Oral history - Arthur Lodge

Arthur Lodge played cricket from age 11 at Hale School in Perth and was in the school's First Eleven from 1947 to 1951. From age 13 his teammates were senior players and he was one of the first school-age players to make 1000 runs in cricket.

At the age of 21, in 1954, Arthur took up baseball, playing with Nedlands Baseball Club. After only one season as an 'A' grade player, he was selected in the 1955 Western Australian State team for the Claxton Shield Series in Sydney. Arthur was selected again in the 1956 State team to play in Adelaide. In that same year he was considered for selection in the Australian baseball team to play at the Melbourne Olympics. However, he was deemed ineligible because he had received payment for his cricket appearances, and therefore was considered a 'professional' not an 'amateur' sportsman. In the Olympics at that time, a competitor had to have 'amateur' status. In 1957 he was again selected to play for Western Australia in the Claxton Shield baseball championship, held at the WACA ground in Perth.