Ian Harold King (born 1 June 1943) is a former Australian

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er, one of only a handful of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

s to have played first-class cricketPollard, J. (ed.) (1988) ''Australian Cricket: The Game and its Players'', Angus & Robertson Publishers, Sydney. . and convicted paedophile. Born one of ten children in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, King was a successful junior

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

er and professional

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

boxer who won 28 of 32 fights under the name "Young Rainbow" (derived from his preference for brightly coloured clothes) before turning to cricket.Cashman, R., Franks, W. et al. (1997) ''The A-Z of Australian Cricketers'', Oxford University Press, Melbourne. A right-arm fast bowler and right-handed batsman, King started playing for

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

club Bankstown before returning to Queensland where he continued to impress with his express pace bowling in grade cricket, leading to his first-class debut for

, against

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

at the

Brisbane Cricket Ground The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

on 31 October 1969. The first Aboriginal to play for Queensland since Eddie Gilbert in 1936, King opened the bowling, taking 1/27 and 2/59. On 7 December 1969, King became the first Indigenous Australian to play

List A cricket List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

, taking 5/33 against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. It was to be King's only List A match, leaving him with the impressive List A bowling average of 6.60. Two of the wickets were

hit wicket Hit wicket is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is governed by Law 35 of the Laws of Cricket. The striker is out "hit wicket" if, after the bowler has entered his delivery stride and while the ball is in pla ...

; still the List A record for the number of hit wickets by a bowler in an innings. Considered to be the fastest bowler to represent Queensland since Wes Hall, King (who gained the nickname "Sammy" due to his similarity to

Sammy Davis Jr Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

) was a popular figure with young fans and would spend lunch breaks after a session in the field signing autographs rather than resting. King "gave glimpses of rare talent, exceptional pace and splendid fielding ability." during the 1969/70 season, including his best figures of 6/70, against

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and a bright future seemed assured but following problems with the law in the 1970 off-season, King moved to Perth, where he seemed content to play club cricket before then moving to the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

where he was involved in coaching. King was chosen as coach of the 1988 Aboriginal cricket team to England. In April 2009, King faced child sex charges in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. Claiming he abused the boys to make them better athletes and to help prepare them for manhood, King was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.Former cricketer jailed for child sex offences
—

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. Retrieved 14 October 2012. On 28 January 2013 it was reported that King, while serving his prison sentence in Canberra, was punched in the eye by another prisoner and rushed to hospital amid concerns he would lose an eye.

References

Sources

* Higgs, J. "Hit Wicket - Records, Lists & Curiosities", ''The Cricket Statistician'', No. 180, Winter 2017, The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians, Cardiff. {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Ian Queensland cricketers Indigenous Australian cricketers 1943 births Living people Indigenous Australian boxers Boxers from Brisbane Cricketers from Brisbane Sportsmen from Queensland Australian male boxers