Sam Loxton - Early and War Years

Early and War Years

Loxton was born in March 1921 at Albert Park, Victoria, the son of Sam Sr. and Annie. The elder Sam Loxton was an electrician who played second grade cricket for Collingwood. The younger Sam started his education at Yarra Park State School, where he learned to bat, using a pine tree in the schoolyard as the stumps; the same tree was used for the same purpose years earlier by Test players Vernon Ransford and Ernie McCormick, and long-serving Victorian batsman Jack Ledward. The family moved to Armadale, and young Loxton attended Armadale Public School before completing his secondary education at Wesley College, Melbourne, an elite private boys’ school. One of his colleagues at Wesley College was Ian Johnson, a future teammate for Victoria and Australia. The boys’ school coach was P. L. Williams, a renowned mentor of teenagers who had earlier coached Ross Gregory and future Test captain Lindsay Hassett. Away from his sporting commitments at school, Loxton played district cricket for Prahran's third grade team when he was just 12. The young cricketer's parents were stalwarts of the club; Sam Sr. was the scorer and served as a transport man, driving the matting and equipment to matches, while Annie made cucumber sandwiches for 25 years—due to the economic difficulties caused by the Great Depression and World War II, meat catering for players was a luxury even at first-class and international matches. The elder Sam was a member of the club committee from 1941 until his death in 1974, and was a vice-president for the last 17 years of his life. At the age of 16, the younger Loxton was selected in the Victorian Cricket Association Colts team that played in the first grade competition in 1937–38; he played three seasons with the outfit, which was effectively a state youth team. The squad was coached by Bert Cohen and former Test batsman and captain Jack Ryder, and Loxton credited the latter as the biggest influence on his career, saying

He was an inspiration so far as I was concerned. He had so much to do with my early grounding. Old Jack never had a drink and never smoked a cigarette in his life and nobody walked so tall as that man. He was my cricket father, no doubt about that at all.

Loxton improved significantly in his third season with the Colts, scoring his first century and taking 21 wickets, having managed only seven scalps in the two previous summers. In 1940–41, aged 19, he moved back to Prahran to play in their first grade team after the Colts were disbanded, and he became more productive over the next few years, taking 46 wickets in one season.

Loxton also played Australian rules football, and in 1942, he made his debut in the Victorian Football League (VFL)—the highest tier of competition at the time—playing for St Kilda. One of his teammates was Keith Miller, a future Invincibles colleague. Loxton played as both a forward and a defender, and the pair sometimes played together in attack. The recruit from Prahran played in only six matches in his first year, kicking 15 goals. Debuting in round six, he started his career brightly, kicking five and four goals in his first two matches against Melbourne and Collingwood respectively, helping his team to two victories. However, the goals and victories began to dry up and Loxton managed only six goals and one win in the remaining four matches. St Kilda came second to last and did not make the finals.

During World War II, Loxton served with the 2nd Armoured Division. He enlisted on 31 July 1942 at Oakleigh, Victoria and was discharged on 7 November 1945 with the rank of sergeant, having spent most of his time at the division headquarters. The war ended Loxton and Miller’s partnership at St Kilda. Miller was deployed to South Australia for training before becoming a fighter pilot in England, while his St Kilda colleague served in a reserve unit in Melbourne, enabling him to continue his football career when granted leave. In 1943, Loxton played in only the last four matches of the season, all of which were lost, kicking seven goals, and St Kilda finished last with a solitary victory from ten games. He managed three goals each against Essendon and South Melbourne but was held goal-less against Melbourne. The following year, Loxton played in all 18 matches and topped St Kilda’s goal-kicking aggregates with 52. After making a slow start to the season, aggregating only four goals in the first four matches, including two goal-less outings, he began to score more heavily. The St Kilda forward registered a six-goal haul against Geelong in round eight, helping to secure an away win, and scored 23 goals in the last six matches, including five in each of the last three matches. However, St Kilda won only one of these three matches. Loxton's efforts helped his club to finish ninth out of 12 teams, and he came second in the club Best and Fairest. He played a solitary match in 1945, which St Kilda lost, and went goal-less.