Roy Mark Levy (20 April 1906 – 12 December 1965) 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 and baseballer who represented the Australian baseball team in 1936. He also played 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_ ...

in the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

for eight seasons, captaining them 11 times in his 25 appearances.

Playing career

In cricket, Levy was a prolific left-handed batsman who was a right-handed

medium pace Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

bowler; in baseball, he was a right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who also played

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

. He played with the

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

cricket and baseball clubs under coach and ex-international player

Alan Kippax Alan Falconer Kippax (25 May 1897 – 5 September 1972) was a cricketer for New South Wales (NSW) and Australia. Regarded as one of the great stylists of Australian cricket during the era between the two World Wars, Kippax overcame a late sta ...

. Levyassisted Waverley to dominate the Sydney Baseball Premiership winning the competition from 1924 through to 1928 and represented

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 ...

through these years. Through his success in baseball he became the first player to be offered a scholarship to play and study in the US. Although he declined this offer so he could continue his studies on insurance in Australia. In 1928, Levy's insurance company moved him to an office 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 ...

where he went to play his sport with

Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

. He dominated the competition as a pitcher and the following year he played with Eastern Suburbs alongside

Gunnah Mollah Gunnah Mollah was an Australian baseball player, coach and umpire. He is considered as one of the founding fathers of Queensland Baseball. Mollah played with the Eastern Suburbs club in the QBA Fixtures as a catcher in 1927 before moving to Vall ...

where they dominated the competition until Mollah switched to Valley in 1930 as to even up the competition. During his time playing baseball in Queensland, he got selected in the

Queensland cricket team The Queensland cricket team or the Queensland Bulls is the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket side in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments: *Sheffield Shield: four-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926–27 sea ...

in 1929 and made his debut against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

scoring 129 and playing 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 ...

. In 1932, Levy along with Roger Hartigan, persuaded Jack Hutcheon, president of Queensland Cricket, to call a meeting at Brisbane

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

Hall for men interested in playing baseball and produced great interest among cricketers in the winter off-season. Levy was instrumental in the resurgence of baseball both in this era and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was president of the organisation from 1936 to 1938 and was a player coach of the state team from 1933 to 1938 and again in 1954. Levy continued to have success over the next seven years of state cricket, including matches against a touring

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

averaging over 40 and was seriously considered for Australian selection, but was refused to travel inter-state with the Queensland team by his insurance company, effectively preventing him from participating in the

1939 Claxton Shield The 1939 Claxton Shield was the sixth annual Claxton Shield, an Australian national baseball tournament. It was held at Richmond Cricket Ground, Albert Ground, South Melbourne Cricket Ground and National Park in Melbourne from 29 July to 5 Augus ...

, the first

participated in. After retiring from professional cricket, he went on to coach Queensland in interstate games, as well as a friendly series against the

Tokyo Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

in 1954. Levy died in 1965 and was buried in

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland's largest cemet ...

. He was of Jewish extraction, and has been called the "first notable Jewish cricketer" in Australia.Melvyn Barnett (2010)
"A history of Jewish first-class cricketers"
– Maccabi Australia. Retrieved 11 June 2015.

References

*Harris, J.O (2009). ''Queensland Baseball 1905–1990''. pp. 18–42 {{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Roy 1906 births 1965 deaths Queensland cricketers Australian baseball players Australian cricketers Burials at Toowong Cemetery Cricketers from Sydney Australian Jews Jewish cricketers Queensland cricket captains Sportsmen from New South Wales