Sam Loxton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sam Loxton

Australia
Personal information
Full name Samuel John Everett Loxton
Born 29 March 1921 (1921-03-29) (age 87)
Albert Park, Victoria, Australia
Role All-rounder
Batting style Right-hand batsman
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
International information
Test debut (cap 180) 6 February 1948: v India
Last Test 9 January 1951: v England
Domestic team information
Years Team
1946/47–1957/58 Victoria
Career statistics
Tests First-class
Matches 12 140
Runs scored 554 6,249
Batting average 36.93 36.97
100s/50s 1/3 13/32
Top score 101 232*
Balls bowled 906 15,153
Wickets 8 232
Bowling average 43.62 25.73
5 wickets in innings – 3
10 wickets in match – –
Best bowling 3/55 6/49
Catches/stumpings 7/– 84/–

As of 22 December 2007
Source: CricketArchive

Samuel John Everett "Sam" Loxton OBE (born March 29, 1921, Albert Park, Victoria) is a former Australian cricketer who played in 12 Tests from 1948 to 1951. He was an all-rounder who batted right-handed and bowled right arm fast-medium. He was a part of Don Bradman's Invincibles lineup that went through the 1948 tour of England undefeated.

Loxton was an aggressive batsman, whose belligerence compensated for his lack of style. As a bowler, he was able to move the ball in the air, while bowl long sessions and getting through his overs quickly. He was quick in the field, with a strong arm; the Australian wicket-keeper Don Tallon complained about his unnecessary strong throws when the batsmen were home.[1]

Loxton was also a prominent Australian rules football player. He played 41 games with Victorian Football League team St Kilda between 1942 and 1946. In 1944 he headed the Saints goal kicking with 52 goals and ran second in the club's Best and Fairest.[2]

In later life he entered politics and was also a selector for Australia's cricket Test team.

Contents

[edit] Early years

Loxton attended Armadale Public School and then Wesley College, Melbourne and played for Melbourne District Cricket club Prahran's 3rd grade team when he was just 12.[3] At Wesley College, one of his team-mates was Ian Johnson, with whom he would go on to play for Victoria and Australia.[1]

[edit] First-class cricketer

An attacking right-handed middle order batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler, Loxton spent much of his cricket career in the shadow of Keith Miller, a fact that he graciously acknowledged at Miller's death in 2004. "I was in Keith's shadow all my career ... and it was a pretty big shadow," said Loxton.[4]

Loxton's own entry into first-class cricket was sensational enough. He was selected for Victoria for the match against Queensland in December 1946 because five Victoria players, including Miller, were playing in the Test match against England. In the match, he scored an undefeated 232, sharing a sixth wicket partnership of 289 with Doug Ring, who made 145. When he had scored 183, he hit himself on the head in attempting a hook shot; nevertheless, he stayed on the pitch to the end of the innings and then opened the bowling in the Queensland innings. He took the first wicket for Victoria before going off to hospital with concussion.[5] He kept his place in the Victorian team when the Test players returned and finished the season top of the state team's batting averages, with 429 runs at an average of 143 runs per innings. He also headed the bowling averages with seven wickets at 14 runs apiece.[6]

The following season Loxton's record was less spectacular despite playing all but one match for Victoria. He hit 77 against the Indian tourists, and in other matches his highest was 55. His seven wickets in the Sheffield Shield games cost almost 49 runs each.[7] Despite this, he was chosen for the fifth and final Test in the series against India, with the series already convincingly won by Australia. He made 80, putting on 159 with Neil Harvey, who made his first Test century in his second Test. Loxton followed that up by dismissing three Indian top order batsmen as Australia won by an innings.[8] The performance won him a place on the Invincibles tour to England in 1948.

[edit] The Invincibles tour

Early injury with the pulling of a groin muscle in the third match meant Loxton's tour got off to a slow start.[9] He reappeared in mid-May, hitting 120 as the Australians posted a total of 721 against Essex in a single day at Southend, still the highest single day's total in cricket history.[10] He put on 166 in 65 minutes with Ron Saggers, who, with Bill Brown and Donald Bradman, also scored centuries. Loxton followed that with an unbeaten 79 and took a couple of wickets in the match against Oxford University, but that failed to win him a place in the first set-piece occasion of the English season, the match against MCC at Lord's.[11] The Australian team's abundance of batting stars did not help his cause: against Sussex, a match won by an innings and 325 runs, he was slated to bat at No 9, and three high-class wickets for 13 runs in the Sussex first innings had the effect of removing him from the bowling line-up for the rest of the match, with Doug Ring, Ernie Toshack, Ron Hamence and Ian Johnson helping Ray Lindwall to bowl the touring team to easy victory.[12] He duly failed to be picked for the First Test at Trent Bridge.

