Bill Lawry
Lawry was born in the Melbourne suburb of Thornbury. He was given the names William Morris after the early Prime Minister of Australia, William Morris Hughes. His father Alfred played amateur cricket until the age of 51. Bill never saw his father play, who was aged 47 when Bill was born. Aged nine, he played competitive cricket for the first time with the Thornbury Presbyterian Church team. He spent three years there, as well as playing for Preston Technical School. When he was twelve, he entered Melbourne's district competition playing for Northcote's fourth team, working his way up to the First XI by the age of sixteen. At the time, he was apprenticed as a plumber and attending Preston Technical College. Lawry was selected for Victoria's Second XI at the age of seventeen. He made a duck against the South Australians and did not see any further action for the Seconds for the rest of the summer of 1954–55. The following season, Lawry was recalled to the Seconds and scored 183 against South Australia.
Bill Lawry
He scored 81 in the first innings of the First Test as Australia took a 192-run advantage and complete a 159-run win to take a 1–0 lead. After failing in the next two drawn Tests, Lawry missed three weeks of cricket and the Fourth Test having sustained a broken finger in the previous Test. Up to this point, Australia had maintained their series lead against the run of play, aided by rain. In the Second Test, Lawry made a duck as Australia fell for 78, their lowest score since World War II. In the second innings he made 28 in Australia's 4/127. The tourists still needed 146 runs to make the hosts bat again, and were saved by rain, which washed out more than half the playing time. In the Third Test, Lawry was forced to retire hurt on six as Australia to England's 409 with 222. Due to inclement weather, England declared 329 runs ahead with seven wickets in hand and the Australians were 1/68 when the rain-shortened match ended.