Ernest Toovey dies aged 90

Ernest Toovey, the former Queensland batsman and selector, has died aged 90 in Brisbane. His funeral service will be held on July 24.

Toovey played 37 matches in a first-class career between 1949 and 1956, after which he became a Queensland selector and served on the panel as chairman for nearly 25 years before retiring in 1989.

He also played 109 matches for the Northern Suburbs District Cricket Club and was actively associated with them until the 1980s. He became a life member of Queensland Cricket in 1970. Toovey also represented Queensland and Australia in baseball.

Toovey had served in the navy during World War II, which began when he was 17. He was 19 when he enlisted and served on board HMAS Perth, which was sunk in 1942 near Java with the loss of more than half of its crew. Toovey was then captured by the Japanese and spent three years in a Prisoner of War camp. During his imprisonment, he reportedly resisted the recommended amputation of his leg because of an ulcer, saying, "You can't take my leg off because I've got to play cricket for Queensland."