There were only two matches between the First and Second Tests and Loxton played in just one of them, achieving little against Northamptonshire and not featuring against Yorkshire and missing for the Test at Lord's. As the tour reached its halfway point, he began to make an impression. In the next county game, with Neil Harvey he scored the 122 runs needed to beat Surrey in 58 minutes, Loxton making 47.[13] In the following match against Gloucestershire he contributed an unbeaten 159 with four sixes, for the tour's highest total of 774 for seven declared.[14] These performances won him selection for the Old Trafford Test replacing Bill Brown, who had looked unhappy in the middle order in the earlier Tests.[citation needed]

The Manchester Test was the most evenly contested of the service, with England at an advantage apparently even greater than they enjoyed in the next game at Leeds. The match was poised for an interesting finish; however traditional Mancunian weather intervened and four sessions were lost on the last two days. Loxton bowled little, not taking a wicket and making 36 runs batting at No 7.[15]

Loxton did no harm to his chances of retaining his place by top-scoring with 123 in the intervening county match against Middlesex.[16] He retained his place in the side for the Fourth Test, at Leeds which attracted the largest crowd ever to a Test match in England who saw one of the most sensational results of the period. Loxton was not involved in the spectacular run chase which saw the Australians scored 404 for just three wickets to win, but earlier in the Test he had taken the final three wickets of the England first innings and scored a hard-hitting 93 in the first inning, putting on 105 in 95 minutes with Harvey.[17]

Loxton retained his place for the final Test, though his contribution to an innings victory was only 15 runs without taking a wicket.[18] In the final match of the England leg of the tour – there were two matches in Scotland afterwards – he hit a ball from Freddie Brown into his face, breaking his nose.[19]

On the tour as a whole, Loxton scored 973 runs at an average of 57.23 and took 32 wickets at 21.71. Such was the strength of the team, he was only fifth in the batting averages and eighth among the bowlers. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack summed up his contribution thus:

“ A fine driving batsman with a fierce square cut, Loxton achieved little as a bowler, but he played his part as an all-rounder, one of many in the team; in addition to his batting feats, he kept the game alive by his unlimited enthusiasm. Whether in stopping the ball or hurling down the wicket from almost any angle, he won the admiration of all who appreciated keenness in the field.[20] ”

[edit] Heading for South Africa

Loxton leg glances Ray Lindwall in a match for Victoria against New South Wales.
Loxton leg glances Ray Lindwall in a match for Victoria against New South Wales.

There were no Tests scheduled for the 1948-49 season in Australia with only domestic cricket to be played. Loxton played regularly for Victoria, scoring 500 runs in the Sheffield Shield. Two big set-piece matches, a testimonial match for Donald Bradman and a joint testimonial for Alan Kippax and Bert Oldfield, were used by the selectors as a trial for the 1949-50 South African tour. Loxton played in both testimonial matches, scoring 93 in the second innings of the Test trial.[21]

The 1949–50 Test series in South Africa was, like 1948, another triumph for the Australians. The Australians won four of the five Tests won and were undefeated in 21 first-class matches on tour. Loxton played in all five Tests, and in the First Test at the Wanderers ground in Johannesburg he scored his first Test century. He scored 101 coming in 150 minutes, helping Australia to a total of 413 after both opening batsmen were out without scoring.[22]

The Second Test was another comfortable victory, this time dominated by Harvey's 178. Loxton shared a 140-run stand with Harvey for the fifth wicket with him,contributing only 35.[23] The Third Test was dramatic; Batting first, South Africa made 311 and then Hugh Tayfield took seven for 23 as Australia collapsed to 75 all out in reply, with Loxton batting at No 10 and Harvey at No 9. Not enforcing the follow-on, the South Africans batted again and were themselves bowled out for 99. Chasing 326 runs for victory, Harvey, with an unbeaten 151 took Australia to victory, supported by Loxton with 54.

The Fourth Test of the series was a draw, Loxton making only 6. His 43 in the final match of the series was overshadowed by centuries for three of his team-mates. In the series as a whole, he made 255 runs at an average of 42.50 per innings, but bowled only 34 overs and took only two wickets. On the tour he made 809 first-class runs at 40.45 and took 12 wickets; his one first-class century was his Test one, but he hit 117 in a two-day non-first-class match against Zululand at the start of the tour.[24]

[edit] The end of the Test career

Loxton had an unhappy time as a cricketer in the 1950–51 season. He lost his Test place after three matches and in State games his highest score for the season was just 62.[25] The First Test at Brisbane was decided largely by a tropical storm which completely changed the nature of the pitch after the first day. Loxton had by then been the victim of a spectacular catch by England wicket-keeper Godfrey Evans, making 24. Loxton picked up five catches, his first Test catches in his 10th Test as the Australians surrounded the English batsmen. He was out for a duck in the second innings.[26] In the Second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Loxton's 32 formed part of a partnership of 84 with Lindsay Hassett, the highest partnership in a low-scoring and tight game. Again, Loxton failed in the second innings.[27]After contributing 17 in a total of 426 in the Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground[28] he was dropped for the next Test, replaced by Jim Burke, who scored a century on début.[29] Loxton would not play Test cricket again.

