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We have recently featured stories about players who excelled at football and cricket.

There could be no better example of someone who did both  at the highest level than Neil Hawke.  Hawke played league football in two states, Shield cricket for three,  and was a leading fast bowler of his era.

He was  also an example of the pitfalls that can exist when trying to run two demanding sporting careers together.

There is no doubt that without the diversion of cricket, he could have been an all time great of football.  On the other hand, if it hadn’t been for the injuries suffered at football, his cricket could have gone to even higher levels and his career may have been extended.

Neil Hawke was a natural sportsman, excelling in athletics in his younger years, and in his spare time played golf off a one handicap.

A South Australian, Hawke made a splash at the age of eighteen at East Perth when he joined them in 1958, after playing five games with Port Adelaide the previous season, one of those yielding 15 goals against West Adelaide. In 42 games over two seasons with the Royals he kicked 157 majors, and was a big mover in the club’s premierships in those years, leading the WAFL goalkickers in 1958. He kicked a bag of ten against Claremont in June, 1959.

His strong points were his strong high marking, pace at ground level, and accurate kicking.

Even in those days combining sports was getting difficult, and Hawke took the following season off to concentrate on cricket, subsequently returning home to South Australia. Not only had he made his mark in the WAFL, his performances on the cricket field were no less impressive.  The fourth wicket stand between Hawke and Peter Wishart for North Perth in the 1958-59 pennant final realised 281, to put the game  out of reach of Nedlands. Hawke finished the innings with 189.  In 7 games with WA he made 189 runs and took 11 wickets.

He resumed football with West Torrens while walking into the South Australian cricket team. He repaid the hospitality he had received with the  Sandgropers by slicing through the cream of our batting at the WACA with 7 for 38.  Although Hawke played 33 games in the SANFL in that period, it was cricket that had taken over.

From the promise he had exhibited as a medium pacer with WA he developed into a fast swing bowler for his country, with a penchant for hard work. In 27 Tests he accumulated 2677 runs and 91 wickets, a true allrounder’s figures.  His fielding was also a feature of his game.

Sadly, Neil Hawke did not have a happy retirement.  The last twenty years of his life were spent in bad health as he battled various illnesses, finally succumbing on Christmas Day,  2000 at the age of 61.

Neil Hawke is remembered by football and cricket fans as a star of both fields.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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