Arthur Coningham (cricketer)

Arthur Coningham (/koʊnɪŋhæm/ 14 July 1863 – 13 June 1939) was an Australian cricketer who played in one Ashes Test match at Melbourne in 1894 in which he took a wicket with his very first ball.^[1] He took 2 for 17 in England's first innings but failed to add to that tally in the second.^[2]

Arthur Coningham

Personal information
Born	(1863-07-14)14 July 1863 Emerald Hill, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died	13 June 1939(1939-06-13) (aged 76) Gladesville, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Left-arm fast-medium
Role	All-rounder
Relations	Arthur Coningham (son)
International information
National side	Australia
Only Test (cap 69)	29 December 1894 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1892/93–1898/99	New South Wales
1893/94–1895/96	Queensland
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class Matches 1 35 Runs scored 13 896 Batting average 6.50 15.71 100s/50s 0/0 1/2 Top score 10 151 Balls bowled 186 5,871 Wickets 2 112 Bowling average 38.00 23.24 5 wickets in innings 0 7 10 wickets in match 0 0 Best bowling 2/17 6/38 Catches/stumpings 0/– 28/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 10 September 2022

Coningham pictured middle (front row) with the 1893 Australia national cricket team

Biography

Coningham was born in the Melbourne suburb of Emerald Hill in 1863. A left-handed batsman and left-arm fast-medium bowler, he played first-class cricket for New South Wales and Queensland in the 1890s. His highest first-class score was 151 for Queensland against New South Wales in 1895–96.^[3] His best bowling figures were 6 for 38 for New South Wales against Victoria in the 1896–97 Sheffield Shield.^[4]

A colourful character, Coningham was renowned as something of a joker. In an effort to stay warm while fielding in a tour match in 1893 at a frigid Blackpool he gathered straw and twigs and started a fire on the outfield. He revealed another side of his character on that same tour, winning an award for bravery after diving into the River Thames to save a boy from drowning.^[5][6]

Coningham was a chemist by profession, but also at times worked as a hairdresser, tobacconist and bookmaker.^[6] He found life difficult after he retired from the game, serving time in jail for fraud, and he died in an asylum.^[7] Coningham was involved in a famous scandal in 1899 when he sued his wife for divorce on the basis of her adultery with a Catholic priest, Fr Denis O'Haran, personal secretary to Cardinal Moran.^[8] The jury found against Coningham and the couple emigrated to New Zealand; in 1912, his wife divorced him for adultery.^[8]

His son was the World War I air ace and World War II commander Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham. Coningham died in 1939 and was buried in the Rookwood Cemetery.^[9][10]