Ken Archer

Who is Ken Archer?

Kenneth "Ken" Alan Archer AM is an Australian cricketer. He was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School. An opening batsman, he played domestic first-class cricket for Queensland for 10 years, from 1946-7 to 1956-7. He played in five Tests for the Australian cricket team in 1950 and 1951. His younger brother Ron Archer played 19 Tests for Australia between 1953 to 1956.

Archer toured to South Africa in 1949-50, but was not selected for the Test team. He made his Test debut in the second test of the 1950–51 Ashes series series against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Despite moderate scores in that match, and the third test at the Sydney Cricket Ground and the fourth test at the Adelaide Oval, he was then dropped from the team. He returned for the first two tests against West Indies in 1951-2, but failed to make an impression and did not play Test cricket again.

Archer was an outstanding fielder, and was offered a contract to play professional baseball in the U.S. He played in the Lancashire League in 1954, for Accrington.