Arthur Coningham ( 14 July 1863 – 13 June 1939) was an Australian cricketer who played in one Ashes Test match at Melbourne in 1894 in which he took a wicket with his very first ball. He took 2 for 17 in England's first innings but failed to add to that tally in the second.
Biography
Coningham was born in the Melbourne suburb of Emerald Hill in 1863. A left-handed batsman and left-arm fast-medium bowler, he played first-class cricket for New South Wales and Queensland in the 1890s. His highest first-class score was 151 for Queensland against New South Wales in 1895–96. His best bowling figures were 6 for 38 for New South Wales against Victoria in the 1896–97 Sheffield Shield.
A colourful character, Coningham was renowned as something of a joker. In an effort to stay warm while fielding in a tour match in 1893 at a frigid Blackpool he gathered straw and twigs and started a fire on the outfield. He revealed another side of his character on that same tour, winning an award for bravery after diving into the River Thames to save a boy from drowning.
Coningham was a chemist by profession, but also at times worked as a hairdresser, tobacconist and bookmaker. He found life difficult after he retired from the game, serving time in jail for fraud, and he died in an asylum. Coningham was involved in a famous scandal in 1899 when he sued his wife for divorce on the basis of her adultery with a Catholic priest, Fr Denis O'Haran, personal secretary to Cardinal Moran. The jury found against Coningham and the couple emigrated to New Zealand; in 1912, his wife divorced him for adultery.
His son was the World War I air ace and World War II commander Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham. Coningham died in 1939 and was buried in the Rookwood Cemetery.
References
External links
- Arthur Coningham at ESPNcricinfo
- The secret history of the Coningham case by "Zero" (1901) at Internet Archive
