Roy Park (sportsman)
Encyclopedia
Dr Roy Lindsay Park was an all-round athlete and doctor. He played cricket
for Australia
and also Australian rules football
in the Victorian Football League
(VFL). He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne
. Park also served in the Australian Imperial Force
in World War I
.
's Jimmy Freake
who in the finals overtook Park as the VFL's Leading Goalkicker, only because University came last, and not to play in the finals. He had studying commitments in 1914, leaving him to play few games, but still managed to kick 36 goals for the season that was University's last in the competition.
In 1915 he went to play with Melbourne
, where he kicked 35 goals in 13 games, but he was suspended for four matches for striking, despite three witnesses coming forward to say that Park had not hit the player at all. Park refused to play football again after his suspension, ending his career with 146 goals in 57 matches.
on 12 July 1917. Upon enrolling, Park was given the rank of captain and left Australia on 4 August 1917 aboard the HMAT Themistocles. He served with the 5th Field Ambulance Unit and was mentioned in dispatches in the London Gazette
on 11 July 1919 and in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 30 October 1919. Park returned safely to Australia on 2 June 1919 after the conclusion of World War I.
, and soon earned a Test
call-up in the 1920–1921 season. He was unsuccessful in his debut against England
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
, making a first-ball duck
in his only innings
, and bowling
a single over
of off-spinners
which went for nine runs
. He was said to have been called late during the night for medical duties, and not to have got any sleep before his debut. He never played Test cricket again. Legend has it that his wife, who was watching in the stands, dropped her knitting as he prepared to face his first ball, bent down to retrieve it at the moment of delivery, and thus missed his entire test career.
At first-class
level, he made 2514 runs at an average
of just under 40, scoring nine centuries
, with a highest score of 228.
Park's son-in-law, Ian Johnson
, who married his daughter, Lal, was a captain of the Australian cricket team
and a member of The Invincibles
.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
for 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...
and also Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
in the Victorian Football League
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association , taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association...
(VFL). He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne
Wesley College, Melbourne
Wesley College, Melbourne is an independent, co-educational, Christian day school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1866, the college is a school of the Uniting Church in Australia. Wesley is the largest school in Australia by enrolment, with 3,511 students and 564 full-time staff...
. Park also served in the Australian Imperial Force
Australian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Football career
Park started his career as a goal-kicking machine for University when the years were too late for a revival. He made his debut in 1912 and had an immediate impact, winning the leading goalkicker award for the side, but it was the next season where he stood up, kicking 53 goals, and beaten by FitzroyFitzroy Football Club
The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...
's Jimmy Freake
Jimmy Freake
James Henry "Jimmy" Freake was an Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League...
who in the finals overtook Park as the VFL's Leading Goalkicker, only because University came last, and not to play in the finals. He had studying commitments in 1914, leaving him to play few games, but still managed to kick 36 goals for the season that was University's last in the competition.
In 1915 he went to play with Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
, where he kicked 35 goals in 13 games, but he was suspended for four matches for striking, despite three witnesses coming forward to say that Park had not hit the player at all. Park refused to play football again after his suspension, ending his career with 146 goals in 57 matches.
World War I
Being a professional doctor, Park enrolled in the Australian Army Medical Corps of the Australian Imperial ForceAustralian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
on 12 July 1917. Upon enrolling, Park was given the rank of captain and left Australia on 4 August 1917 aboard the HMAT Themistocles. He served with the 5th Field Ambulance Unit and was mentioned in dispatches in the London Gazette
London Gazette
The London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published...
on 11 July 1919 and in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 30 October 1919. Park returned safely to Australia on 2 June 1919 after the conclusion of World War I.
Cricket career
Park became a cricketer after his football career, notching up some fine performances as a right-handed batsman for VictoriaVictorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
, and soon earned a Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
call-up in the 1920–1921 season. He was unsuccessful in his debut against England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
, making a first-ball duck
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
in his only innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
, and bowling
Bowling (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder...
a single over
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
of off-spinners
Off spin
Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers and/or wrist to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side...
which went for nine runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
. He was said to have been called late during the night for medical duties, and not to have got any sleep before his debut. He never played Test cricket again. Legend has it that his wife, who was watching in the stands, dropped her knitting as he prepared to face his first ball, bent down to retrieve it at the moment of delivery, and thus missed his entire test career.
At first-class
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...
level, he made 2514 runs at an average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
of just under 40, scoring nine centuries
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
, with a highest score of 228.
Park's son-in-law, Ian Johnson
Ian Johnson (cricketer)
Ian William Geddes Johnson CBE was an Australian cricketer who played 45 Test matches as a slow off-break bowler between 1946 and 1956. Johnson captured 109 Test wickets at an average of 29.19 runs per wicket and as a lower order batsman made 1,000 runs at an average of...
, who married his daughter, Lal, was a captain of the Australian cricket team
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
and a member of The Invincibles
The Invincibles (cricket)
The Australian cricket team in England in 1948 was captained by Don Bradman, who was making his fourth and final tour of England. The team is famous for being the first Test match side to play an entire tour of England without losing a match. This feat earned them the nickname of The Invincibles,...
.