Warwick Windridge Armstrong (May 22 1879 - July 13 1947) was an Australian cricketer. He captained the Australian cricket team in 1920/21 with good results, and was considered by many to be the best Australian all-round player through the first 20 years of the 20th Century.

Born in Kyneton, Armstrong played two seasons of Australian Rules Football for South Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League in 1899 and 1900 before taking cricket seriously.

His early cricket career included being a ground bowler for Melbourne Cricket Club members practicing in the nets at the MCG.

He was a large man (21 stone), who used his size and strength to great effect in intimidating opposition bowlers who described the cricket ball coming back at them after being struck by Armstrong as being "like a cannonball". He was known as the "Big Ship".

Armstrong was the only person to ever bowl two consecutive overs in a Test match. This occurred in at Old Trafford in Manchester in 1921 at the end of the day when the English team started to leave the ground, believing that stumps had been called. Armstrong, who had bowled the last over and was captain of the Australian team, appealed that another over was available and convinced the umpires to continue playing. On recommencement of play shortly after, he bowled an over without anyone apparently noticing that he'd also bowled the previous one.

"The Big Ship" had a first-class career that spanned twenty-four years and after retiring, became a cricket journalist. He was entered into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2000, fifty-three years after his death.

Teams

• Victoria state team
• Australian national team

Career Summary

Tests

Test Debut: vs England, Melbourne, 1901-1902
Last Test: vs England, The Oval, 1921

• Armstrong's highest Test score of 159 not out was against South Africa, Johannesburg, 1902-1903
• His best Test bowling effort of 6 for 35 was against England, Lord's, 1909

See also

Cricinfo Player Profile : Warwick Armstrong

Bibliography

• "The Big Ship" - Warwick Armstrong and the making of modern cricket by Gideon Haigh (ISBN: 1 876485 98 1)