Kenneth Alan Archer (17 January 1928 – 14 April 2023) was an Australian cricketer and broadcaster. He was educated at the

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in East Brisbane, an inner suburb of Brisbane, ...

. An

opening batsman In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...

, he played domestic

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 ...

for

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_ ...

for ten years, from 1946–7 to 1956–7. He played in five

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

for the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) an ...

in 1950 and 1951. His younger brother

Ron Archer Ronald Graham Archer (25 October 1933 – 27 May 2007) was an Australian Test cricketer. He was born in the inner Brisbane suburb of Highgate Hill, was educated at Brisbane's Anglican Church Grammar School and played in 19 Tests from 1953 to 1 ...

played 19 Tests for Australia between 1953 and 1956. Archer toured to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1949-50, but was not selected for the Test team. He made his Test debut in the second test (after a 6th consecutive 12th man pick) of the

1950–51 Ashes series The 1950–51 Ashes series consisted of five cricket Test matches, each of six days with five hours play each day and eight ball overs. It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1950–51 and the matches outside the Tests were played in th ...

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

. Despite moderate scores in that match, and the third test at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

and the fourth test at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...

, he was then dropped from the team. He returned for the first two tests against

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

in 1951-2, but did not play Test cricket again. Archer initially worked as a science teacher during his playing career, but switched to broadcasting in 1954 when he was recruited by

Bob Hynes Sir Lincoln Carruthers Hynes (12 April 1912 – 7 August 1977), also known as L. C. Hynes or Bob Hynes, was an Australian cricketer, radio and television manager, and hospital administrator. He played seventeen first-class matches for New ...

for the Brisbane radio station

4BC 4BC is a radio station in Brisbane, Queensland on 882 kHz AM. 4BC is Brisbane's only commercial talkback station. While the station's broadcasting facility is at Cannon Hill, its transmitting tower is located alongside the Gateway Motorway ...

. He later became Hynes's right-hand man in the Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation and succeeded him as its chief executive. In the 1980 Australia Day Honours, Archer was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AM) in recognition of services to the media. On 14 July 2000, Archer was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

for his cricketing achievements. Following the death of

Len Maddocks Leonard Victor Maddocks (24 May 1926 – 1 September 2016) was an Australian cricketer and cricket administrator who played in seven Tests from 1954 to 1956. He was born in Beaconsfield, Victoria. He played first-class cricket for Victoria ...

in September 2016, Archer became Australia's oldest living male Test cricketer. Archer died of heart failure on 14 April 2023, at the age of 95.

References

External links

* 1928 births 2023 deaths Australia Test cricketers Queensland cricketers Queensland cricket captains Commonwealth XI cricketers Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Members of the Order of Australia People educated at Anglican Church Grammar School Cricketers from Brisbane {{Australia-cricket-bio-1920s-stub