Philip Keith Lee (15 September 1904 – 9 August 1980) was an Australian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played in two

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

from 1931 to 1933. During the early 1920s, he was a leading

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er in the

South Australian Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

and played at interstate level for South Australia. He was a member of the

Norwood Football Club Norwood Football Club, nicknamed the Redlegs, is an Australian rules football club competing in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in the state of South Australia. Its home ground is Coopers Stadium (Norwood Oval), which is ...

's 1923 premiership team. He originally mainly played as a half-forward, but after missing some games due to a leg injury he returned in 1926 to play as a half-back. As a cricketer, Lee was a hard-hitting right-handed batsman and a right-arm bowler of

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

s. He played several matches for

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 ...

from 1925 to 1926, originally batting in middle order and bowling infrequently. From 1930, his off-break bowling developed and he was called into the Australian Test side for the second match of the rather one-sided series with

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 ...

at Sydney in 1931–32. With

Clarrie Grimmett Clarence Victor "Clarrie" Grimmett (25 December 1891 – 2 May 1980) was a New Zealand-born Australian cricketer. He is thought by many to be one of the finest early spin bowlers, and usually credited as the developer of the flipper. Early li ...

and

Bert Ironmonger Herbert Ironmonger (7 April 1882 – 31 May 1971) was an Australian cricketer. He played Test cricket from 1928 to 1933, playing his last Test at the age of 50. He is the second-oldest Test cricketer. Life and career Before World War I Ironmo ...

in the side, Lee had limited bowling and took only one wicket. The emergence of Bill O'Reilly as a Test-class spin bowler later in the same series seemed likely to limit Lee's prospects for further Test caps, but the following season, 1932–33, he was recalled for the fifth match in the

Bodyline Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. It was designed to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's leading batsman, ...

series 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 ...

after Grimmett had lost form. In Australia's first innings, batting at No 8, he hit 42 out of a stand of 57 in 35 minutes with

Bert Oldfield William Albert Stanley Oldfield (9 September 1894 – 10 August 1976) was an Australian cricketer and businessman. He played for New South Wales and Australia as a wicket-keeper. Oldfield's 52 stumpings during his Test career remains a record ...

, and in England's first innings, though brought on to bowl after O'Reilly and Ironmonger, he was Australia's most successful bowler with four wickets for 111 runs. In the second innings, he was last out for 15 as Australia collapsed to

Hedley Verity Hedley Verity (18 May 1905 – 31 July 1943) was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 ...

, and he failed to take a wicket as England won by eight wickets. Though playing in two Test trial matches, Lee had a poor bowling season in 1933–34, and with Grimmett's return to form he was not picked for the tour of England in 1934. He played one further season for South Australia and then retired. He attended

St Peter's College, Adelaide , other_name = The Collegiate School of St Peter , seal_image = St Peter's College, Adelaide Logo.svg , seal_size = 150 , image = SPSC chapel and memorial hall.jpg , image_size ...

, where he captained their cricket, football, tennis and athletics teams. He married Mary Lucas in June 1935.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Philip 1904 births 1980 deaths Australia Test cricketers South Australia cricketers Australian rules footballers from South Australia Norwood Football Club players Australian cricketers Cricketers from South Australia People from Gladstone, South Australia People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide