Ron Saggers

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Ron Saggers bigraphy, stories - Cricketer

Ron Saggers : biography

15 May 1917 – 17 March 1987

Ronald Arthur Saggers (15 May 1917 – 17 March 1987) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales. He played briefly for the Australian team, playing six Tests between 1948 and 1950. In his Test cricket career he made 24 dismissals (16 catches and 8 stumpings) and scored 30 runs at an average of 10.00. retrieved 28 April 2008

As a wicket-keeper, Saggers was "tidy and unobstrusive", and the understudy to Don Tallon on the 1948 Australian tour of England. from CricInfo retrieved 28 April 2008Alfred, p. 57. The touring party, led by Donald Bradman in his last season, was nicknamed The Invincibles and was widely regarded as one of the strongest ever. Saggers played in the Test match at Headingley, where he took three catches, and his only other experience of Test cricket was on the tour to South Africa in 1949–50, in which Tallon did not take part. Saggers played in all five Tests and took 21 dismissals, but Tallon replaced him for the home Ashes series against England the following season.

In domestic cricket, Saggers twice captained New South Wales in 1948 when the regular captain, Arthur Morris, was playing for Australia, and overall played domestic cricket from 1939 until 1951.

Domestic career

Saggers was born in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville in 1917.World War II Nominal Roll, retrieved 27 December 2007 He married Margaret Heather (née Rankin) in Annandale in 1941. retrieved 30 April 2008 Outside cricket, Saggers worked in the insurance industry.Pollard, p. 913.

Early career

Saggers played twice for the New South Wales Colts team against Queensland Colts in 1937, before making his first-class debut against South Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground half way through the season in January 1940. from Cricket Archive, retrieved 29 April 2008 Selected as a specialist batsman—future Services player Stan Sismey kept wicket—Saggers made 45 and 57 batting at number six in his debut match, from Cricket Archive, retrieved 29 April 2008 and went on to make two more first-class appearances before the end of the season, ending with 208 runs at an average of 34.66 and three catches behind the stumps.

His first full season from 1940–1941 saw him play in eight matches, scoring 413 runs with the bat at 29.50 and passing fifty runs in an innings twice. from Cricket Archive, retrieved 28 April 2008 His first match was away against Queensland where he scored 22 and 45, making three stumpings, taking one catch and performing one run out, from Cricket Archive retrieved 29 April 2008 followed by scores of one and 33 in the home match, together with two stumpings. from Cricket Archive retrieved 29 April 2008 He scored 35 and four at home against Victoria, from Cricket Archive retrieved 29 April 2008 and then 45 in the second innings of the away match. from Cricket Archive retrieved 29 April 2008 On 22 November 1940, barely a year into Saggers’ career, New South Wales faced a combined Queensland-Victoria team at Brisbane. Saggers scored 58 as his team reached 429 in response to the oppositions 202 all out. In the Queensland-Victoria team’s second innings, where they reached 416, Saggers equalled the world record for most dismissals in an innings, taking seven catches.Clowes, p. 221. Saggers then went on to score 47 against South Australia, and 68 against Queensland on 1 January 1941.Clowes, p. 228. In his final match before the outbreak of World War II, Saggers scored 63 runs against South Australia. from Cricket Archive retrieved 29 April 2008 He ended the season with 18 catches with the gloves and 13 stumpings.

World War II

Between 1941 and 1942, Saggers’ career was interrupted when he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 6 December 1941 at Sydney. He served at the Elementary Flight School as Leading Aircraftman RA Saggers 421043, until his discharge on 29 July 1942, Saggers did not return to domestic cricket in Australia until 1945, however. In the 1945–1946 season, he played in seven matches, scoring 168 runs at 21.00 and taking 12 catches and five stumpings. He then suffered a drop in form with the bat; in 1946–1947 he scored only 176 runs at 17.60 from eight matches. However, he remained effective as a wicket-keeper with 16 catches and seven stumpings. His batting form returned in 1947–1948, scoring 298 runs from 10 matches at 27.09, reaching the 90s for the first time. He also enjoyed a very successful season with the gloves, a career high of 21 catches and four stumpings.