David King rubbed shoulders with future cricket icons and represented Victoria as a young batter and is now on the brink of an exclusive club in Premier Cricket, writes PAUL AMY.
For that, he could blame his brother Matthew.
The Rams played Essendon at Jubilee Park and had to chase 269 for victory in round nine of the 2006-07 season.
They overhauled the target with all 10 wickets standing, with Matthew King (139 not out) and Tom Stray (111 not out) piling up 270.
David King was to come in at No.3.
Instead he was “dnb’’.
But in the seasons since, the left-hander has scored thousands of runs for Ringwood.
In fact, after hitting an immaculate, unbeaten century in last weekend’s elimination final against Prahran, he’s just 55 runs shy of crossing the 10,000 mark in Premier Cricket.
Only 10 other players have reached the milestone, among them Test pair Warwick Armstrong and Jack Ryder.
King, 32, will get his chance to join them when the Rams meet Richmond in a semi-final at Central Reserve this Saturday and Sunday.
Not that he’ll be thinking about it too much.
King, Ringwood’s captain, says he’ll be more concerned with his team beating the Tigers and going on to a preliminary final.
He has been mindful of the milestone “only because I haven’t made a run for two years and I’ve been stuck in the 9000s!’’
King’s century against Prahran was his 19th in Premier Cricket. It came off 307 balls, occupied 403 minutes, included 10 fours and 1 six, and contained no chances.
The wicket was flat, he says, “And if I knew I could get through the new ball it was going to be good to bat on.
“Our game plan was to bat all of our 100 overs and make 320-plus. If I could be the rock at one end, I thought we could do it.’’
The Rams made 6-327. They won by 70 runs.
One observer, watching from the benches behind the bowler’s arm at the top end of the Ringwood ground, called King’s hand a “proper red-ball innings’’.
King calls himself a “red-ball player’’.
Owing to Covid, he saw only white balls in the previous two seasons.
“I’d be one of the happiest blokes in the competition to see it back,’’ he says.
“My game suits the longer format, allows me to get into an innings and build on it for a long period.
“That’s my skill, to bat for long periods. Once I get in, hopefully I’m hard to get out.’’
He is “incredibly’’ hard to get out, confirms Frankston Peninsula and former Dandenong all-rounder James Nanopoulos, who has played Premier Cricket for as long as King.
“As a red-ball batter, there aren’t many players who are as disciplined as him,’’ Nanopoulos says.
“He knows his game inside and out, he knows how to score, he knows how to accumulate. He’s hugely talented as well. So put all those ingredients together and you’ve got a pretty good player.’’
*****
Four Kings.
When David King made his debut for the Rams, he joined his brothers Matthew and Michael and cousin Daniel in the first XI.
In the Premier records, David is DA King and Daniel is DN King. Matthew is MJ King and Michael is MR King.
The family contribution to Ringwood is remarkable.
David King’s father, Robin, played with the Rams, as did his uncles, Noel and Chris (who opened the batting in the club’s first match in District cricket in 1974-75).
And his grandfather, Norm, who lived to the age of 101, was a great stalwart of Ringwood cricket.
When the Rams won their first District/Premier flag in 2007-08, David, Daniel and Michael were in the XI captained by Sean Flynn, now the club coach.
Daniel played 126 matches for Ringwood and Michael 94.
Matthew had 37 games in the firsts before crossing to Monash Tigers.
He’s now back at Ringwood, captaining the thirds; last weekend he scored 78 not out.
David was 16 when he was promoted to the first XI.
At the end of the season, the club judged him its most promising player.
He’s since become Ringwood’s most decorated player: aside from almost 10,000 runs, his medium-pace bowling has brought him 257 wickets.
King played in the 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2014-15 premierships; won the 2019-20 Jack Ryder Medal; and has been selected in six Premier teams of the year.
There has also been an assortment of Ringwood awards, including life membership and a string of club championships.
King says his father, a “big, angry fast bowler’’ who himself had 22 games for the Rams in the 1980s, can take some of the credit for whatever he has achieved.
“Me and my brothers and my old man went down the nets every Friday … that sort of stuff really helped,’’ he says.
“Dad coached me all through juniors at Ringwood. He must have thrown me … I don’t know how many balls … it’s probably why he’s got no shoulder any more. He helped me set up my solid defence and then I was able to expand my batting when I got a little bit older and stronger.’’
King was a Victorian under-age player through all the age groups and gained selection, as a bowling all-rounder, in the Australian Under 19 team for the 2008 Youth World Cup.
Marcus Stoinis, James Pattinson and James Faulkner were teammates; Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Tim Southee were opponents.
“There were some fair players around,’’ he notes.
*****
In November 2014, David King was chosen in Victoria’s Sheffield Shield team, debuting against NSW at the MCG.
He opened the batting and scored 13 and 0.
A week later, he played against Tasmania in Hobart. Returns of 34 and 9 were not enough for him to retain his place in the side. He never played for Victoria again.
Nanopoulos, for one, believes that he should have got either a longer run or another look from the selectors.
An LBW decision ended that innings of 34. If he’d gone on to a big score, who knows where it would have taken him.
King says it was a “huge privilege’’ to represent his state but he’ll always regret not making the most of the chance.
“I didn’t make enough runs. And unfortunately, it’s a cut-throat game, cricket,’’ he says.
“I wasn’t able to take the opportunity at the time. I thought I was good enough to be at that standard. End of the day, no one to blame but myself. Someone like Travvy Dean comes in and does what he does. That’s how you take your opportunity.
“The 34 in Tassie, that was the one where I felt really good. I played across one and was LBW. That’s was the most disappointing one, getting a start and not going on, especially as an uncontracted player … you need 100-plus.’’
After his state stint, King went back to Ringwood and finished the season with 806 runs.
He was even more prolific in 2015-16, weighing in with 916 runs at 57.25.
But there was no call from the Vic selectors.
Rob Quiney opened the batting with King in his two Shield matches and admires how his former teammate has continued to perform at Premier level.
In doing so, Quiney says, he is doing Victorian cricket a good deed.
“When opposition players come up against David King, as much as they want to get him out, they also get shown how to bat,’’ Quiney says.
“Young kids learn off someone like him.’’
Accepting he’s out of the frame for state selection, King says nurturing and encouraging young teammates has become a focus of his cricket.
It’s no longer just about runs and tons.
“Being captain, I’m really looking to help the good crop we’ve got coming through now,’’ he says.
“If I’m able to use my experience and knowledge on them … that’s a big reason for me to stick around.
“I was lucky enough to be part of some successful teams and I’d love to go through that again with this group of players. It is a great feeling.’’
*****
David King
Premier club: Ringwood
Age: 32
Matches: 278
Runs: 9945
Highest score: 171 not out
Centuries: 19
Half-centuries: 57
Wickets: 257
Honours: Australian Under 19s 2007-08, Victorian Sheffield Shield team 2014-15, Victorian Premier Cricket Jack Ryder Medal 2019-20
Before joining CODE Paul Amy was a sports reporter and editor for Leader Newspapers. He was also a long-time contributor to Inside Football and is the author of Fabulous Fred, the Strife and Times of Fred Cook.
: 
(@ashwinravi99) 
. 
(@saifahmed75) 
