Ron Crippin
Randwick Petersham Cricket Club | March 12, 2025
In his day there was no finer attacking batsman than Ron Crippin. He was the scourge of fast bowlers who loved to let the little red ball fly. And fly it did when he was at the crease…often to the boundary fence and many times over it.
Born in Darlinghurst on 23 April 1947, Ronald James Crippin joined Randwick in 1960-61 at just 13 years of age. Despite his youth, he hit a score of 75, second only to young John Letson’s 130. He lined up again the following season repeating the dose with 75 in the opening round. He also made his Grade Cricket debut that season with some impressive knocks in 4ths and later 3rds.
He played 1962-63 in 3rd Grade, topping the batting with 264 runs while taking 12 wickets with his medium pacers. He displayed his all-round capabilities by completing four dismissals when he took a turn at wicketkeeping. A 50 in the first game of the following season was his last in 3rds as he was quickly whisked away to 2s, where he completed the season under the watchful eye of Bill Beath. Young Ron also won selection in the Green Shield Metropolitan 1sts, scoring 112 against Country at SCG2.
Selectors were excited about his potential and aged just 17 years 157 days, named him in 1st Grade for the opening match of the 1964-65 season. He batted no 8 in that game against North Sydney at Coogee and was disappointingly run out for 11. However, after a 32 against Bankstown next match, he repaid the faith shown in him with a 27* and 47 double to lead the side to an outright win over Gordon at Coogee. And while Ron was impressive in his 1st Grade debut season with 324 runs, he could have added a premiership after hitting 112 against Bankstown to get his under 21 years Poidevin-Gray team into the Grand Final, which was unfortunately washed out, giving Glebe the title.
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Two seasons later, Crippin headed the 1st Grade batting with 419 runs while taking 11 catches, mainly in the silly leg position where he was described by skipper Stan Banwell as “fearless”. He also knocked up 240 in PGs which he captained, with a classic 117 against Waverley. With another 59 in a brief visit to 2nd Grade, he amassed 718 runs for the summer.
In 1967-68, State Selectors acted and picked him in the NSW Colts clash against Queensland at the ‘Gabba in Brisbane. Coming in to bat at 3-17 chasing 303, he thrashed the attack to the tune of 181 in 235 minutes, hitting 25 fours and a six. The dashing right-hander carried that form into the Poidevin-Gray competition, where he led the side to its first premiership win in 37 years.
Two seasons later, Crippin played his second Colts match, once again meeting Queensland, although the venue was SCG2. It was almost a replay, as he belted 157* in just 164 minutes hitting 22 fours and three sixes along the way. Later that season, he scored his maiden 1st Grade century with a superb 162* in 201 minutes against Petersham-Marrickville at Marrickville Oval, which included 16 fours and two sixes. And while he completed the season with 729 runs–the most for Randwick since 1954-55–two summers later, he surpassed that total with 745, including centuries against Mosman and North Sydney.
Cricket was the winner when Ron was named in the NSW team in 1970-71, as all the early indications were he was headed for a career in rugby or rugby league. Having inherited his father Archie’s footballing skills, he played 1st Grade rugby for Randwick before South Sydney signed him to play rugby league. However, a number of injuries coupled with his cricket successes forced a rethink. His retirement from football at an early age followed a similar pattern to that of his father who hung up his boots at the ripe old age of 20, when injuries got the better of him after playing three Tests against England in 1936 on a Kangaroos Rugby League Tour. Ron made his first-class debut against South Australia in Adelaide on 26 February 1971 where he scored 44 at no. 7.
The flair which Ron approached his cricket in the first-class arena, endeared him to cricket crowds. A fierce competitor with a never-say-die attitude, he would attack the bowling from the first ball. As an opening batsman, he was a fearless hooker as anyone who saw him annihilate the South Australian attack at the SCG in an innings of 70 in 58 minutes would testify. The scribes had him pencilled in for the Australian tour of the West Indies in 1973 and it was a great disappointment when he missed selection.
In 1973-74, while playing against Victoria at the SCG, Ron collected a bad gash over his right eye when attempting to hook fast bowler Alan Hurst. There were no helmets in those days (Ron never wore as much as a cap when he batted) and the injury required 20 stitches. Ironically, Ron recalls that as he travelled by bus to the SCG that morning, he saw a batsman get smashed in the head in a match at nearby Moore Park!
Confirming there were no ill-effects from that whack to the head, a fortnight later, he hit 112 at the SCG in a limited overs match against Western Australia. The WA attack included one of Australia’s greatest fast bowlers, Graham “Garth” McKenzie. While Ron rates that hundred as one of the most satisfying of his career, his hook shot for six off D K Lillee’s first ball at the WACA in a Shield match, was a memorable moment.
Work commitments were more of a problem for Ron than fearsome fast bowlers bouncing him, and by the end of 1973-74 he had retired from first-class cricket. However, in the summer of 1978-79 he was back, much to the relief of the national selectors who were keen to have him in the Test side after defections to World Series Cricket. But in a Sheffield Shield game against Western Australia at the SCG, Ron was felled again by a bumper while attempting to hook Wayne Clark. The 10 stitches he received and the resultant blurred vision, caused him to firmly announce his retirement from the first-class arena.
Ron continued to play Grade Cricket but in 1981, after a career which produced 5,870 runs for Randwick and the 1979-80 1st Grade premiership, he moved away from Sydney where many career changes saw him relocate to a variety of country centres over the following 27 years. During that period, he had outstanding success with teams in Belmont, Forster and Uralla while he coached the first country team to win a State Indoor Cricket Championship. He maintained his association with the club during this time as an original member of the supporter group, the “Legends” while participating in the club’s annual golf day each year.
It is also of particular note that in the 101 years history of Randwick CC, Ron Crippin scored more runs than any other player in the combined age limited competitions. With 868 runs in the under 21 Poidevin-Gray comp. and another 440 in the under 16s A W Green Shield, his tally of 1,328 towers above anyone else. With his Grade Cricket figures, his career with the club produced a total of 7,178 runs. A handy medium-pacer, he also took 80 wickets across all competitions while a superb fielder, he snared 128 catches. And to complete the picture of an outstanding cricketer, he was not out-of-place with the gloves behind the stumps.
Having taken the decision to dispose of the family property at Forster and move back to Sydney following the passing of his father in 2008, Ron went on holiday with friends to Italy. It was on that trip that he suffered a major heart attack near Florence and was rushed to hospital where he spent a number of weeks recovering. For a man so conscious of physical fitness, to suffer such a condition was a shock to all who knew him, let alone the man himself.
Applying the same grit and determination which he had displayed on the cricket field for more than a quarter of a century, it was no surprise that Ron was up and about much more quickly than otherwise may have been expected. He relocated to Sydney shortly after and his presence at the club’s July 2008 AGM left no-one in any doubt. The legend was back.
These days, Ron is enjoying retired life in his seaside retreat at Forster, NSW.
NSW Colts v Queensland Colts at SCG2 October 1970
Back: David Hourn, Ron Crippin, Peter Maloney, Stuart Webster, David Falkenmire
Front: Ian Davis, Alan Anderson, Steve Bernard, Kerry Mackay (Capt.), Gary Gilmour, John Stevens, Tom Wood
Lyall Gardner OAM
Randwick Petersham Historian
