Richard Whitington
Encyclopedia
Richard Smallpeice Whitington was an Australia
n first-class cricket
er who played for South Australia
and after serving in World War II
, represented the Australian Services cricket team
, which played in the Victory Tests
.
He began his state cricketing career at 19 under captain Victor Richardson as an opening batsman for South Australia.
Whitington was also a prominent journalist and writer, and he balanced this with his playing career until his retirement. He was known for his collaborations with Services team-mate Keith Miller
; the pair wrote many books together, with Whitington acting as the ghost-writer. Whitington was famous for his books released and had a strong relationship with Keith Miller, the 1948 Invincible. Whitington's newspaper that he wrote for was Sydney Sun. He was sports editor and roving test reporter for Consolidated Press, owned and actively managed by the Packer family. He wrote some thirty or so books on cricket, many of them prefaced by Sir Robert Menzies, and in later years, the official biography of Sir Frank Packer, and the history of Australian cricket.
Other books Whitington collaborated with Miller are Cricket Caravan, Catch, Straight Hit, Bumper, Gods or Flannelled Fools, Cricket Typhoon, the golden nugget and Keith Miller Companion. He released three books by himself including Simpson's Safari, John Reid's Kiwis and Bradman, Benaud and Goddard's Cinderellas. Whitington and John Waite combined to release Perchance to Bowl. He and Lindsay Hassett [his former captain of the Australian services eleven] collaborated on a book about Hassett's captaincy of the post war touring Australian side to England, India and then Ceylon, before returning to play in each state of Australia.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
er who played for South Australia
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
and after serving in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, represented the Australian Services cricket team
Australian Services cricket team
The Australian Services XI was a cricket team comprising solely military service personnel during World War II. They became active in May 1945 after the defeat of Nazi Germany. The team played matches against English cricket sides of both military and civilian origins to celebrate the end of the war...
, which played in the Victory Tests
Victory Tests
The Victory Tests were a series of cricket matches played in England from 19 May to 22 August 1945, between a combined Australian Services XI and an English national side...
.
He began his state cricketing career at 19 under captain Victor Richardson as an opening batsman for South Australia.
Whitington was also a prominent journalist and writer, and he balanced this with his playing career until his retirement. He was known for his collaborations with Services team-mate Keith Miller
Keith Miller
Keith Ross Miller MBE 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. Because of his ability, irreverent manner and good looks he was a crowd favourite...
; the pair wrote many books together, with Whitington acting as the ghost-writer. Whitington was famous for his books released and had a strong relationship with Keith Miller, the 1948 Invincible. Whitington's newspaper that he wrote for was Sydney Sun. He was sports editor and roving test reporter for Consolidated Press, owned and actively managed by the Packer family. He wrote some thirty or so books on cricket, many of them prefaced by Sir Robert Menzies, and in later years, the official biography of Sir Frank Packer, and the history of Australian cricket.
Other books Whitington collaborated with Miller are Cricket Caravan, Catch, Straight Hit, Bumper, Gods or Flannelled Fools, Cricket Typhoon, the golden nugget and Keith Miller Companion. He released three books by himself including Simpson's Safari, John Reid's Kiwis and Bradman, Benaud and Goddard's Cinderellas. Whitington and John Waite combined to release Perchance to Bowl. He and Lindsay Hassett [his former captain of the Australian services eleven] collaborated on a book about Hassett's captaincy of the post war touring Australian side to England, India and then Ceylon, before returning to play in each state of Australia.