Ted Cotton – one of Sydney First Grade’s finest all-rounders

Sutherland District Cricket Club | July 19, 2024

There have been 115 instances of a player scoring a century and taking five wickets in an innings in the same match in the 131-year history of Sydney first grade cricket. Only four of those doubles have been performed by a player aged 40 or older. Three were achieved by two former Test players who are both members of the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame:

MA (Monty) Noble – 1917-18 (aged 44) – 118 & 5-75 for Paddington vs North Sydney

CG (Charlie) Macartney – 1927-28 (aged 41) – 178 & 5-43 for Gordon vs Central Cumberland

CG (Charlie) Macartney – 1929-30 (aged 43) – 112 & 5-30 for Gordon vs Manly

 

The third player to achieve the feat was Sutherland’s Ted Cotton, in the Round 13 versus Western Suburbs at Caringbah Oval on 7th & 14th February 1970, finishing the match aged 40 years & 190 days. It was a match that was significant for more than just Ted’s all-round performance – in the Wests innings on day two, former Australian captain Bob Simpson made the highest score ever made at Caringbah/Glenn McGrath Oval.

 

Sutherland DCC is proudly sponsored by Tradies Gymea, Caringbah & Helensburgh.

 

After winning the toss on day one and electing to bat, Ted opened the batting and carried his bat through the innings to finish on 125 not out in Sutherland’s total of 265 (off 47.5 overs). He scored his runs in 241 minutes, with his innings comprising 15 fours, 2 threes, 13 twos and 33 singles. Sutherland were in trouble at 7/127 with Ted on 58, when young tearaway opening bowler Les Ritchie joined him at the crease. Four weeks earlier, Les had scored 101 off 59 balls in 45 minutes against Bankstown-Canterbury – still the fastest century in terms of minutes batted in the Club’s history. Les was in fine form again, making 68 in 63 minutes with 13 fours, as he and Ted put on 123 for the 8th wicket. Les’s swashbuckling style managed to attract the attention of Wests captain Bob Simpson at first slip, with plenty of batting advice forthcoming. The best of the Wests bowlers was future Sutherland player Peter Ferguson, with 5-84 off 16.5 overs.

Wests dismissed Sutherland with 70 minutes still left in the day’s play and they finished the day on 1/46 off 12 overs, with Bob Simpson not out on 24 and future Sutherland first grade captain Brian O’Dowd not out on 9. Les Ritchie opened the bowling and had 0-17 off 4 overs, beating the outside edge a number of times. During that short spell, he had further words with Simpson, prompting Simmo to suggest to Les at stumps, “You’re going to be sorry next week!”

On day two, Simmo duly delivered on his threat, scoring a magnificent 229 in 323 minutes. He totally dominated the Wests innings, being 7th man out with the score on 318. His innings comprised 4 sixes, 19 fours, 3 threes, 19 twos and 82 singles, highlighting his reputation as a master of rotating the strike. To show how determined he was to follow through on his promise to score a double century, he didn’t hit a six until after he reached 200. After getting to 200, he faced another 10 balls: 1 . 6 6 . 6 4 6 . W! In fairness to Les, he did have Simmo dropped at slip when he was about 50. Les finished with very respectable figures of 1-56 off 21 overs.

The match finished with Wests on 8/363 off 83.6 overs (8-ball overs in those days). Ted Cotton ended with a fine 5-90 off 20.6 overs. Among his wickets were Simpson, O’Dowd & Ferguson. This is the match scorecard:

In first grade history, 34 players aged 40 or older have scored a century in first grade and 46 players aged 40 or older have taken five wickets in an innings in first grade. Only 8 players are on both lists:

Monty Noble (Paddington), Les Pye (Central Cumberland), Charlie Macartney (Gordon), Charlie Kelleway (Gordon), Tommy Andrews (Petersham), Ted Cotton (Sutherland), Vic Jackson (Waverley) & Eddie Robinson (Manly Warringah).

The Western Suburbs match was the third time Ted Cotton had scored a century and taken five wickets in an innings in first grade. The first two occasions were when he played for Paddington:

1953-54 : 138 & 5-56 Paddington vs St.George

1958-59 : 113 & 5-41 Paddington vs North Sydney

Ted Cotton wearing his NSW Sheffield Shield blazer during his Paddington playing days

 

Ted Cotton scored 7680 runs and took 605 wickets in first grade for Paddington and Sutherland between 1947 and 1970. He is one of only 11 players who have scored 7000 runs and taken 600 wickets in first grade:

Ken Gulliver (Mosman) : 9322 runs & 1029 wickets

Anthony Clark (Fairfield-Liverpool) : 10852 runs & 715 wickets

Ken Hall (Nepean, Penrith, Hawkesbury, Bankstown) : 8547 runs & 815 wickets

Jarrad Burke (Penrith, Campbelltown Camden, Bankstown, Fairfield-Liverpool) : 10965 runs & 683 wickets

Robbie Aitken (Fairfield, Petersham-Marrickville, Parramatta, North Sydney) : 11761 runs & 639 wickets

Grant Lambert (Fairfield-Liverpool) : 11413 runs & 626 wickets

Monty Noble (Paddington) : 10277 runs & 674 wickets

Scott Thompson (Bankstown, St.George) : 8957 runs & 676 wickets

Kerry Mackay (Northern District, Manly Warringah) 8625 runs & 607 wickets

Tony Clark (Sutherland, Campbelltown Camden, Blacktown) : 7345 runs & 663 wickets

Ted Cotton (Paddington, Sutherland) : 7680 runs & 605 wickets

 

Double centuries scored at Caringbah/Glenn McGrath Oval:

229      Bob Simpson (1st Grade – Western Suburbs vs Sutherland – 1969-70)

225      Nic Maddinson (1st Grade – Sutherland vs Penrith – 2011-12)

216      John DiBartolo (2nd Grade – Western Suburbs vs Sutherland – 2011-12)

215      David Murphy (2nd Grade – Sutherland vs Campbelltown Camden – 2009-10)

212*    Matthew Bradley (1st Grade – Sutherland vs Hawkesbury – 1999-00)

208      Phil Jaques (2nd Grade – Sutherland vs Bankstown – 1997-98)

 

Batsmen who have carried their bat in a completed first grade innings (non-L/O) aged over 40:

Monty Noble – 1918-19 (aged 45) – 122* out of 222 for Paddington vs Middle Harbour

Ted Cotton – 1969-70 (aged 40) – 125* out of 265 for Sutherland vs Western Suburbs

Bob Simpson – 1976-77 (aged 40) – 126* out of 229 for Western Suburbs vs Central Cumberland

Les Johns – 1985-86 (aged 43) – 164* out of 259 for Sutherland vs Hawkesbury