101 Facts About Sam Loxton

Samuel John Everett Loxton was an Australian cricketer, footballer and politician.

Sam Loxton served as an administrator after his playing days were over and spent 24 years as a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

Up until 1946, Sam Loxton played in the Victorian Football League for St Kilda as a forward.

Sam Loxton scored 232 not out, which remains a record for any Australian player on his first-class debut.

Sam Loxton seized his opportunity, scoring 80 and taking three wickets, securing himself a position on the 1948 England tour.

Sam Loxton played a prominent role in the Fourth Test, scoring an aggressive and counterattacking 93 that helped Australia pry the initiative from England; the tourists eventually won the match.

Sam Loxton had to deal with a variety of tumultuous events on and off the field during his tenure, often relating to player misconduct, and retired from cricket administration in 1981 following the underarm incident.

Sam Loxton was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1979 Birthday Honours for service to the parliament of Victoria and sport.

The elder Sam Loxton was an electrician who played second grade cricket for Collingwood.

The younger Sam Loxton started his education at Yarra Park State School, where he learned to bat, using a pine tree in the schoolyard as the stumps; the same tree was used for the same purpose years earlier by Test players Vernon Ransford and Ernie McCormick, and long-serving Victorian batsman Jack Ledward.

The family moved to Armadale, and young Sam Loxton attended Armadale Public School before completing his secondary education at Wesley College, Melbourne, an elite private boys' school.

Away from his sporting commitments at school, Sam Loxton played district cricket for Prahran's third grade team when he was just 12.

The elder Sam Loxton was a member of the club committee from 1941 until his death in 1974, and was a vice-president for the last 17 years of his life.

The squad was coached by Bert Cohen and former Test batsman and captain Jack Ryder, and Sam Loxton credited the latter as the biggest influence on his career, saying.

Sam Loxton was an inspiration so far as I was concerned.

Sam Loxton had so much to do with my early grounding.

Sam Loxton was my cricket father, no doubt about that at all.

Sam Loxton improved significantly in his third season with the Colts, scoring his first century and taking 21 wickets, having managed only seven scalps in the two previous summers.

Sam Loxton played as both a forward and a defender, and the pair sometimes played together in attack.

However, the goals and victories began to dry up and Sam Loxton managed only six goals and one win in the remaining four matches.

Sam Loxton enlisted on 31 July 1942 at Oakleigh, Victoria and was discharged on 7November 1945 with the rank of sergeant, having spent most of his time at the division headquarters.

In 1943, Sam Loxton played in only the last four matches of the season, all of which were lost, kicking seven goals, and St Kilda finished last with a solitary victory from ten games.

Sam Loxton managed three goals each against Essendon and South Melbourne but was held goal-less against Melbourne.

Sam Loxton's efforts helped his club to finish ninth out of 12 teams, and he came second in the club Best and Fairest.

Sam Loxton played a solitary match in 1945, which St Kilda lost, and went goal-less.

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 Miller, who played the same type of role.

Sam Loxton played his final VFL season in 1946 and was chosen in 12 of St Kilda's 19 games, kicking 40 goals.

Sam Loxton had a strong start to his final season, kicking 34 goals in the first 8rounds.

Sam Loxton added six goals apiece against Footscray and Collingwood, but it was not enough to prevent defeats.

However, Sam Loxton missed three matches after the eighth round and upon his return, struggled and managed only six goals in his last four matches for St Kilda.

Sam Loxton was selected for Victoria to make his debut in the match against Queensland in December 1946 because five players, including Miller, were playing in a Test match for Australia against England during their Test tour.

When he had scored 183, Sam Loxton hit himself on the head with his bat in attempting a hook shot, but continued batting until the end of Victoria's innings and then opened the bowling in Queensland's innings.

Sam Loxton took the first wicket before going off to hospital with concussion.

Sam Loxton headed the bowling averages with 8wickets at 14.00 runs apiece.

Sam Loxton hit 77 and 35 not out in the opening match of the summer against the Indian tourists, and was rewarded with selection in an Australian XI to play the visitors ahead of the Tests.

Sam Loxton then went into an unproductive sequence, failing to pass 31 and taking only three wickets in his next four matches over a two-month period.

Australia batted first and Sam Loxton came in to bat in front of a supportive home crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Johnson was given the ball first change, but failed to make an impact, so Sam Loxton was handed his chance.

Sam Loxton put on 166 in 65 minutes with Ron Saggers, who, with Bill Brown and Donald Bradman, scored centuries.

Sam Loxton followed up with an unbeaten 79 and two wickets in the match against Oxford University, but that failed to win him a place in the first set-piece battle of the summer, against the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's.

Bradman opted to play Brown out of the position in the middle-order, and Sam Loxton missed out; Australia went on to win by an innings.

Sam Loxton then played in each of Australia's four remaining tour games before the Tests, but was unable to do enough to force his way into the first-choice team.

Sam Loxton made 39 and 52 against Lancashire, and 16 against Nottinghamshire, squandering his starts in the latter two innings to run outs.

Sam Loxton had limited opportunities as those ahead of him tended to finish off the opposition before his turn, and did not score heavily enough when he had a chance, so he was overlooked for the First Test at Trent Bridge.

Sam Loxton bowled 15 overs in all without success, and made 36 runs batting at No 7 in the first innings, helping Australia to avoid the follow on.

Sam Loxton was particularly severe on Jim Laker, lifting his off breaks into the crowd for four of his five sixes, mostly from lofted drives.

Sam Loxton retained his position for the final Test of the series, but had little to do in an innings victory.

Sam Loxton was required to bowl only two overs in the first innings as the frontline pacemen cut down the hosts for only 52, and then scored 15 in Australia's reply of 389.

Sam Loxton played regularly for Victoria, scoring 500 runs in the Sheffield Shield, compiling 135 against South Australia and 84 against Queensland.

Sam Loxton started the tour strongly, making 117 in the opening match against Zululand, which was not first-class.

Sam Loxton continued his productivity in the succeeding games, never failing to pass 40 in any completed innings in the first five first-class matches of the tour.

Sam Loxton made single figure scores in his last three innings, including in the last match against a South African XI in what was effectively a dry run for the Tests.

Sam Loxton played in all five Tests, and in the First Test at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, he scored his first Test century.

Sam Loxton compiled 101 in 150 minutes, helping Australia to a total of 413 after both opening batsmen were out without scoring.

The Second Test was an eight-wicket victory for the Australians, this time dominated by Harvey's 178, with whom Sam Loxton shared a 140-run stand for the fifth wicket, contributing 35 himself.

Sam Loxton batted at No 10 and Harvey at No 9, but the Australians collapsed before the pitch had changed measurably.

The tourists were still more than 200 runs in arrears when Sam Loxton came in to join Harvey.

Sam Loxton survived to lunch after being caught from a no-ball on the long on boundary from a lofted drive.

The Fourth Test of the series was a high-scoring draw, Sam Loxton making six in his only innings.

Sam Loxton made little impact on the tour matches after the start of the Tests, passing fifty twice and taking two wickets from 13 overs in five matches.

Sam Loxton lost his Test place after three matches, and in Sheffield Shield games his highest score for the season was just 62.

Sam Loxton was out for a duck in the second innings, unable to cope with the conditions, as did most of his compatriots.

Sam Loxton returned to play for Victoria, and although he struggled for runs, managing only three fifties for the season, wickets came regularly.

Sam Loxton broke through for his first first-class century in three years when he made 169 against New South Wales, but it was not enough to prevent an innings defeat.

Sam Loxton bowled with steady results throughout the season, never taking more than three wickets in an innings and five in a match.

Sam Loxton played in all five of the matches that were termed as "unofficial Tests" on this tour.

Sam Loxton took 12 wickets at 19.75 but scored only 115 runs at 23.00 without passing 25 in the first four matches.

Sam Loxton scored 123, but was unable to force a victory.

Sam Loxton's form tapered away thereafter and he failed to pass 40 and took a total of only four wickets in the three remaining representative matches.

