Inspirational Athletes – 2

The name Albert Moss will mean little to many sports fans, yet if ever there was ever a man to inspire hope no matter what, Albert would be someone whose story should be remembered.

Moss was born in 1863 in Hugglescote, in Leicestershire. Albert was the second child to his boot-maker father Edward and mother Ann, who would give birth to four more children after Albert.

It has been said that as a youngster Albert was hyperactive and struggled to concentrate at school. No doubt today there would have been a label for his condition, but back then he was just regarded as being a little different.

He must have done alright, as following his schooling he became a teacher in Derby.

These were very tough times, and his younger brother James, like many in that era succumbed to tuberculosis. So too did his father.

In what was an incredibly bold move, Albert decided that he had to leave England to be sure of avoiding the same fate. In 1889 he set off for New Zealand, and his wife-to-be Mary Hall would follow later.

On arrival in New Zealand he joined the Lancaster Park Cricket Club in Canterbury. Historians of New Zealand Cricket have written of him that at that time he was “probably the fastest bowler ever seen in New Zealand.”

Not surprisingly he caught the eye of the Provincial selectors. He was selected for Canterbury, and made his debut against Wellington at Christchurch on 27 December 1889. Heavy rain the night before the opening day of the match meant the wicket was a tricky one. The sun drying it resulted in uneven bounce and plenty of movement off the wicket. Canterbury batted first and made 138 all out.

Moss opened the bowling and tore through Wellington. He wrote his name into the history books by becoming the only man to take all ten wickets in an innings of a first class match on debut. He recorded figures of 10 for 28 off 21.3 six-ball overs. Wellington were dismissed for 71.

For history’s sake it is important to note at this point that in 1900-01 ‘Fitz’ Hinds, playing for AB St Hill’s XI against Trinidad, also took ten wickets on debut. He recorded figures of 10 for 36 at Port-of-Spain, but the match in question had been a 12-a-side game, and Henry Simmons was the other wicket-taker. Hence making Moss’s record stand the test of time as the only occurrence in 11-a-side cricket.

Moss took three wickets in the second innings as Canterbury won by 39 runs.

In a lovely gesture Lancaster Park had a plaque mounted on the match ball and presented it to Albert to commemorate his achievement. It has been written that it became his “dearest possession.”

He played three more matches for Canterbury and took 13 wickets in those games. In the four first class matches he played he took five wickets in an innings twice, and ten wickets in an innings once. He took 26 wickets at an average of 10.96.

HIs wife-to-be Mary Hall arrived in New Zealand in 1891 and the two were reunited and married. It was however not to be a happy time.

Albert it has been said had started to suffer severe headaches. Headaches that prevented him sleeping.

Doctors at the time diagnosed his condition as being tubercular meningitis. His doctor, Dr Benjamin Moorhouse believed that the consumptive process was likely to cause degeneration of his brain and spinal cord, and added that there was the possibility of seizures.

His behaviour became erratic at work and at home. It all came to a head in July 1891. One day he attacked his wife with an axe and then slit his own throat with a razor. Incredibly both survived. His trial had a little bit of everything in it. It was reported that he had tried to poison his wife prior to the attack, he had claimed he had been swindled out of a considerable sum of money, but this was never proven, and it came out that he had an alcohol problem, which had contributed to his already troubled mental state.

He was found not guilty by way of insanity. He did however go to jail and was released in December 1896. It was reported that he had “been pardoned and sent to Montevideo.”

He drifted around South America and from what has been patched together of his life, alcohol once again became a problem. Somehow he ended up in Cape Town, South Africa. He landed a job with the railways, but was fired for being drunk. In 1904 he then received notice that Mary wanted a divorce.

He decided that suicide was the only option. Legend has it that he prayed for forgiveness for what he was about to do, and then ended up talking to a man from the Salvation Army who dissuaded him. Other accounts say that he simply lacked the courage to go through with the act. Whatever, he turned his life around from that point on.

Initially he worked on a social farm in Rondebosch which was run by the Salvation Army. Then in 1910 he applied for a position with the Salvation Army, and at age 47 was appointed as a probationary Lieutenant. He worked in Johannesburg and Pretoria rehabilitating former prisoners and alcoholics.

His good work was featured in an edition of War Cry, the Salvation Army newspaper in 1915.

Mary had moved on with her life. She was a teacher in New Zealand. Then fate, or God moving in mysterious ways resulted in a freakish incident. The New Zealand edition of War Cry reported it as follows: “Stopping on a stretch of road, she felt a piece of paper blow against her legs by a strong gust of wind.”

That piece of paper was an edition of War Cry, the one that carried the article on her ex husband’s good work in South Africa.

Soon after Albert received a package and a note. It came from Mary. It was his most “dearest possession,” the cricket ball he had taken ten wickets with to carve his name in history.

The communication lines were open, and for three years the two corresponded before Mary headed to South Africa. In 1918 the couple remarried and Mary worked alongside Albert at the Salvation Army for seven years. Then with her health failing the couple headed back to England.

They had ten happy years together there, until in 1928 Mary passed away. Albert stayed in their house until he finally went to join her in 1945, aged 82.

As for his ball, he requested that it be returned to Lancaster Park Cricket Club in Canterbury, which it was. However it has a tale of its own after that…