Peter Hans Konig, more correctly König, (born 16 October 1931) is an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

-born retired sportsman. Konig was a prominent

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

between 1952 and 1960 and played one first class game for

Leicestershire County Cricket Club Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the count ...

in 1949. Konig was a right-handed batsman who played as a

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

Early life and cricket

Born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to Jewish parents, his family fled

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

following its annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938, arriving in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

before the Second World War. Konig later made a single first-class appearance for

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

at the

County Ground, Northampton The County Ground is a cricket venue on Wantage Road in the Abington area of Northampton, England. It is home to Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, and was used by Northampton Town F.C. from 1897 to 1994. Cricket Northamptonshire played t ...

in 1949. In Northamptonshire's first-innings of 239 all out, Konig made a single

stumping Stumped is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket, which involves the wicket-keeper putting down the wicket while the batsman is out of his ground. (The batsman leaves his ground when he has moved down the pitch beyond the popping crease ...

when he stumped

Gordon Garlick Richard Gordon Garlick (11 April 1917 – 16 May 1988) was an English cricketer active from 1938 to 1950 who played for Lancashire and Northamptonshire. He appeared in 121 first-class matches as a right arm bowler, deploying both off spin and m ...

off the bowling of

Gerry Lester Gerald Lester (27 December 1915 – 26 January 1998) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Leicestershire. He was born at Long Whatton, Leicestershire and died at Leicester. Lester was a right-handed batsman used for many y ...

. In Leicestershire's first-innings response, Konig was the last man out, dismissed for 6 runs by

Des Barrick Desmond William Barrick (28 April 1926 – 25 December 2007) was an English cricketer who played in 301 first-class matches between 1949 and 1960. Career Barrick was born in Fitzwilliam, Yorkshire. A right-handed batsman and an occasional le ...

. In Northamptonshire's second-innings of 350/5

declared In the sport of cricket, a declaration occurs when a captain declares his team's innings closed and a forfeiture occurs when a captain chooses to forfeit an innings without batting. Declaration and forfeiture are covered in Law 15 of the ''Laws of ...

, Konig caught Percy Davis off the bowling of Charles Wooler. This was his only major appearance for the county as Konig was not kept on by Leicestershire.

Rugby

Konig made his

debut on 14 April 1952 in a 19-0 win away to

Plymouth Albion Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). Since 2003 they have pl ...

on the club's Easter tour. Konig established himself in the club's first team the next season immediately starting the first 11 games of the 1952-53 season and 27 overall. Konig was particularly prominent in Leicester's 8-3 win away to

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

on 3 January 1953, scoring one try and creating another through a crucial interception and break. In 1953-54 Konig was the club's joint top try scorer with 8 in 23 games, and in 1956 he started as Leicester played at Welford Road. His try-scoring form in a December 1956 win against

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

saw the Daily Mirror speculate he could be called up by , but he was never selected for the national side and made his final Tigers appearance in April 1960.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Konig, Peter 1931 births Living people Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United Kingdom English cricketers English rugby union players Leicestershire cricketers Rugby union flankers Sportspeople from Vienna Wicket-keepers Leicester Tigers players