket information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | All-rounder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1877/78–1888/89 | Otago | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricketArchive,29 January 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thomas Talbert Leon Austin (9 March 1857 –11 February 1941),commonly known as Tal Austin,was a New Zealand cricketer and rugby union player. He played nine first-class cricket matches for the Otago cricket team,including one as captain,between 1878 and 1889,and made five appearances for the Otago rugby union team between 1879 and 1883.
Born in Melbourne,Victoria,on 9 March 1857, [1] Austin was from a well-known cricketing family in Dunedin. [2] Along with his three brothers—Gerry,Ernest James ("Tern"),and Bob—he was a member of the Carisbrook cricket club in Dunedin for many years from the early 1870s. [2] He moved with his family to Dunedin while a young boy,but was sent to school in Hobart,Tasmania,before completing his education at Otago Boys' High School. [3]
Remembered as a "fine all-round player", [4] Austin made his cricketing debut for Otago playing against the touring England side in 1877. [3] The following year,he was a member of the Otago XXII that played out a draw against the visiting Australian team at the Caledonian Ground. [3] During a career that stretched over 12 seasons from 1877/78 to 1888/89,Austin played nine first-class matches for Otago,scoring a total of 186 runs,at an average of 12.40 and with a high score of 36. [1] As a bowler,he took 17 wickets,with an average of 17.82 and best bowling figures of 6 for 63. [1] In the field,he took five catches. [1] Austin captained the Otago side in one first-class match,against Canterbury at Carisbrook in the 1885/86 season, [5] [6] and played as wicket-keeper in the first innings of a first-class game against Canterbury in 1883/84,taking three catches. [7]
Austin was a member of the Dunedin Rugby Football Club,and played five matches as a forward for the Otago provincial team from 1879 to 1883. [8] [9]
On 15 November 1893,Austin married Clara Bertha Westwood at St Mark's Church,in the Auckland suburb of Remuera. [10] After working as a warehouseman in Dunedin,Auckland,Wellington and Christchurch for many years, [8] in 1911 Austin took up a 20-acre (8 ha) block at Tasman,between Māpua and Motueka,and planted 15 acres (6 ha) of apple and pear trees in the first year. [11] [12] He was the inaugural president of the Hills Fruitgrowers' Union,and a founding member and secretary of the Bluffs Fruitgrowers' Company Limited. [8]
Austin died at his daughter's home in Russell on 11 February 1941,and he was buried at Russell Cemetery. [8] His wife,Clara,died in 1954. [13]