The early years
Australia · born Perth, 1883 · killed in action 1918 · right-handed · Australasian champion 1913 and Western Australia's leading cricketer
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1913
Australasian singles champion, at home in Perth
2
Australasian doubles titles: 1909 with J. P. Keane, 1913 with Alf Hedemann
1909
Australasian singles final, lost to Tony Wilding in Perth
1903 to 1913
Years of his Western Australian singles titles
116
Runs against South Australia in 1905-06, the first first-class century by a Western Australian
Ernest Frederick Parker was born in Perth on 5 November 1883 and educated at Perth High School and St Peter's College, Adelaide, before joining his father's law firm in Perth. Because tennis in Perth was mainly a winter game, he could play both tennis and cricket at the top level. As a batsman he made 116 against South Australia at Fremantle in 1905-06, the first first-class century by a Western Australian, played in two trial matches for the 1909 tour of England without being chosen, and set Perth club records for runs and centuries.
On grass he was Western Australian champion from 1903, and the Australasian Championships twice came to his home city. In 1909 he lost the singles final there to Tony Wilding, and won the doubles with J. P. Keane, beating Tom Crooks and Wilding. In November 1913, at Mueller Park in Subiaco, he beat Harry Parker, no relation, in four sets for the singles title, and won the doubles with Alf Hedemann. He was a quick, attacking player who came to the net often; his serve was considered his weak point.
His eyesight was failing, and he was not called up for war service, but he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and sailed for Europe in May 1917 as a gunner in the 102nd Howitzer Battery. He was killed by a shell at Caëstre, France, on 2 May 1918, aged 34. He was the only Western Australian first-class cricketer killed in action in the First World War.
| Australasian Championships 1909, Perth | Singles final: lost to Tony Wilding 6-1, 7-5, 6-2. Doubles final with J. P. Keane: beat Tom Crooks and Wilding 1-6, 6-1, 6-1, 9-7 |
|---|---|
| Australasian Championships 1913, Perth | Singles final: beat Harry Parker in four sets, after losing the first set. Doubles final with Alf Hedemann: beat Harry Parker and Roy Taylor 8-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
| Western Australian Championships | SportWest credits him with eight Western Australian singles and eight doubles titles between 1903 and 1913 |
| Western Australian Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1903 | Men's singles | |
| 1904 | Men's singles | |
| 1907 | Men's singles | |
| 1908 | Men's singles | |
| 1911 | Men's singles | |
| 1912 | Men's singles | |
| 1913 | Men's singles | |
| Australian Championships | ||
| 1909 | Men's doubles Australasian Championships | with J. P. Keane |
| 1913 | Men's doubles Australasian Championships | with Alf Hedemann |
| 1913 | Men's singles Australasian Championships | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
The person behind the player.
Perth
Tennis in Perth was played mainly in winter, which let him be the leading player of both games at once. SportWest calls him "simultaneously WA's best cricketer and tennis player". In 1902-03 he became the first batsman to score more than 1,000 first-grade runs in a Perth season, and his 19 first-grade centuries and top score of 246 remain Western Australian pennant records.
Source: SportWest Hall of ChampionsPerth, 1913
The Wellington Dominion headlined its report of the 1913 final "The Two Parkers". It noted that the local man had been suffering from rheumatism for some months and seemed stiff in the arm at the start, but that his placing and serving won the match against his Sydney namesake.
Source: The Dominion, 8 December 1913, Papers PastPerth, 1917
Failing eyesight had ended his cricket, and he had not been called up because of it. He enlisted anyway, and embarked on HMAT Ascanius on 11 May 1917 to serve with the 102nd Howitzer Battery, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade.
Source: Australian War Memorial, Places of Pride; ACS review, 2025Caëstre, May 1918
Gunner Ernest Frederick Parker, service number 34381, was killed by a shell on 2 May 1918. He is listed on the Australian War Memorial's Roll of Honour under the 102nd Australian (Howitzer) Battery.
Source: Australian War Memorial2024
A biography by Max Bonnell and Andrew Sproul, Ernest Parker: Not a Love Story, was published in 2024. Its reviewer for the Association of Cricket Statisticians wrote that Parker seems to have been a very reserved individual who would not have been comfortable with the honours that came after his death.
Source: ACS review, Roger Heavens, 2025Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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