Tom Veivers

Thomas Robert Veivers (born 6 April 1937 in Beenleigh, Queensland) is a former Australian cricketer and politician who played in 21 Tests from 1963 to 1967. He was an all-rounder who bowled right arm off-spin bowler and batted left-handed. He later had a brief political career, holding the seat of Ashgrove in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1983 to 1986 for the Australian Labor Party. He was Commissioner-General of the Australian Pavilion at World Expo 88 in Brisbane in 1988. He was Chairman of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research Trust for ten years from 1991 to 2000 and appointed a Fellow of the Institute in 2000.

Educated at Downlands College, in Toowoomba in southeastern Queensland, Veivers attended the University of Queensland, whom he represented in club cricket. He was made the captain of the Queensland Colts and scored 126 against the New South Wales Colts in 1958/59. He made his first-class debut in same season against the touring English cricket team and made his Sheffield Shield that season also. He played as a middle order batsman and off-spinner, but did not command a regular spot in the Sheffield Shield team until the following season. He was selected for his first Australian squad in 1962, playing in an Australian XI against the visiting English team, in which he was hit for two sixes by Ted Dexter in his opening over. John Woodcock of The Times wrote "I doubt if it is possible to hit a cricket ball any harder than Dexter did today. Melbourne is a huge ground and no one who hits a six here is likely to forget it. Against Veivers, an off-spinner, Dexter twice cleared the sight screen, once by a good 20 yards." He was then selected for the Test team the following season to make his debut against South Africa in the First Test in Brisbane, in which he scored 14 batting at No. 8 and took 1/48. He was omitted for the third and fourth Tests, but managed to defy the South Africans with stubborn batting in the fifth Test in Sydney, salvaging a draw. He toured England in 1964, playing all Tests and scoring two half centuries and three three-wicket hauls. He followed this with two more half centuries and a career best of 4/68 on the tour to India.

He scored his Test best of 88 against Pakistan in Australia the following season but was unavailable to tour the West Indies in 1965 due to personal reasons. He had a difficult 1965-66 Ashes series back home against England, taking just four wickets and one half-century and then went on the 1966-67 tour of South Africa, which was his last international representation for Australia. He retired from first-class cricket the following year. His career was hampered by his bowling, which was seen as economical but not penetrative, with an average of over 40 [2]. He bowled one of the longest known bowling spells in Test cricket - 55 six-ball overs in England's innings of 611 at Old Trafford in 1964. Veivers bowled 75 of the last 80 overs delivered from the City end, and finished with figures of 95.1-36-155-3. This is the most number of balls bowled in a single innings of a Test Match by an Australian.

Veivers served as a Brisbane radio station executive, before serving as the secretary of the Queensland Cricket Association from 1974 to 1977 and a state selector from 1977 to 1982. He was the president of the QCA from 1989 to 1992. He was made a Life Member of Queensland Cricket in 2006.

His cousins, Mick & Greg Veivers, both represented for Australia at rugby league. Greg captained his country and Mick went on to become a Queensland state politician.