Wally Horne 1912-89 - The man who hit Bill O’Reilly for six to win the 1st Grade premiership
Randwick Petersham Cricket Club | November 26, 2024
Wally Horne had been something of an enigma for Marrickville. Prior to him joining the club in 1933-34 his intention to do so had been mentioned in glowing terms in the annual report of the previous season as a “prolific run-getter in the Bowral District (who) is now residentially qualified for the club and will play in the coming season”. In the 1934-35 Marrickville DCC annual report, Mr George Garnsey, Official Coach NSW Cricket Association, commented “of the young players who came under notice last season I would commend W Horne for his enthusiasm and promise”.
Unfortunately, young Wally was unable to reproduce his Bowral form with Marrickville. In his first five seasons he had better performances in 2nd Grade, with just 364 runs made in 26 games in 1sts following his debut in 1934-35. He married Noel Ida Alpen at Marrickville in 1938 and was thereafter lost to the club for five years, during which time he served as a member of the Fighting Services.
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In 1943-44, the then 31-year-old returned to the club and was immediately selected in 1st Grade, although his relegation to 2s for one match brought him a score of 51. Batting in the low middle order, Horne struggled to get big scores with 25 his best until top-scoring in a losing match against Manly with 34*, a few games prior to the final game of the season against St George at Marrickville Oval. He went into that last round with a season aggregate of just 210 runs at an average of 15.00. But despite his mediocre club record and with just a single stroke, Wally proved to be the hero in a match which was Marrickville’s greatest.
Over 8,000 spectators had crammed into Marrickville Oval on Saturday 1 April 1944 for the clash between defending four-time premiers St George and the hopeful Marrickville First XI, attempting to win the 1st Grade competition for the first time. Chasing Saints’ 9-150 declared, Horne, listed at no. 7, came in to bat with the score a shaky 5-115. He skied the second ball he received from the St George champion and Australian Test spin-bowler Bill O’Reilly but was dropped in a fielding mix-up. Three wickets fell while Horne was at the crease and when pace bowler Fred Dawes joined him, 18 runs were needed in 10 minutes with just two wickets in hand. Somehow, they survived the following two overs with a succession of singles. With one over to go and nine to win, the boisterous crowd fell silent. This was make or break time.
Wally Horne was on strike to O’Reilly who had taken 147 wickets at just 8.2 runs apiece that season. But to the consternation of the crowd, he carefully played back Bill’s first ball. Bill’s second ball however, was his dangerous wrong-‘un which Wally later said he “picked” and with one almighty swing he struck the ball in the meat of the bat and watched it sail over the fence at deep square leg for six! A two off the next ball and a three off the next and Wally Horne and Marrickville had done it! The premiership was Marrickville’s and with that one heroic blow, Wally Horne was the toast of the district! A hero forever.
There was an interesting connection between O’Reilly and Horne. They both came from country cricket and at different times played in the Southern Tablelands competition around the Bowral district. They also had an odd link with Donald Bradman. O’Reilly’s first encounter with his future Test captain had come one Saturday afternoon in 1925 at Bowral Oval, where a 16-year-old Bradman hit a ground record score of 234, many runs coming from O’ Reilly’s bowling. Wally Horne too, had played on a Saturday afternoon at Bowral Oval and in 1932 had broken that ground record of Bradman’s, by knocking up 235.
Wally Horne played for another two seasons with Marrickville before retiring. In 1944-45 he had his best season in the top grade finishing third in the batting aggregate with 315 runs. His highest score of 59 was only the third time he had passed the half-century mark in 1st Grade. The following summer the dashing right-hander struggled with the bat, returning only 151 runs at an average of 18.87 with 33 his best.
Horne scored 2,332 runs with seven fifties for Marrickville in nine playing seasons spread over a 15 years period. In 1st Grade, he totalled 1,067 runs at 17.21 with 72 his best score. And while his performances throughout his Marrickville playing career were far from spectacular, Wally Horne will always be remembered as “the man who hit Bill O’Reilly for six to win the 1st Grade premiership”.
Walter Henry Horne was born at West Maitland on 25 September 1912 and died at Winston Hills on 26 August 1989 aged 76.
Lyall Gardner
Randwick Petersham Historian
