Sir Warren McDonald

Warren McDonald grew up in Tasmania and came to Canberra when his father was awarded the contract to build Canberra’s first houses. He played cricket for Northbourne cricket club. However there were few representative matches in the 1920’s and therefore McDonald cannot claim the same impressive aggregates as today’s players. He captained Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in all its representative matches for a period of five years. In 1927 and 1928 he captained FCT against teams which Arthur Mailey brought to Canberra. The team included three Test and Sheffield Shield players. In the following year he again captained FCT against another team brought to Canberra by Mailey. This team included three Test players and four Sheffield Shield players, one of whom was Don Bradman. In these matches he scored 73 and 42 as an opening batsman and took 4/19 and 2/18 as a fast medium bowler. McDonald was an excellent Australian footballer, captaining Acton’s premiership team in 1927. He was captain of Canberra’s representative team from 1927 to 1929, including its first two interstate matches against Queensland and Western Australia. McDonald was also a keen golfer and an active member of the Canberra Racing Club in the 1930’s. McDonald also contributed to the administration of cricket and football in Canberra. McDonald was a member of the Council of the FCT Cricket Association for five years, Treasurer of the Association from 1927 to 1928, Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chairman of its Selection Committee for several years. He was President of the Australian Football League in 1947, the first year Canberra played in an Australian National Football Council Carnival. He was also Patron of the League from 1962 until 1964 and was President of the Royal Canberra Golf Club from 1939 to 1950. McDonald donated most of the building materials used in the construction of the Canberra Alpine Club Chalet on Mt Franklin in 1938, and built the Chalet at a nominal cost. This greatly expanded the opportunities for skiing in the Brindabellas, that in turn led to FCT’s admission to the Australian Interstate Ski Championships in 1939. CRICKET Born: 26 September 1901 Deceased: 12 November 1965 Inducted: 1997   Associate Member