Almanac Cricket Literature: How Vic Richardson and Ian Chappell helped John Lysikatos breathe again

 

 

Over a Tuesday morning coffee, John Lysikatos has the giddy look of a man in the first flush of retirement. He can barely remember the last time a school year started and he wasn’t in a classroom.

 

For forty years – five days per week – six and a half hours per day and then a couple of hours at night – John taught junior primary in South Australia’s public school system including a decade of special education. He first stood in front of a blackboard only a few months after his 21st birthday. His own description is that he was as thin as a snooker cue and his hair draped over his shoulders. He carried one ideal with him – that every kid no matter where they were up to would learn something in his class. John never sought a role in administration or leadership. He was a teacher and so he taught.

 

Now he doesn’t have to teach anymore.

 

But he still is, and the result of his most recent public education project sits handsomely on the table – a biography of Victor Richardson that weighs two kilos, has 37 chapters spread over almost 600 heavily illustrated pages. It is sub-titled ‘A Great Australian All Round Sportsman’ and there is a strong case that Richardson belongs in the same category as Reg ‘Snowy’ Baker for his versatility and success in so many arenas.

 

 

 

 

Richardson captained South Australia in football and cricket in the same year, won premierships and a Magarey medal with Sturt, opened the batting in the Bodyline series, captained Australia on a successful Test tour of South Africa, played interstate baseball and had a crack at lacrosse, gymnastics, tennis, swimming, golf and basketball. Among his admirers were Neville Cardus and Robert Menzies. He was feted in Hollywood, pioneered radio sports coverage, coached thousands of kids while keeping a respectful distance observing his grandsons Ian, Greg and Trevor Chappell.

 

It was in a classroom of course that John Lysikatos first became entranced by the legend of Vic Richardson, and it was another Sturt footballer-cricketer who lit the flame. After retiring from sport Gil Langley was elected Labor MP for Unley and eventually became Speaker of the South Australian Parliament. This day Langley was the guest at Unley Primary School where he was to give a talk to the grade sevens about the Westminster system of Government. Within minutes Langley diverted from an explanation of the role of Governor-General into a glowing description of Sturt’s 1940 premiership and ‘South Australia’s greatest sportsman – Vic Richardson’. Lysikatos learned something that day and was hungry for more.

 

“I love history and wanted to know everything about this man Vic Richardson.”

 

Sport was everywhere in John’s childhood. He played footy and cricket on every street and backyard and told his family he was going to be captain of Australia. He listened to the 1972 Ashes with a radio tucked under his pillow and adored Ian and Greg Chappell.

 

There was also soccer – the sport that connected him with his Greek heritage. Tony Lysikatos grew up in the village of Sapounakeika in the Peloponnese and served in the Korean War as part of the UN forces. On return he saw the poverty in his village reach the point where people were starving. He came to South Australia in 1955 and worked as a labourer in the Riverland before finding a job at Bridgestone tyre factory at Edwardstown. John recalls the passion of his father, his Uncles and their ten thousand migrant mates watching West Adelaide Hellas play at Hindmarsh.

 

His mother was also from the Peloponnese, a village called Astros. As an 18-year-old in 1959 Petroula Kopsaftis was told by her father to join her brother who had already migrated to the other side of the world. The family was split in the hope of something better. Petroula worked in factories, married Tony, started a family and in 1964 they moved to a home in Unley. The timing for a sports-mad child was impeccable as Sturt entered a golden era winning five premierships on end. After the 1969 flag, Tony Lysikatos and his mates went to the Waverley Hotel where mine host was Sturt captain Bob Shearman. The skipper brought the premiership cup into the bar – filled it with beer and offered a chance for everyone to sup from the sacred chalice. When he spotted the nine-year-old John Lysikatos at the end of the queue he cried ‘not you Tiger,’ and found him a coke and a bag of chips instead.

 

After growing up with history being made all around him John became the historian for both the Sturt football and cricket clubs. In between teaching and having his own family he produced nine books. It was straight forward piecing together the modern stuff, but the mythic figure of the past nagged away at him and so a decade ago he began to write a book worthy of the many careers of Vic Richardson. His fascination with Vic made him determined to read everything about him from every angle. He roped in the Chappell family for help, and they responded enthusiastically – Trevor unearthed family photos, Greg rang with anecdotes and Ian provided detail.

