Merv Harvey - Early Years

Early Years

Merv Harvey was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales to Horace "Horrie" and Elsie Harvey. Horace worked for BHP driving horse-drawn trailers. Merv was the second child in the family and the oldest son. Five younger brothers were to follow, in chronological order Mick, Harold, Ray, Neil and Brian. The family relocated to Newcastle, a mining town and harbour in New South Wales, before shifting to the inner-Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, a staunchly working-class, industrial area. Horace secured a job at the confectionery company Life Savers (Australasia) Ltd, located next door to their house at 198 Argyle Street. The 19th century two-storey house was owned by the firm and was used as lodgings for the workers’ families. It no longer exists, having been demolished to make way for a textile factory.

The Cornish-descended Horace raised his family as strict Methodists, disallowing gambling, alcohol, tobacco and profanity in his household. An ardent cricketer during his years in New South Wales, he was good enough to hit 196 runs during a match in Newcastle, and he encouraged his children to play sport. He himself played for the Rita Social Club after moving to Fitzroy.

As recreational facilities and grass ovals were sparse in densely populated Fitzroy, Merv and his younger brothers played cricket in a cobblestone laneway between their terraced house. Here they played cricket with a tennis ball, home made cricket bat and a kerosene tin for a wicket. They were usually joined by other local children, two of whom became elite sportsmen: Allan Ruthven and Harold Shillinglaw. The group also played Australian rules football, kicking around rolled up cardboard and newspaper. 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. The surface also had a V-shaped slope inwards towards the centre of the lane, causing balls to deviate sideways after bouncing. As the laneway meant that the playing area was long and narrow, the young boys also had to learn to play the ball straight in accordance with orthodox cricket technique. The Harveys played another form of cricket in their concreted backyard using a marble instead of a ball, and a miniature bat. This sharpened their reflexes.

Merv was the first of the brothers to attend the nearby George Street State School and join the Fitzroy Cricket Club as they reached their early teens. The club had a program whereby they gave a medal for every local school to award to the best cricketer in their ranks in that year. The successful student would then be given access to all of the club's facilities. All of the Harvey brothers were recipients were of this medal. At Fitzroy, they came under the influence of former Victorian all-rounder Arthur Liddicut and the club’s veteran captain Joe Plant. Merv and his younger siblings had no formal coaching, and their father, a regular presence at the club, chose to stay in the background as their respective careers developed. Horace did not advise his sons on how to bat, allowing them to formulate their own style and technique. According to the brothers, it was their mother who was vocal and extroverted, in contrast to their reserved father. The boys who failed to score runs were given kitchen duty, and according to them, their parents never showed favouritism.

During the winter, they played baseball for Fitzroy Baseball Club, often competing in matches played as curtain raisers to the elite Australian rules football competition, the Victorian Football League. Saturday night entertainment for the family typically consisted of dinner after the day’s cricket matches for Fitzroy, and Plant, Liddicut and other cricket club personnel were often invited. Under the influence of Plant and Liddicut, the boys were taught to adopt an aggressive approach, using fast feet movement to attack spin bowling in particular. In 1932, Harvey captained the Victorian Under-15 schoolboys team on a tour of Queensland and one of his players was future Victorian and Australian teammate Keith Miller. Harvey graduated to Fitzroy's first XI in 1933–34.