Known primarily for his cricket career, Victor Richardson was in fact a brilliant all-round sportsman - he also played football at league and state level, represented South Australia and Australia in baseball, he was a gymnast and swimmer and played lacrosse, golf, tennis and basketball.

Richardson began playing cricket for his local club, Sturt, in the 1912-13 season and went on the join the South Australian state team in 1919. He was captain of the Sturt team from 1921 until 1942 and of South Australia from 1921 to 1935. He also played Australian Rules for Sturt in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and in 1920 tied for the Magarey Medal, the league's award for the 'Fairest and Most Brilliant Player'. The umpires were asked to adjudicate on who they thought should be awarded the medal and they chose South Adelaide's Dan Moriarty. The situation was rectified in 1998 when the SANFL awarded Richardson, and all other players who had tied for the medal, retrospective medals.

In 1921 Richardson toured New Zealand with the second Australian cricket team. He was selected for the first Australian team and played two Tests in 1924-25. Also during that season Richardson scored a century in both innings for South Australia in a match against New South Wales in Sydney. He was captain of Australian teams that toured New Zealand in 1928 and North America in 1932. Richardson achieved his career high number of runs, 231, in Adelaide against the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1928-29. His highest score in Test cricket was 138. The highlight of his Test career was captaining Australia in South Africa in the 1935-36 season; the team won four of the five Tests and drew the other. Richardson set a record by taking five catches in one innings in the Fifth Test at Durban. In all, Richardson played 19 Test matches for Australia.

After his retirement from playing, Richardson became a radio commentator for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) and was particularly well-known for his partnership in cricket commentary with ex-English captain Arthur Gilligan and the catchphrase 'And what do you think, Arthur?' Richardson was sports editor of Radio 5AD during the 1950s.

Image reproduced courtesy of the Estate of Lionel Coventry. It may be printed or saved for personal research or study. Use for any other purpose requires written permission from the Estate of Lionel Coventry and the State Library of South Australia. To request approval, complete the Permission to publish form .

1921-35: Captained South Australian cricket team

1921-42: Captained Sturt cricket team

1924-36: Played 19 Test matches for Australia

1928-29 season: Made career high 231 runs for Australia against an English side at Adelaide

1935-36 season: Captained Australian Test cricket team in tour of South Africa; the team won four of the five Tests and drew the other

1954: Awarded Order of the British Empire (OBE)

1967: Entrance gates at Adelaide Oval named Victor Richardson Gates

Pollard, Jack. Australian cricket : the game and the players, North Ryde, N.S.W. : Angus & Robertson, 1988, pp. 886-890

Richardson, VY. The Vic Richardson story : the autobiography of a versatile sportsman, Adelaide : Rigby, 1967

Smith, Rick. Australian test cricketers : an A-Z profiling every cricketer who's donned the Baggy Green, Sydney : ABC Books for Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2006, p. 271

HowSTAT! The cricket statisticians: Search 'Players' for Richardson, Victor Y

Full Points Footy : Victor Richardson profile