{{short description|English cricketer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Whiz Morris | image = Whiz Morris of Essex.jpg | imagesize = 170px | country = | fullname = Harold Marsh Morris | nickname = Whiz | birth_date = {{birth date|1898|4|16|df=yes}} | birth_place = Wanstead, Essex, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1984|11|18|1898|4|16|df=yes}} | death_place = Brighton, Sussex, England | batting = Right-handed | bowling = | role = | club1 = Essex | year1 = 1919–1932 | clubnumber1 = | club2 = | year2 = | clubnumber2 = | columns = 1 | column1 = FC | matches1 = 246 | runs1 = 7086 | bat avg1 = 19.52 | 100s/50s1 = 3/34 | top score1 = 166 | deliveries1 = 1439 | wickets1 = 16 | bowl avg1 = 55.43 | fivefor1 = 0 | tenfor1 = 0 | best bowling1 = 2/16 | catches/stumpings1 = 80/0 | date = 21 July | year = 2013 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/17097.html Cricinfo }} '''Harold Marsh''' "'''Whiz'''" '''Morris''' (16 April 1898 – 18 November 1984) was an English amateur cricketer. He played for Essex between 1919 and 1932 and was captain of the team between 1929 and 1932.<ref name="Cricinfo">{{Cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/17097.html |title= Whiz Morris |access-date=2013-07-21 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo}}</ref>
Morris was educated at Repton School, where he captained the First XI, and Cambridge University, where he was unable to find a place in the cricket team.<ref name=WCA>''Wisden'' 1987, p. 1244.</ref> He was a regular member of the Essex side in the 1920s, batting usefully and fielding superbly.<ref name=WCA/> In 1927 he scored 143 against Somerset<ref>{{cite web |title=Somerset v Essex 1927 |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1920S/1927/ENG_LOCAL/CC/SOMERSET_ESSEX_CC_25-27MAY1927.html |publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=2 November 2019}}</ref> and, a couple of weeks later, 166 against Hampshire, when he added 233 in 140 minutes for the fourth wicket with Jack Russell.<ref name=WCA/>
Although Morris played only three matches in 1928, the Essex committee chose him to captain the team for the 1929 season, replacing Johnny Douglas. The 46-year-old Douglas opposed the appointment on the grounds that Morris was unqualified both as a cricketer and a captain, but Morris captained the team with reasonable success for the next three seasons.<ref name=WCA/> In 1930 the county finished sixth in the County Championship, owing in part to the "infectious enthusiasm" of Morris's captaincy.<ref>''The Cricketer'' Annual 1930-31, p. 18.</ref> Although he was appointed captain for the 1932 season he was unavailable for all but two matches, and resigned the captaincy. His ''Wisden'' obituary described him as a batsman as "a good stylist, who drove and cut well, [who] looked at his best capable of more than he in fact accomplished".<ref name=WCA/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{cricinfo|ref=england/content/player/17097.html}} *{{cricketarchive|ref=Archive/Players/4/4997/4997.html}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Whiz}} Category:1898 births Category:1984 deaths Category:People educated at Repton School Category:English cricketers Category:Essex cricketers Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge Category:Cambridge University cricketers Category:People from Wanstead Category:Cricketers from the London Borough of Redbridge Category:Essex cricket captains Category:English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 Category:20th-century English sportsmen Category:L. H. Tennyson's cricket team