[edit] Later cricket

Although his Test career had finished, Loxton played several more seasons of cricket for Victoria, making useful runs and taking regular wickets until the 1957–58 season. He also captained the side on many occasions. In 1953–54, he was part of a Commonwealth team that toured India. He played in all five of the matches that were termed as "unofficial Tests" on this tour. In India, he took five wickets in an innings for the first time in his career. This was followed by another five wicket performance later in the tour.[30] In his penultimate season for Victoria, aged nearly 36, he surpassed this by taking six wickets for 49 against Western Australia, his career best bowling performance. His highest score remained the 232 not out he had made against Queensland on his first class début.

Loxton retired after the 1957–58 season, but reappeared in one further first-class match when acting as manager of the 1959–60 Australian team in Pakistan and India.

[edit] After cricket

Sam Loxton's Test career batting performance.
Sam Loxton's Test career batting performance.

Loxton joined the Armadale branch of the Liberal Party in 1950. He entered the Victorian parliament at the 1955 State election as the member for the electorate of Prahran, serving as Government whip from 1961 until his retirement in 1979.[31]

Loxton involved himself in cricket administration after his retirement. He was a Victorian selector from 1957 to 1980–81 and the Prarhan CC delegate to the Victorian Cricket Association (VCA) from 1955–56 to 1979–80.[32] He was also a Test selector for the Australian team from 1972 to 1981.[33] At a VCA meeting in April 1981, he announced that he was severing all connections with cricket administration and selection; claiming that he had lost the art of communicating with the players and was disenchanted with some aspects of the game.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Pollard, Jack (1988). Australian Cricket: The Game and the Players. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, pp. 673–675. ISBN 0 207 15269 1. 
  2. ^ Gold Coast Sporting Hall of Fame: Sam Loxton
  3. ^ Coleman, Robert (1993). Seasons In the Sun: the story of the Victorian Cricket Association. Melbourne: Hargreen Publishing, pp. 543–549. ISBN 0 949905 59 3. 
  4. ^ Cricket legend Keith Miller dead - Cricket - www.smh.com.au
  5. ^ "Overseas Cricket", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1948, Wisden, p. 761. 
  6. ^ "Overseas Cricket", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1948, Wisden, pp. 770–771. 
  7. ^ "Overseas Cricket", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, pp. 783–803. 
  8. ^ "India in Australia, 1947–48", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, pp. 780–781. 
  9. ^ "Australians in England", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, p. 218. 
  10. ^ Bill; Frindall (Ed). The Wisden Book of Cricket Records, 1981, Queen Anne Press, p39. 
  11. ^ "Australians in England", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, pp. 221–224. 
  12. ^ "Australians in England", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, p. 228. 
  13. ^ "Australians in England", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, pp. 237–238. 
  14. ^ "Australians in England", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, pp. 238–239. 
  15. ^ "Australians in England", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, pp. 240–242. 
  16. ^ "Australians in England", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, pp. 242–243. 
  17. ^ "Australians in England", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, pp. 244–246. 
  18. ^ "Australians in England", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, pp. 251–253. 
  19. ^ "Australians in England", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, p. 258. 
  20. ^ "Australians in England", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949, Wisden, p. 210. 
  21. ^ "Overseas Cricket", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1950, Wisden, pp. 822–845. 
  22. ^ "Australia in South Africa, 1949–50", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1951, Wisden, pp. 785–786. 
  23. ^ "Australia in South Africa, 1949–50", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1951, Wisden, pp. 786–788. 
  24. ^ "Australia in South Africa, 1949–50", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1951, Wisden, pp. 775–777. 
  25. ^ "Overseas Cricket, 1950–51", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1952, Wisden, pp. 869–890. 
  26. ^ "M.C.C. Team in Australia and New Zealand, 1950–51", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1952, Wisden, pp. 808–810. 
  27. ^ "M.C.C. Team in Australia and New Zealand, 1950–51", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1952, Wisden, pp. 814–816. 
  28. ^ "M.C.C. Team in Australia and New Zealand, 1950–51", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1952, Wisden, pp. 817–818. 
  29. ^ "M.C.C. Team in Australia and New Zealand, 1950–51", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1952, Wisden, pp. 823–825. 
  30. ^ "Commonwealth Team in India, 1953–54", Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 195, Wisden, pp. 812–840. 
  31. ^ Loxton, Samuel John Everett. re-member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
  32. ^ Loxton Samuel John Everett. Victorian Premier Cricket. Cricket Victoria. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
  33. ^ Sam Loxton. Player profile. Cricinfo. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Australia squad - "The Invincibles"
1 Sid Barnes • 2 Don Bradman (c) • 3 Bill Brown • 4 Ron Hamence • 5 Neil Harvey • 6 Lindsay Hassett (vc) • 7 Ian Johnson
 • 8 Bill Johnston • 9 Ray Lindwall • 10 Sam Loxton • 11 Colin McCool • 12 Keith Miller • 13 Arthur Morris
 • 14 Doug Ring • 15 Ron Saggers (wk) • 16 Don Tallon (wk) • 17 Ernie Toshack • Coach: Keith Johnson
 Flag of Australia
  This Australian rules football biography of a person born in the 1920s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Languages