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 O'Reilly (cricketer)
On retirement as a player, O'Reilly became a cricket columnist for "The Sydney Morning Herald", remaining in that position until his health declined in 1988. His first engagement was England's tour of Australia in 1946–47, and during this season he began a partnership with the "Daily Express" of London, going on to cover several Ashes series for them. O'Reilly's articles for "The Sydney Morning Herald" were reproduced in its sister publication, "The Age" of Melbourne. Later, his writing was syndicated to newspapers in India, South Africa and New Zealand. His style was described by "Wisden" as "muscular, very Australian... flavoured with wit and imagery ('You can smell the gum-leaves off him', he wrote of one country boy just starting with Queensland)." Jack McHarg said that "The clarity, wit and pungency of his writing, together with almost infallible judgment, never deserted him", even as his health began to restrict him. He was a highly respected and forthright pundit, who hated one-day cricket, describing it as "hit and giggle". He condemned the omission of Keith Miller in 1949–50 and said that to call it "a complete surprise would be a cowardly way of describing a botch". Reacting to the selection of the dour batting all rounder Ken Mackay, he wrote "words fail...to express adequately my contempt for this howler". In 1952 he had a falling-out with Lindwall after condemning his protégé for bowling five consecutive bouncers at Everton Weekes in a Test. In comparison with his illustrious contemporary on-field and on paper, "while Sir Donald walked the corridors of cricketing power O'Reilly was the rumbustious backbencher." In 1956, O'Reilly strongly criticised Australian captain Ian Johnson, a Melburnian, for his leadership during the 1956 Ashes tour. "The Age" took exception to this and asked their sister publication to rein in their pundit. O'Reilly refused to shy away from his opinions and was dropped by the Melbourne publication. In the 1980s, when Bob Simpson became the first coach of Australia, O'Reilly, himself self-taught, spoke out against the creation of such posts. He was a strong critic of the breakaway World Series Cricket, the commercialization of the sport and the erosion of the social norms that were followed during his playing career.