Ernest Frederick Parker (5 November 1883 – 2 May 1918) was an Australian

tennis player Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cove ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er.

Career

Ernie Parker was educated at Perth High School and

St Peter's College, Adelaide , other_name = The Collegiate School of St Peter , seal_image = St Peter's College, Adelaide Logo.svg , seal_size = 150 , image = SPSC chapel and memorial hall.jpg , image_size ...

, before joining his father's law firm in Perth.

Tennis

Parker is best remembered for winning the

1913 Australasian Championships The 1913 Australasian Championships was a tennis tournament that took place on outdoor Grass courts at the Kitchener Park, Perth, Australia from 11 November to 15 November. It was the 9th edition of the Australian Championships (now known as the A ...

men's singles title. In the final against Harry Parker, he made many successful forays to the net and he won in four sets. He also reached the final in

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Jan ...

and won the 1909 (partnering J. Keane) and 1913 (partnering

Alf Hedeman Alfred Hedemann was an Australian tennis player. He won the doubles title alongside Ernie Parker at the Australasian Championships, the future Australian Open, in 1913. In the 1921 Australasian championships, held at Perth, Hedemann beat K ...

) doubles titles. He won the

Western Australian Championships Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

six times: 1903, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1911 and 1912. In 1905 he won the Maerenbad Cup in Marienbad Brandenberg, Germany, on clay, beating

Kurt von Wessely Kurt von Wessely, also Curt von Wessely (; 18 October 1881 – 25 October 1917), was an Austrian tennis player who was active during the beginning of the 20th century. Career In July 1905 he played for the Austrian Davis Cup team in a semifinal ...

. Parker's play was described as "quick, wristy, and always looking for a 'winner'". Slightly built, he was noted for his exceptional net play, but his serve was his weakness, described as "merely a means of putting the ball into play".

Cricket

Parker was able to excel at both tennis and cricket because at the time tennis was mostly a winter game in Perth. He played cricket for East Perth (

Perth Cricket Club Perth Cricket Club is a cricket team based in Perth, Western Australia. The club competes in the Western Australian Grade Cricket (Premier cricket) competition. History The club was officially formed on May 23, 1862. at a meeting held at th ...

) and Wanderers in the

Western Australian Grade Cricket WA Premier Cricket in Western Australia refers to the semi-professional cricket league played at a level below the first-class Western Warriors and other state teams. The competition is administered by the Western Australian Cricket Associati ...

competition. An elegant batsman, he was the first player to score a double-century in senior Perth cricket, and set a long-standing record of 19 centuries in the competition.''The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket'', Oxford, Melbourne, 1996, p. 410. He represented

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

between 1905 and 1910 in the years before Western Australia joined the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

competition. He was the first player to score a first-class century for Western Australia, when he made 116 in his second match. He also made 117 in only 82 minutes against

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 1910. He was included in two trial matches to select the Australian team to tour England in 1909, but without success. Greg Growden, ''Cricketers at War'', ABC Books, Sydney, 2019, pp. 107–11.

War service and death

Despite failing eyesight, which had affected his later sporting career, Parker enlisted in the Australian army in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. A gunner in the 102 Howitzer Battery, 2nd Brigade, he was killed by an enemy shell on 2 May 1918 in Caëstre, France.

Grand Slam finals

Singles 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Doubles: 2 (2 titles)

References

External links

* *

Bud Collins Arthur Worth "Bud" Collins Jr. (June 17, 1929 – March 4, 2016) was an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary. Collins was married to photographer Anita Ruthling Klaussen. Education Collins was b ...

: ''Total Tennis – The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia'' (2003 Edition, ). See pages 782 and 814. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Ernie 1883 births 1918 deaths People educated at Perth High School People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide Australasian Championships (tennis) champions Australian military personnel killed in World War I Australian male tennis players Australian cricketers Sportsmen from Western Australia Tennis players from Perth, Western Australia Western Australia cricketers Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Cricketers from Western Australia Australian Army soldiers