Australia may have had a memorable year in cricket in 2023, but it also marked the end for some of its greatest cricketers. Let’s take a moment to remember the former Australian Test players who passed away in 2023.
Peter Allan, a right-arm fast bowler, made his Sheffield Shield debut for Queensland in the 1959-60 season. He struggled to establish himself in the team until 1963, where consistent form saw him included in the Australian team to tour the West Indies in the 1964-65 season. Unfortunately, illness kept him out of the Test matches. He was selected to make his Test debut at age 29 in the opening Ashes Test at Brisbane in December 1965, with Allan finishing the drawn match with figures of 2/83. He was made 12th man for the second Test and then dropped for the third. Allan was effectively put an end to his Test career by injury.
Ken Archer, a handy opening batsman, represented Queensland in cricket. He thought his Test career was on the way when he was selected in Lindsay Hassett’s team for the 1949-50 tour of South Africa but was selected as 12th man in all five Tests. He ended his career in 1956-57 season and was later appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia in 1980.
Brian Booth was a natural athlete, representing Australia in both cricket and hockey, he was a district tennis champion, and a gifted middle-distance runner. In cricket, he played for the St George club from 1952 to 1977, and scored 1773 Test runs, with five centuries and 10 half-centuries. In hockey, he played over 300 games for the St George club across 20 seasons. Brian Booth passed away in May 2023, aged 89.
Brian Taber, with a Test batting average at a shade over 16, had a career that did not fit the modern-day wicket-keeping all-rounder mold. However, he was considered to be one of the best glovemen in the history of Australian cricket. He played 129 first-class games for 395 dismissals and scored eight half-centuries and a single century along the way. Brian Taber passed away in July 2023, aged 83.
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