Richard Shinnock Houston (30 June 1863 – 27 November 1921) was an Australian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and

Australian rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

footballer. He played 23

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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

matches for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

between 1885 and 1898. Dick Houston was a right-handed batsman who also sometimes bowled and kept wicket. He was an early exponent of the

switch hit A switch hit is a modern cricket shot. A switch hit involves the batter effectively changing from a right-hander to a left-hander (or vice versa) just before the ball is delivered by the bowler for the purpose of executing the shot. It is a varia ...

, changing suddenly from right-handed to left-handed in order to play the ball more effectively. His highest first-class score was 72, when he captained Victoria to victory over

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

in 1893–94. In the 1880s he won the batting average for

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

for five consecutive seasons, including two seasons when he also won the bowling average. He set a record for the Williamstown Cricket Club in 1902-03 when he scored 213

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

against Brighton. Houston was also an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er, playing 133 matches for

in the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFA) between 1881 and 1890, and also playing three matches for St Kilda in 1889 when the team were short of players, before crossing to Geelong. From 1891 to his retirement from football in 1894, he was the caretaker at

Corio Oval Corio Oval was an Australian rules football ground, located in Geelong, Victoria, and used by the Geelong Football Club in the VFA and the VFL from 1878 to 1915, and 1917 to 1940. Sited in Eastern Park, the oval was served by trams from 1930 w ...

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

, and also captained both the Geelong

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams. He played 71 matches with Geelong, for a career total of 207 VFA matches. Houston and his wife Marion had four children. At the time of his death, he was the caretaker of the

Williamstown Cricket Ground The Williamstown Cricket Ground (WCG), currently known by its sponsored name DSV Stadium, and also informally as Point Gellibrand Oval, is a football and cricket stadium located in Williamstown, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne. The ground is loc ...

, where he died, aged 58.

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*
Dick Houston
at Australian Football {{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Dick 1863 births 1921 deaths Australian cricketers Victoria cricketers North Melbourne Football Club (VFA) players Geelong Football Club (VFA) players Cricketers from Melbourne Australian rules footballers from Melbourne People from Williamstown, Victoria People from Brighton, Victoria People from the Colony of Victoria

See also

References

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