John William O’Reilly (1930-2024)

ACT Player No: 239, Right handed batter, Right Arm Leg Spin bowler

John O’Reilly was a right handed batter and leg spin bowler. He played first-class cricket for New South Wales and grade cricket for Mosman, Petersham-Marrickville and St George in Sydney Grade cricket and Turner in ACT Grade cricket.

He made his grade debut for Mosman in 1945/46 playing third grade aged just 15 taking the remarkable figures of 7 for 10 in his first match including two wickets in his first over. The following season he made his 1st Grade debut for Mosman, playing the senior grade as well as in the Poidevin-Gray Shield (Under 21) competition. Fellow team mates in that side included future Test players Graham Hole and Ian Craig.

Between 1947/48 and 1951/52, he played 65 1st Grade matches scoring 1373 runs at 24.96 including one century and eight half centuries. With his leg spinners, he took 70 wickets at 21.57 with a best of 7 for 33, one of three 5 wickets in an innings for Mosman.

In January 1952 when aged 21, he was transferred from Sydney to Canberra by the Australian Tax Office. He travelled backwards and forwards during the remainder of the season to Sydney to complete the grade season with Mosman.

O’Reilly played for the Turner club from the 1952/53 season in the ACT Grade competition and dominated the competition. On debut he made a half century against Queanbeyan and took 5 wickets for the match. In his 3rd, 4th and 5th matches, he took 10, 11 and 11 wickets respectively and was selected for the ACT-Southern Districts side which took on Illawarra in Bowral. He made 98 and took 4 for 47 in that match. He made his debut for the ACT in January 1953 against his former grade club Mosman in the annual Mackenzie-Emerton Trophy match between the two side. Later that season he made three consecutive 1st Grade centuries, making 101, 127 not out and 102 in the Final which he also took 8 for 137.

The following season, 1953/54, he started the season by taking 5 wickets in an innings in four successive innings. He was then selected for the New South Wales Colts side as captain in their annual match against Queensland Colts. He made 113 in a side which included four future Test players. He then made 123 for a combined ACT-Southern Districts-Southern Tablelands side in Cootamundra. In February 1954, he became only the second ACT player to be selected for the New South Wales side while playing in the ACT Grade competition when he was selected to play against Western Australia where he made an unbeaten 41 and took two wickets. He played one further Sheffield Shield match that season, against South Australia. He lead Turner to a second successive 1st Grade Premiership at the end of the season.

He played one further Sheffield Shield match, playing against Queensland in October 1954. He made his debut for the Prime Minister’s XI side in December against the touring MCC side dismissing Peter May. He was transferred back to Sydney by the Tax Office in December 1954, playing his last match for Turner in that month. He was farewelled at a function where he remarked “If I had stayed in Sydney I would not have had the chance to play in the Sheffield Shield matches”. It was remarked by WI Emerton, the ACT Cricket Association President that he had lifted the standard of cricket in Canberra. For Turner he played 28 times, scoring 1049 runs at 38.85 including three centuries. He took 153 wickets for Turner in two and a half seasons at the low average of 10.01. His best bowling was 8 for 21 and he took 5 wickets in an innings on 14 occasions. He played nine times for the ACT, captaining them in eight matches taking 11 wickets.

On transferring back to Sydney, he played out the season with Mosman and then played with Petersham-Marrickville the following two seasons, but his chances were limited after breaking his knee-cap in training with the New South Wales squad in the 1955/56 season. He moved to St George in the 1957/58 season to seek more opportunities for his bowling. He had a lot more success with St George, especially with his bowling, being seen as the “go to” bowler and being a key member of their 1960/61 and 1965/66 1st Grade Premiership sides. He was selected again for the New South Wales side in 1959 on the back of his bowling with St George. He represented the state on seven occasions, scoring 190 runs and taking 13 wickets. He retired from Grade cricket in 1968 and moved back to Canberra with his family to take up an executive position with the Tax Office. In Sydney 1st Grade cricket, he scored 1233 runs with a top score of 143 not out and took 304 wickets at 18.43 with a best of 8 for 64.

O’Reilly continued to work for the Tax Office until his retirement in 1986 where he had reached the position of Senior Assistant Commissioner in the Sydney Tax Office. His three sons all played cricket at a senior level. Peter played for the ACT between 1978 and 1982 and 1st Grade for South Woden and Woden in the ACT and St George, Western Suburbs, Campbelltown and Northern District in Sydney 1st Grade, scoring over 6000 runs in 1st Grade matches. He was also selected to play for the Australian Over 60s side in the 2024 World Cup in India. Michael played two matches for South Woden before becoming the owner of a successful mortgage broking business. Steve played for South Woden and Woden before playing for Macquarie University scoring nearly 10,000 runs for the later club in the Shires Competition.