Kenneth Roy Cumming (12 April 1916 – 11 October 1988) was an Australian

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 ...

er who played for

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

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 ...

. He was also a professional runner as well as an

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 with Subiaco in the

Western Australian National Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WANFL). Cumming made his first appearance at WANFL club Subiaco in 1938, and two years later was appointed vice-captain. On 28 October 1940, Cumming enlisted in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

. During the war, he served aboard the Australian destroyers , , and the sloop . Cumming was one of only 24 survivors when ''Parramatta'' was torpedoed by the German submarine ''U-559'' in the Mediterranean; abandoning ship and later being rescued by British destroyer . Cumming, who hailed from the gold mining town of Coolgardie, continued his sporting career when he returned home and began putting in some good performances in first-grade cricket for Subiaco. In a match against Nedlands, he achieved a rare feat by taking five wickets in five balls. An ankle injury kept him off the football field in 1945 but by the end of the year had made it into the state cricket team, playing as a right-arm opening bowler and number 11 batsman. He made his first-class debut for Western Australia in the 1945/46 season, against the Australian Services and claimed

Keith Miller Keith Ross Miller (28 November 1919 – 11 October 2004) was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. His ability, irreverent m ...

as his maiden wicket. In 1946 he had the greatest victory of his running career when he won the York Gift. The following summer, Cumming made two more first-class appearances, one for a

Western Australia Combined XI The Western Australia Combined XI was a representative team raised intermittently between the year 1936 and 1990. The team, comprising state cricketers and select players from the Australian national side, played against touring international sides ...

, but both against the

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 ...

. In 1947/48, Western Australia played in the Sheffield Shield for the first time and Cumming took part in all four of their fixtures. Despite it being their first attempt, Western Australia won the Shield, with Cumming contributing 13 wickets at 23.61 during the campaign. Nine of those wickets had come in the same match, against Victoria at the

WACA Ground The WACA (formally the WACA Ground) is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium's name derives from the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association. The WACA has been referred to as Wester ...

. He took a six wicket haul in the second innings, bowling four of the Victorians and having the other two caught.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumming, Kenneth 1916 births Australian cricketers Western Australia cricketers Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Subiaco Football Club players Australian male sprinters Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II 1988 deaths People from Coolgardie, Western Australia Cricketers from Western Australia Royal Australian Navy sailors Shipwreck survivors Sportsmen from Western Australia