Victor York Richardson (7 September 189430 October 1969) was a leading Australian sportsman of the 1920s and 1930s, captaining the

Australia 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) a ...

and the

South Australia Australian rules football team The South Australia state football team is the representative side of South Australia in the sport of Australian rules football. South Australia has a proud history in interstate football, having a successful historical record. South Australia ...

, representing Australia in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and South Australia in

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, winning the South Australian state tennis title and also being a leading local player in lacrosse, basketball and swimming. Richardson won the

South Australian National 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 ...

's highest individual honour, the

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willia ...

, while captain-coach of Sturt in 1920.

Early life

Richardson was born in

Parkside, South Australia Parkside is an inner southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Unley. History The suburb was once home to the mental health campus of the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Known as 'T ...

and grew up in the

Unley Unley is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, within the City of Unley. The suburb is the home of the Sturt Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Unley neighbours Adelaide Park Lands, Fullar ...

area. He attended Kyre (later Scotch) College. Naturally athletic, he played many sports, including gymnastics, basketball, cricket, baseball, lacrosse, and Australian Rules football. He worked in the South Australian public service.Gibbs, RM, "Richardson, Victor York (1894–1969)", ADB, accessed 20 May 2017 from http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/richardson-victor-york-8205

Cricket career

Richardson is most famous for his contribution to cricket, representing

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 19

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) ...

between 1924 and 1936, including five as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the 1935-36 tour of South Africa. A talented right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

and rated the best fielder in the world, Richardson made his first-class debut 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 ...

in the 1918–19 season. In a career that lasted twenty years he played 184 matches for Australia and South Australia, scoring 10,724 runs, including 27 centuries and

averaging In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

37.63. He took 211 catches (at an average of 1.15 catches per match) and even completed four stumpings as a stand-in

wicketkeeper 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 ...

. Richardson was Australian vice-captain for the 1932-33 English tour of Australia, known as 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 for England's tactics of bowling fast short-pitched deliveries at the batsmen's bodies. During the Adelaide Test, English manager

Pelham Warner Sir Pelham Francis Warner, (2 October 1873 – 30 January 1963), affectionately and better known as Plum Warner or "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket, was a Test cricketer and cricket administrator. He was knighted for services to sport in ...

came to the Australian dressing seeking an apology from the player who called

Harold Larwood Harold Larwood, MBE (14 November 1904 – 22 July 1995) was a professional cricketer for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team between 1924 and 1938. A right-arm fast bowler who combined unusual speed with great a ...

a bastard. Richardson, who had answered the knock on the dressing room door turned to his teammates and asked "Which one of you bastards called Larwood a bastard instead of that bastard ouglasJardine?" Richardson played his final Test against

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 ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

on 28 February 1936, aged 41 years 178 days. Only ten Australians have played Test cricket at an older age. He took five catches in the second innings, setting a Test record that has never been beaten and was not equalled until

Yajurvindra Singh Yajurvindra Singh (born 1 August 1952) is a former Indian cricketer who played in four Test matches from 1977 to 1979. He is from the erstwhile princely family of Bilkha, in Junagadh district in Saurashtra. Yajurvindra Singh, known as 'Sunny' ...

took five in 1976–77. Following his retirement from cricket, Richardson was appointed South Australian coach in September 1949, replacing Arthur Richardson (no relation). To honour his memory and the impact he made for his state, the

South Australian Cricket Association The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) is the peak body for the sport of cricket in South Australia. The association administers the Southern Redbacks based in Adelaide. SACA is the controlling body for the South Australian Grade Cri ...

dedicated the "Victor Richardson Gates" 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 ...

and the road leading to them in his honour.Richardson, inside back cover.

Australian rules football career

Richardson made his senior Australian rules football debut for

Sturt Football Club The Sturt Football Club, nicknamed The Double Blues, is a semi-professional Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Unley, South Australia, which plays in the South Australian National Football League. Founded in 1901 by the Stur ...

in the

in 1915 and in a career interrupted by World War I, played 114 games for Sturt, kicking 23 goals. * 114 games and 23 goals for Sturt 1915, 1919–1920, 1922–1924, 1926–1927 * Captain of Sturt 1920, 1922–1924 * Member of premiership teams for Sturt 1915, 1919 and 1926 * 10 games for

* State Captain 1923 *

1920 * Best and Fairest for Sturt 1922, 1923 * Coach of Sturt 1920, 1922, 1923, 1924

Other sports

Richardson was a gifted sportsman and excelled in other sports besides cricket and Australian rules football, including baseball (

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

and

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

representative), golf (state representative), tennis (state title winner), lacrosse, basketball and swimming.

Media career

After retiring from first-class cricket he went on to become a respected radio commentator, forging a partnership with renowned former English Test captain Arthur Gilligan.

Political aspirations

In March 1949 Richardson announced that he would seek

Liberal and Country League Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...

(LCL) pre-selection for the new federal

Division of Kingston The Division of Kingston is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian Electoral Division in South Australia covering the outer southern suburbs of Adelaide. The 171 km² seat stretches from Hallett Cove, South Aus ...

, situated in Adelaide's south.''The News'', "Vic Richardson to seek L.C.L. endorsement", 21 March 1949, p. 1. At the time Richardson lived on Richmond Road, Westbourne Park, which was located in the electorate.

Family

On 29 January 1919 Victor Richardson married Vida Yvonne Knapman, daughter of hotelier Alf Knapman (1867–1918). She died on 25 September 1940; they had one son and three daughters. He was a grandfather to three future Australian Test cricketers

Ian Chappell Ian Michael Chappell (born 26 September 1943) is a former cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. He captained Australia between 1971 and 1975 before taking a central role in the breakaway World Series Cricket organisation. Born ...

Greg Chappell Gregory Stephen Chappell (born 7 August 1948) is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket, Chappell was the pre-eminen ...

(who both also captained Australia at Test level) and

Trevor Chappell Trevor Martin Chappell (born 12 October 1952) is a former Australian cricketer, a member of the South Australian Chappell family which excelled at cricket. He played 3 tests and 20 One Day Internationals for Australia. He won the Sheffield Shi ...

Awards and honours

Richardson was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) on 10 June 1954 for his services to cricket, including his presidency of the Country Carnival Cricket Association.

Sources

References

External links

*
HowSTAT! statistical profile of Vic Richardson

SANFL Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Vic 1894 births 1969 deaths Australia Test cricket captains Australian lacrosse players Australian baseball players Australia Test cricketers Australian cricket commentators Officers of the Order of the British Empire Magarey Medal winners South Australia cricketers Sturt Football Club players Sturt Football Club coaches Australian rules footballers from Adelaide Chappell family Australian cricketers South Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Cricketers from Adelaide Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Sportsmen from South Australia