 

It wasn’t an easy ride. Everything fell into the background when his wife Martha developed breast cancer. When she passed away on May 3, 2016, John made no secret of the toll it took on him and the dark periods that followed. One Sunday morning he lay in bed without the capacity to start another day when the phone rang. It was Ian Chappell who listened and then told John to get up, stand up, play a straight bat and get back onto Vic. The book became a purpose as much as a project.

 

In times when he needed a boost, he would say to himself ‘Here comes the Australian cricket captain Vic Richardson to open the batting’ or in the classroom he would mischievously call Vic’s name out during the roll call to give himself a lift.

 

 

 

 

In the days before the Ashes Test in Adelaide last December the book was launched at the Ikaros Hall in Unley. Ian Chappell told John he would meet him there, but he insisted he ‘have the privilege of picking him up’. They drove to the book launch together talking about the 1972 Ashes and how to bat against the West Indies. John never did become captain of Australia, but he earned the friendship of one who did. For his 60th birthday, Ian sent a message that in part thanked John for what he had done for the Chappell family.

 

As Ian was on stage and John’s daughter Elleny busy handling the arrangements, John sat next to a pile of books with a wide contented smile. That day had been his final day with the Education Department and his literary monument was finished with the approval of his childhood idol.

 

“People think it is strange to have a hero from last century, but it had to be done or time will forget him,” he says as we finish up coffee.

 

“Vic gave me a lot too. It has been a marvelous marathon journey which helped me breathe again after my wife’s passing from cancer but also eased me into retirement.”

 

As we part, I ask him what is next, and his eyes widen. “Plenty more – we never stop learning.”

 

 

Victor Richardson: A Great Australian All Round Cricketer is available via Sturt Football Club or contact [email protected]

 

 

Read more from Michael Sexton Here.

 

 

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About Michael Sexton

Michael Sexton is a freelance journo in SA. His scribblings include "The Summer of Barry", "Chappell's Last Stand" and the biography of Neil Sachse.

Comments

  1. Thanks Mike. This is a tremendous piece. Great topic, great angle, beautifully put together.

    As you know, I had the privilege of meeting John at a recent ASSH event in Adelaide. He is an enthusiastic and infectious character and this is a terrific thing he has done for the Chappell family and also for those who love great stories, especially sports stories.

    It seems to have been more than a project, given John’s personal circumstances. The place of Ian Chappell in that does not surprise.

    Again, thanks for this story Mike, and I hope it leads to more people getting hold of John’s book and developing an appreciation of Vic Richardson.

  2. Lee Harradine says

    Thanks Mike, as always a beautifully written piece that does justice to John’s great achievement with this wonderful book.

  3. Barry Nicholls says

    Wonderful story telling. What a great tribute to John. Journalism/writing lecturers should use this for students re how to write a profile. It’s compelling and clever on so many levels.

  4. Malcolm Ashwood says

    Mike superb a privilege to be there on the night of the book launch and Ian Chappell elite leader has helped many many people in that regard and similar situations- John thank you ! ( also for purchasing my book )
    my dad is reading a chapter or so a night helping him to re the passing of my mum also

  5. Peter Crossing says

    Wonderful article Michael.
    John’s enthusiasm and passion are admirable.
    Vic was a great sportsman who did much for sport in SA, both on and off the field.

  6. Bernard Whimpress says

    Terrifice piece, Mike
    ‘Infectious’ captures John. I’ve long said if you cut him he’d bleed double-blue and this essay conveys his passions – love of family and devotion to teaching – as well as sports history. The end of a long and noble project but i’m sure for John a productive retirement ahead.

  7. Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt says

    Thanks Mike. I’ve only known about John through his Sturt books. I know a whole lot more now. I’m not surprised by Ian Chappell’s encouragement.

  8. Nicholas White says

    Brilliant Mike and thank you to you for this tribute to John and his book. I love my copy and am spreading the word as best I can. It is a beast of a book. Ian Chappell is a legend.

  9. Keiran Croker says

    Thanks Mike. Beautiful story.

  10. What a fabulous story.

  11. Mark ‘Swish’ Schwerdt says

    I met John on Saturday night at the Crows v Giants debacle. In the space of 30 odd minutes we discussed Chappelli, John Halbert’s Shield average, Mick Nunan’s district cricket career, northern suburbs primary school cricket nets and Dashing Dave Bartlett..

    A very effusive and generous man.

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