Sam Loxton ended the tour with 647 runs at 35.94 and 33 wickets at 31.90, but struggled in the matches against India, scoring 148 runs at 21.14 and taking 7wickets at 56.14.

Sam Loxton took 12 wickets at 32.41 for the season, the fewest wickets in any of his first-class seasons.

Sam Loxton made 107 in an innings triumph over Queensland and 106 in a drawn match against South Australia.

Sam Loxton made little impact in his final match; although the Victorians defeated Queensland, his only participation was to score five runs in the first innings.

Sam Loxton topped both the batting and bowling averages in the same season on four occasions.

An aggressive right-handed all-rounder, Sam Loxton tended to bat in the middle-order, and bowled after the new ball pacemen.

Sam Loxton had a strong arm and exploited his power frequently, to the extent that the Australian wicket-keeper Don Tallon complained about the jarring impact of his unnecessarily strong throws when the batsmen were already home and no run out was possible.

Sam Loxton was known for his energetic and aggressive approach to cricket, and liked to attack and intimidate opposition batsmen.

Sam Loxton was a predominantly back-foot player whose initial foot-movement tended to be back and towards and then across the stumps.

When he committed to a back foot shot, Sam Loxton often made such a decisive retreat that he almost stepped onto his stumps.

Sam Loxton was known for his physical strength; another VFL player who had a reputation as an "enforcer" tried to bump him and later said that the collision made him feel as though he had run into a goalpost.

Sam Loxton was known for his blunt nature, and his appointment to a post that required him to liaise with cricket officials from opposing nations raised eyebrows.

Sam Loxton scored 33 and bowled six overs without taking a wicket in a high-scoring draw.

Sam Loxton took a photo of the scene and lodged it to cricket authorities, asking them to make a ruling on whether a batsman would be out if the ball struck the umpire's loose shoes and bounced up into a fielder's hands.

Sam Loxton joined the Armadale branch of the Liberal Party in 1950.

On 28 September 1954, Sam Loxton won pre-selection and was endorsed as the Liberal candidate for the electorate of Prahran.

Sam Loxton took 7wickets and scored 129 runs to help Prahran claim the title for the first time in 32 years, and was hailed as a local hero.

Sam Loxton was aided by preferences from the Democratic Labor Party, which had broken away from the ALP during the 1950s, claiming that it was too soft towards communism; fears of left-wing influence was causing great concern in Australian society at the time.

Sam Loxton entered the Victorian parliament in 1955, and served as government whip from 1961 until his retirement in 1979.

Sam Loxton continued to involve himself in cricket administration after his retirement as a player.

Sam Loxton was Prahran's vice president and was involved in coaching and selecting teams, and his service to the club was honoured with life membership.

Sam Loxton served as a MCG trustee from 1962 to 1982.

Sam Loxton was a Test selector for the Australian team from 1970 to 1981, filling the vacancy left by the retirement of former Test captain Ryder.

One of the new players that Harvey and Sam Loxton recommended to Bradman was Dennis Lillee, who went on to become one of Australia's greatest fast bowlers and the world's leading wicket-taker.

In 1977, Sam Loxton helped to select David Hookes to make his debut in the Centenary Test, after receiving a recommendation from Bradman, who had retired from the panel.

Sam Loxton saw the Australian skipper's action as a "betrayal" of cricket.

At a VCA meeting in April 1981, Sam Loxton announced that he was severing all connections with organised cricket.

Sam Loxton initially said that he was resigning for family reasons, as he would be moving to the Gold Coast in Queensland with his wife.

Sam Loxton was a commentator on GTV-9 for the Melbourne Summer Olympics held in late 1956, and his co-commentators included American track and field icon Jesse Owens.

Sam Loxton was vice-president of the Victorian School for Deaf Children, president of the Prahran Technical School Council and a member of the Prahran College of Advanced Education Council.

Sam Loxton divorced his first wife Hilda in February 1952 after a nine-year union that produced no children.

Sam Loxton later divorced Bond and wed his third wife Joan Shiels.