| Frank Bryant | |
| Country: | Australia |
| Fullname: | Francis Joseph Bryant |
| Birth Date: | 7 November 1909 |
| Birth Place: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Death Place: | Glendalough, Western Australia |
| Batting: | Right-handed |
| Family: | Dick Bryant (brother) |
| Club1: | Western Australia |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | First-class |
| Matches1: | 35 |
| Runs1: | 1571 |
| Bat Avg1: | 27.56 |
| 100S/50S1: | 3/6 |
| Top Score1: | 155 |
| Deliveries1: | 14 |
| Wickets1: | 0 |
| Bowl Avg1: | – |
| Fivefor1: | – |
| Tenfor1: | – |
| Best Bowling1: | – |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 12/– |
| Date: | 18 July 2017 |
| Source: | http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/4402.html Cricinfo |
Francis Joseph Bryant (7 November 1909 – 11 March 1984) was an Australian cricketer who played first-class cricket for Western Australia from 1927 to 1936. He later became Western Australia's leading cricket administrator.[1]
Bryant attended Christian Brothers' College, Perth, where in the 1927 season he scored more than 1000 runs in the First XI.[2] Playing in the era before Western Australia was admitted to the Sheffield Shield, he made his first-class debut for Western Australia at the age of 17 in March 1927, alongside his older brothers Dick and Bill (who was playing his only first-class match) against South Australia at the WACA Ground in Perth. The next season, in a match at the WACA Ground against Victoria, he scored 113 not out in the second innings after Western Australia had trailed by 194 runs on the first innings.[3] In 1933-34 he and Dick each made a century when Western Australia narrowly failed to achieve an innings victory over Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[4]
In 1935-36 he toured India with Frank Tarrant's Australian team. He made his highest first-class score of 155 in the match against Bombay[5] and played in all four matches against India.
After service in the army in World War II[6] Bryant went into the hotel business and became Western Australia's most prominent cricket administrator. In the 1950s he successfully argued that Western Australia should play a full Sheffield Shield program, and later he was one of the leading advocates for Test status for the WACA Ground, which was achieved in 1970.[7] He managed the Australian teams that toured New Zealand in 1966-67, 1969-70 and 1973-74. For his services to cricket he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1981 and the Australian Sports Medal posthumously in 2000.[8] [9]