Ray Harvey was an attacking and talented batsman but failed to reach international standards and only managed to hold down a regular position in the Victorian team in two seasons in the 1950s.
Harvey made his first class debut in the middle of the 1947–48 season, and played his first two matches for Victoria alongside his more decorated brothers Merv and Neil.
Having broken through at the end of the preceding summer, Harvey played his first full season for Victoria in 1953–54, despite the availability of the Test players for the whole campaign.
However, the following season, he made only sporadic appearances despite the absence of the Test players overseas and aggregated only 133 runs at 16.62 in four matches and he was never selected for Victoria again.
He shone mainly for Fitzroy in Victorian Premier Cricket, scoring 19 centuries and 9,146 runs in first-grade competition, both of which are still club records.
Horace secured a job at the confectionery company Life Savers (Australasia) Ltd. located next door to their house at 198 Argyle Street.
[1] The Cornish-descended Horry raised his family as strict Methodists, disallowing gambling, alcohol, tobacco and profanity in his household.
[1] An ardent cricketer during his years in New South Wales, he was good enough to hit 196 runs during a match in Newcastle,[1] and he encouraged his children to play sport.
[2] As recreational facilities and grass ovals were sparse in densely populated Fitzroy, the boys took to playing cricket in a cobblestone laneway between their terraced house.
[2] Much of the batting skill displayed by the Harvey brothers has been attributed to these games played on the unpredictable bounce of the bumpy laneway.
[2] The Harveys played another form of cricket in their concreted backyard using a marble instead of a ball that sharpened their reflexes,[2] and a miniature bat.
[5] All of the children attended the nearby George Street State School and one by one the brothers joined the Fitzroy Cricket Club as they reached their early teens.
[9] The Harveys had no formal coaching,[10] and their father, although a regular presence at the club, chose to stay in the background as their respective careers developed.
[12] Saturday night entertainment for the family typically consisted of dinner after the day's cricket matches for Fitzroy and Plant, Liddicut and other club personnel were often invited.
[10] Under the influence of cricketing mentors Plant and Liddicut, the boys were taught to adopt an aggressive approach, using fast feet movement to attack spin bowling in particular.
[15] Midway through the 1947–48 season, Harvey was called into the Victorian team for the Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales and made his debut alongside Merv and Neil, who were already established players.
[20] Merv dropped after this match, and Ray made 9 and 15 alongside Neil in the next fixture against New South Wales, a six-wicket win.
Despite his run of low scores, he was retained as Neil and the other Test players returned; he made 25 and 10 as Victoria lost by four wickets in their final match of the season against South Australia.
[20][23] Harvey was selected for a Second XI match against New South Wales but failed to make an impact, scoring two runs in each innings as the Victorians completed a 195-run win.
[20] The following season, 1949–50, with the Australian Test team in South Africa for the whole of the southern hemisphere summer,[23] Victoria lost batsmen Lindsay Hassett, Sam Loxton and Neil Harvey.
[20] This was effectively a second-choice Victorian team as the leading players were involved in a Shield match against New South Wales at the same time.
In the first match, he made a duck in the first innings, before coming to the crease at the end of the run-chase and being yet to score as a nine wicket win was completed.
[20] In 1951–52, Harvey was in and out of the team on a regular basis as the Test players were periodically available for Victorian duty between the international matches.
Harvey was one of the few batsmen to make an impact in the second innings, as the New South Wales bowlers, including the likes of Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall, Richie Benaud and Davidson, all members of Australia's Test bowling attack, dismissed Victoria for only 222 to set up a nine-wicket win.
Typically, such matches involved the best players in Australia divided into two teams, and Harvey played for Arthur Morris's XI against Hassett's outfit.
[6] Harvey's performances were rewarded with selection for an Australian XI in a tour match against the England cricket team at the start of the 1954–55 season.
[19] This was the start of a poor season for Harvey as he managed a top-score of only 44 in 11 innings for the summer, passing 20 on only four occasions and ending with 206 runs at 18.72.
In the subsequent fixture against New South Wales,[20] who were in the process of completing a sixth consecutive Shield title,[30] Harvey faced a full-strength team with Australia's two leading Test bowlers Benaud and Davidson.
He made 86 in the first innings but managed only 6 in the second before being removed by Benaud, as the Victorians ended 37 runs short of victory with five wickets in hand when time ran out.
[6][14] Harvey was an attacking and free-flowing batsman but he was not a prolific scorer, which was attributed by observers to a lack of single-mindedness required to succeed at the top level.