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George Bonnor
George Bonnor was born at Bathurst on 22 February 1855 and moved to Orange in 1887, where he was employed by Wright Heaton and Co. He resided with his brother, James Bonnor, at Strathroy in East Orange.
Bonnor was lured to Sydney to join the Old Alberts in 1879, and he was selected from there to represent Australia, where he made his Test debut at The Oval in 1880 in the first official test played between Australia and England.
Bonnor was to play a total of 17 tests, including the famous test of 1884 which saw the creation of the 'Ashes'. In his 17 tests, George Bonnor scored 512 runs at an average of 17.06, and he took two wickets at 42.00 from his 16 overs and his highest score was 128.
Bonnor was known as 'The Colonial Hercules', standing 6'6" tall and weighing 16 stone. The famous Dr W G Grace once wrote 'he is of the grandest specimens of humanity that ever stepped onto a cricket field.'
Bonnor was a tremendous hitter of the ball and at Melbourne he recorded a hit of 160 yards. He also had a powerful throwing arm, and during the boat trip to England in 1882, a wager was made that he could not throw the ball 100 yards. On arrival at Plymouth, Bonnor threw the ball 119 yards without removing his coat.
Playing in the Orange cricket competition in 1890 Bonnor lifted a ball out of Wade Park, which cleared Peisley Street and landed in a coal train headed for Bourke, where the ball was subsequently recovered. Needless to say, many teams were deterred from coming to Orange when they knew Bonnor was playing. Bonnor died of a heart attack in Orange on 27 June 1912. His grave is located in the Orange Cemetery and was restored by the Orange District Cricket Association in 1973.
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