Bert Tobin

Bertrandt Joseph Tobin (11 November 1910 – 19 October 1969) was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for South Australia from 1930 to 1935.

Bert Tobin

Personal information
Full name	Bertrandt Joseph Tobin
Born	(1910-11-11)11 November 1910 North Adelaide, South Australia
Died	19 October 1969(1969-10-19) (aged 58) Adelaide, South Australia
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast-medium
Role	All-rounder
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1930-31 to 1930-34	South Australia
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 26 Runs scored 722 Batting average 16.04 100s/50s 0/4 Top score 61 Balls bowled 3667 Wickets 51 Bowling average 39.03 5 wickets in innings 0 10 wickets in match 0 Best bowling 4/31 Catches/stumpings 17/0
Source: Cricinfo, 27 November 2019

Life and career

The son of a railway official, Bert Tobin lived in North Adelaide. He was educated at Rostrevor College in Adelaide from 1925 to 1928, boarding in his final two years. He was a prominent member of the school's cricket and football teams.^[1] He won the South Australian Junior Golf Championship in 1928.^[2]

A hard-hitting batsman in the middle or lower order and a fast-medium opening bowler, Tobin stood six feet two inches tall.^[3] He made his first-class debut for South Australia in the 1930–31 season just before his 20th birthday. He took his best first-class figures of 4 for 31 against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield in November 1932, when he and Tim Wall dismissed Victoria for 92 and South Australia won by three wickets.^[4] He made his highest first-class score of 61 in the next match, against New South Wales.^[5]

Despite his good form it was a surprise when he was selected in the Australian team for the Fourth Test against England later that season, as his overall achievements had been moderate: "a useful rather than a match-winning figure in South Australian cricket".^[6] He probably owed his selection to his ability to bowl bouncers.^[2] In the event he was made twelfth man and was not selected for Australia again.^[7][8]

During his South Australian career Tobin worked in the Adelaide sports store part-owned by the cricketer Philip Lee.^[3] He left Australia in 1935 to play as a professional for Rishton in the Lancashire League.^[1] He remained in the UK, marrying a rich woman and playing club cricket in Scotland.^[7][9] After two decades abroad he returned to Australia, coaching cricket in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon and in Alice Springs.^[2]