Tom Wills
Australian sportsman (1835-1880) · Australia · On the map · Athletes · Died at 44
Thomas Wentworth Wills was an Australian sportsman who is credited with being Australia's first cricketer of significance and a founder of Australian rules football.
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![Wills's middle name comes from his childhood role model William Wentworth, the statesman, explorer and "fighter for the rights of the Australian born".[3]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/William_Charles_Wentworth%2C_by_Thomas_Woolner_%281825-1892%29.tif/lossy-page1-1280px-William_Charles_Wentworth%2C_by_Thomas_Woolner_%281825-1892%29.tif.jpg)
Wills's middle name comes from his childhood role model William Wentworth, the statesman, explorer and "fighter for the rights of the Australian born".[3]
Wills grew up amongst Aboriginal clans in the Mount William area of the Grampians, shown in this 19th-century painting by Eugene von Guérard.
![Wills is shown preparing to bowl in an intercolonial match between Victoria and New South Wales, MCG, 1858. He became "an instant colonial hero" after captaining Victoria to its first victory.[69]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Intercolonial_Cricket_Match_Victoria_New_South_Wales_1858.jpg/500px-Intercolonial_Cricket_Match_Victoria_New_South_Wales_1858.jpg)
Wills is shown preparing to bowl in an intercolonial match between Victoria and New South Wales, MCG, 1858. He became "an instant colonial hero" after captaining Victoria to its first victory.[69]
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About this person
Born in the British penal colony of New South Wales to a wealthy family descended from convicts, Wills grew up in the bush on stations owned by his father, the squatter and politician Horatio Wills, in what is now the state of Victoria. As a child, he befriended local Aboriginal people, learning their language and customs. Aged 14, Wills went to England to attend Rugby School, where he became captain of its cricket team and played an early version of rugby football. After Rugby, Wills represented Cambridge University in the annual cricket match against Oxford, and played at first-class level for Kent and the Marylebone Cricket Club. An athletic bowling all-rounder with tactical nous, he was regarded as one of the finest young cricketers in England.
