Reggie Duff

A sturdy right-hand bat who watched the ball closely and was at the turn of the century one of Australia's best batsmen, Reggie Duff made a sensational Test debut against England at Melbourne in 1901-02 when he became the second No.10 to score a Test hundred, and only the third Australian to score a century on debut. The circumstances were unusual in that Duff was a frontline batsman who had been held back because of a sticky wicket. With Warwick Armstrong he added 120 for the last wicket as Australia won by 299 runs. He toured England in 1902 and 1905 with great success, scoring more than 1000 runs on both visits but Wisden noted that "he was never the same again after the second trip" and within two seasons he had left the first-class game even though he was still not 30. The truth was that Duff was an alcoholic whose cricket was greatly affected by his drinking. Following his retirement his condition rapidly deteriorated and he died broke and broken in 1911 aged 33. His former NSW colleagues paid for his funeral. Martin Williamson