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 Alley
Alley's 10 centuries for Somerset in 1961 remained a county record for thirty years. In 1962 he received the honour of being one of "Wisden's" five cricketers of the year, based on his performances in 1961 and during his career. In the 1962 season, he made over 1,900 runs and took 112 wickets. It was in 1962 that he got his best bowling return of 8 for 65 against a strong Surrey side, that included Ken Barrington, Peter May and Bernie Constable.
Many people expressed doubts about his exact age, and on being presented by Denis Compton with the Cricketer of the Year Award for 1962, Compton said "it is stated that you are only 43 years old. Well if you are only 43, then I am still a baby in a nappy." Compton had retired 5 years earlier, in 1957, the same year Alley had started his English first-class career.