{{short description|Australian rules footballer and cricketer}} {{Use Australian English|date=September 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Sam McMichael | image = Sam McMichael.png | country = Australia | fullname = Samuel Albert McMichael | birth_date = {{Birth date|1869|7|18|df=yes}} | birth_place = Clifton Hill, Victoria, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|1923|4|21|1869|7|18|df=yes}} | death_place = Brighton, Victoria, Australia | batting = Right-handed | bowling = | role = Batsman | club1 = Victoria | year1 = {{nowrap|1891/92–1903/04}} | columns = 1 | column1 = First-class | matches1 = 27 | runs1 = 1,032 | bat avg1 = 24.57 | 100s/50s1 = 0/6 | top score1 = 97 | hidedeliveries = true | catches/stumpings1 = 21/– | date = 5 November | year = 2021 | source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/samuel-mcmichael-6780 Cricinfo }} '''Samuel Albert McMichael''' (18 July 1869 – 21 April 1923) was an Australian first-class cricketer who represented Victoria in the Sheffield Shield. He also played Australian rules football with Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
==Cricket== McMichael was a specialist batsman, scoring six half centuries for Victoria, with a highest score of 97, against South Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/4/4929.html| title= Victoria v South Australia 1897/98| publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref>
He later served as manager of the Victorian team; during a match against Queensland at the Brisbane Cricket Ground in March 1903, McMichael saved a lady in the grandstand from injury when he caught a ball hit for six just centimetres from her face.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Cricket |journal=Star |date=5 March 1903 |page=4 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS19030305.2.59}}</ref>
McMichael had a long career with East Melbourne Cricket Club, scoring more than 5000 runs with a highest score of 246 not out. He was also the club's secretary, credited with restoring the club's finances at a difficult time.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sam McMichael |journal=Sporting Globe |date=25 April 1923 |page=9 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/184806851}}</ref>
==Football== In the 1890s McMichael was a leading player for Fitzroy in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and represented Victoria against South Australia.
Following the formation of the Victorian Football League (VFL), McMichael played ten games for Fitzroy during the 1897 inaugural VFL season, including Fitzroy's first VFL game, serving as captain in place of the injured Bill Cleary.
==Sports journalism== He also wrote for some years for the Sydney sports weekly, ''The Referee'', under the ''nom de plume'' "The Onlooker".<ref>[http://www.blueseum.org/Sam+McMichael ''Blueseum'': Sam McMichael.]</ref>
== References == {{reflist}} * [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/128109063 Manning, E.B., "A Sportsman and a Man: Appreciation of the Late Mr. Sam McMichael", ''The Referee'', (Wednesday, 2 May 1923), p.13.]
== External links == * {{cricinfo|id=6780}} * {{AFL Tables|ref=S/Sam_McMichael.html}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMichael, Sam}} Category:1869 births Category:1923 deaths Category:Australian cricketers Category:Victoria cricketers Category:People from Clifton Hill, Victoria Category:Fitzroy Football Club (VFA) players Category:Fitzroy Football Club players Category:Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Category:Cricketers from Melbourne Category:Australian sports journalists Category:People from the Colony of Victoria
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