He could have been a cricket legend
There weren't many who could play cricket like Arty Cranney but his health held him back.
Born to Thomas and Elizabeth (nee Winter), Arthur Norman Cranney was the second son of six. As a young child, he took up cricket and was soon seen as a star bowler, a sound batter and a brilliant fielder. He would go on to play with the Cumberland Cricket Club in Sydney, as did his five brothers. His older brother Harold 'Mudgee' Cranney would play cricket for Queensland as well as in six Sheffield Shield matches. Arthur improved his batting and in the second grade he scored 3155 runs, the highest number ever scored at that level.
He also played a number of matches with the firsts and thirds, retiring from club cricket in 1924. His health had never been 100% after a fall as a child. He had suffered from epilepsy most of his life and he often had to be supported off the field. It can only be wondered at his abilities that could have been if not for his health.
The tragedy didn't stop there, as in 1937, when he was watching his beloved game at Cumberland Oval from a stand, he fell. He was sitting in the fifth row of the open stand and had an epileptic fit and fell to the ground behind the stand, while watching the Central Cumberland-Hawkesbury cricket match.
Arthur was rushed to Parramatta District Hospital suffering from concussion. Sadly, on February 8, he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died. He was only 52 years old.
Arthur is buried in St Patricks Cemetery, Parramatta, Sydney.
References
'Fell from Stand', The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate, Thursday 18 Feb 1937, Page 4
'Sporting Families - Cranneys of Cumberland', Wednesday 18 May 1938, Page 10
'Arthur Norman Cranney', Births, Deaths, Marriages NSW, accessed 27th August, 2026, https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au
'Thomas Cranney and Elizabeth Winter', Births, Deaths, Marriages, NSW, accessed 27th August, 2026, https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au
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