Perpetuating the memory of one of the MCC's greatest contributors as player and administrator, the Hans Ebeling Award was introduced in 1981 to honour those who have given outstanding service to our Sporting Sections.
View a list of previous winners of the Hans Ebeling Award.About Hans Ebeling (1905 -1980)
As a promising 16-year-old cricketer at Caulfield Grammar School, Hans Ebeling was awarded an "Exhibitioner's Ticket" (two years' honorary membership of the MCC) in 1921 to commence a 59-year association with the club as player and honorary administrator/official.Hans was an upright man - physically and ethically - and few people in our long history have matched his zeal and loyalty to the MCC on and off the field. When elected to the presidency, he had been a committeeman for 45 years (1934-79), including 24 years as a vice-president.
Tragically, Hans died aged 75 within his first year of office as MCC president.
However, Honorary Life member (1959) Ebeling had long since left his imprimatur on club activities as a fine cricketer at club and first class levels, chairman of the MCC Bowls Section (1963-75) and a dominant figure in the conception and staging of the Centenary Test on the MCG in March 1977.
In retirement from a vocation which often had denied him the necessary time to fully develop his cricketing talent, Hans devoted his leisure hours exclusively to club matters.
He introduced the MCC's volunteer guides (1977), supervised the expansion of the pictorial collection and produced an authoritative research document on the pre-history and subsequent formation of the Victorian Cricket Association.
The career highlight of fast-medium bowler and lower order batsman Ebeling was his selection for the 1934 Ashes-winning Australian tour to England.
He performed creditably in his only Test, the fifth and deciding Test at The Oval, claiming the great Walter Hammond as the first of his three wickets and scoring a valuable 41 batting at number ten in Australia's second innings. For Victoria (1923-38) he captured 117 wickets at 31.17 with best figures 7 for 33 (inc. hat trick) against Queensland in 1928-29.
A firm tactician and strong disciplinarian, Hans led Victoria (1934-38) to two Sheffield Shield wins in four seasons and as skipper (1932-39) guided MCC to five VCA premierships. He won the club's bowling average seven times, enjoying his best season in 1932-33 with 62 wickets at 12.01.