Ron Archer

Another Australian test cricketer of the 1950s has died. Ron Archer was a quick bowler and handy batsman who was good enough to play several times for Australia when other allrounders like Keith Miller, Richie Benaud and Alan Davidson were prominent. As Cricinfo says, his career was blighted by injury and in his mid - twenties he retired to pursue a successful career in commercial television.

Archer finished with 255 wickets at 23.36 from his 98 first-class matches and also scored 3768 runs at 31.93. Like Ken, who also played for Australia, he became a TV executive, rising through the ranks to become general manager of Channel 0. He also retained his links with cricket as Cricket Australia's Code of Behaviour Commissioner and once acted as an ICC match referee.

Creagh O'Connor, Cricket Australia's chairman, said Archer gave tirelessly to the game after his playing days prematurely ended. "Ron Archer had a brief and very successful Test career which was tragically cut short by an injury of the type that modern sports medicine would today probably have overcome," O'Connor said.