Lives in Cricket No 12 - Ric Charlesworth

to Ric who, like so many Perth children, was used to going shoeless to primary school. 7 The hockey skills he learned in these early years were developed further at the Cricketers club he joined at the age of 12. Its founder in the 1930s, Doug McKenzie, was still coach. He instilled in Ric essential skills, appreciation of hockey tactics and the importance of fair play and also acted as chauffeur, driving him to games all over Perth. 8 A club with so many members and former players prominent in both cricket and hockey can only have been inspirational for the young Charlesworth. Doug McKenzie’s brother Eric, father of Graham, was also involved, while Graham himself had played hockey for the state as well as becoming Western Australia’s first major Test cricketer. Fellow Test player and formidable Western Australian captain in the 1960s, Barry Shepherd, was another of the club’s state hockey players. So was Ric’s older playing contemporary, Test batsman Ross Edwards. Even Test player and state cricket captain John Inverarity, originally a Rules footballer, joined the hockey club. Another Cricketers’ player, Ian Dick, had had a more modest cricket career, captaining South Perth in the WACA competition and playing just 1952-1969 15 The Charlesworh family in 1963. Older brother John stands behind Ric, with sister Judy and brother David, alongside. 7 Ric Charlesworth, The Coach: Managing for Success . Pan Macmillan Australia: Sydney, 2001, pp 59-60. 8 Ibid ., p 59.