Charles Mcleod

McLEOD CHARLES, born October 24, 1869, died November 26. While Wisden was passing through the press the news came from Melbourne by mail that Charles McLeod died on the 26th of November at his time at Toorah. Though never a great force in Australian cricket he was an excellent all-round man, good enough for a place in almost any eleven. He came to England with the great Australian team of 1899, and paid us a second visit in 1905. In both tours, without doing anything startling, he justified his selection. In 1899 he was overshadowed by the many finer batsmen on the side, but he scored 545 runs, with an average of 17. The Australians were so strong that he was given a chance in only one of the five Test matches, but against England at the Oval he scored 31 not out and 77. He was always a batsman of the ultra-careful school, very strong in defence, but undistinguished in style. Bowling fairly well in 1899 he took eighty-one wickets at a rather heavy cost. The tour of 1905 found him much the same cricketer as before; he scored 722 runs and took ninety-one wickets. This time he played in all five Test matches, but did little or nothing. For many seasons-- 1893 to 1905-- McLeod was a member of the Victorian eleven in the inter-State matches. He played an innings of 112 against England at Melbourne in 1898 and scored 100 against New South Wales in 1896.