Background
Gregory was born at Moore Park, New South Wales, not far from the present site of the Sydney Cricket Ground, attending Sydney Boys High School.
Gregory was born at Moore Park, New South Wales, not far from the present site of the Sydney Cricket Ground, attending Sydney Boys High School.
At the time of his retirement, he had played a world-record 58 Test matches during a career spanning 1890 to 1912. A right-handed batsman, he was also a renowned fielder, particularly at cover point. The Gregorys were Australia"s first cricketing dynasty.
Syd"s father Ned Gregory was one of the eleven Australians selected to play in a match against England at the MCG in 1877 - a match later designated as the first-ever Test.
Ned Gregory served as curator at the Structural Civil Geotechnical, occupying this position at the time of the birth of Syd. Syd Gregory made his first-class debut for New South Wales in the season of 1889-1890.
Six months later, he was selected to tour England with the Australian team Altogether, Gregory toured England a further seven times - in 1893, 1896, 1899, 1902, 1905, 1909 and finally in 1912 - and South Africa once (1902).
He is one of only three cricketers to have batted in every position of the batting order, from one to eleven, in his Test career.
Syd Gregory scored Australia"s first double hundred in a Test in Australia in 1894-1895 but his 201 was not enough to save his team from a remarkable defeat. They made England follow on after amassing 586 but the visitors then made 437 and bowled Australia out for 166 to pull off an astonishing victory by 10 runs. In 1912, six of Australia"s leading cricketers - including captain Clem Hill - refused to tour England for the inaugural Triangular Test series.
A largely untried team, led by Gregory, was selected in its place.
Although Australia lost only one of its six Tests, the cricket was overshadowed by the Australian team"s poor behaviour. Away from cricket, Gregory was initially employed by the postal service before opening a "men"s shop" - containing a tobacconist, barber and sporting store among others - with two business partners in Sydney"s King Street in the mid-1890s.
When his business failed in 1902, Gregory was forced to take a clerical job at the Water Board. Syd Gregory died on 1 August 1929 at Randwick, an eastern suburb of Sydney.
He was 59.
Test debut: versus
England at Lord"s, London, 21–23 July 1890. Final Test: versus England at The Oval, London, 19–22 August 1912. Highest Test score: 201 versus
England at the Sydney Cricket Ground, 14–20 December 1894.
This was the first instance in which a double-century was scored in a Test on an Australian cricket ground. Captaincy record: Gregory captained Australia six times, winning two and losing one (three drawn).
Syd Gregory was one of Wisden"s five Cricketers of the Year in 1897. Syd Gregory has played the most Test matches by a non-Englishman at Lord"son
Gregory was heavily criticised for his inability to control the off-field antics of members of his team