Merv Harvey - Final Seasons

Final Seasons

By 1947–48, Brown had recovered, so Harvey had to compete with him as well as Morris and Barnes for selection. In the first match of the season against the touring Indians, Harvey made 4 and 35. The following week, he made 89 in the first innings against South Australia but managed only three in the second innings as the Victorians collapsed to be all out for 182 and lost by nine wickets. Harvey was overlooked for the Australian XI for the Test trial against India the following week. Instead, he played in the match against Queensland, scoring only 13 and 3. He was subsequently overlooked for the Test selection. During this time, he played alongside Neil in all but the Queensland match, when his younger brother was playing in the Australian XI. However, neither batted together.

Neil returned to the Victorian team for the match against New South Wales at the SCG the following week, and Ray was selected to make his first-class debut, so three Harveys were in the state team for the first time. Merv opened, while Neil and Ray batted at Nos. 4 and 7 respectively. Victoria batted first and the brothers again did not form any partnerships. Merv opened and made 45 as Victoria ended with 331; the Harvey brothers had scored almost half the runs. New South Wales were forced to follow on, and Victoria were set 51 for victory. After the fall of Fred Freer at 1/24, captain Lindsay Hassett elevated Ray to No. 3, allowing two Harveys to bat together for the first time at first-class level. Ray and Merv put on an unbeaten partnership of 27 to take Victoria to a nine-wicket win. Merv and Ray ended unbeaten on 12 and 22 respectively.

The trio then proceeded to play together in the next match against Western Australia two weeks later and Merv captained the team as Hassett was away on Test duty. Victoria batted first and Neil came in to join Merv with the score at 2/102, and the pair added 173 together before the younger brother fell for 94. One run later, Merv was out for 141 in what turned out to be his final first-class century; later, Ray made only 1. Victoria ended on 370 and Western Australia took a 59-run lead. In the second innings, Merv made 6 and did not bat with his brothers. He declared the innings at 9/304, setting Western Australia a target of 246 for victory. They reached 5/205 and Victoria avoided defeat. A fortnight later, Harvey again captained the team and made a duck in his only innings in a rain-curtailed match. After the Victorians had made 412, Queensland reached 5/144 at the end of the match. Despite being the captain, Harvey was dropped for the next match and was overlooked for the rest of the season, ending with 351 runs at 35.10.

After being dropped for the second half of the previous season, Harvey had even less opportunities in 1948–49. His only matches for Victoria came during the Christmas period, when he played consecutive fixtures, both against Tasmania. Although the two games had first-class status, they were effectively Second XI fixtures, as the first-choice team was playing Sheffield Shield matches at the same time. Victoria only batted once in each innings and Harvey made 7 and 36 respectively. Harvey captained the team, and they dominated both matches. The Victorians took a first-innings lead of 171 in the first match, but rain interruptions ended the match with Tasmania at 1/100 in their second innings, still 71 runs in arrears. In the second match, Victoria dismissed their opponents for 65 in the first innings to take a lead of 309 runs and they went on to win by an innings and 73 runs. Having seen his previous four matches as captain end in a draw, Harvey ended his first-class career with his only victory as a leader in his final match.

Harvey continued playing in the First XI for Fitzroy until 1954–55, and he finished with 6,654 runs at 29.31 in 207 First XI matches for the club. Harvey was an attacking opening batsman, strong on the drive and fond of hooking fast bowling. His brother Neil called him "the greatest cricketer of us all".