Patrick Ohlstrom

Patrick Andreas Ohlstrom (16 December 1890 – 10 June 1940) was an Australian cricketer. He played in one first-class match for South Australia in 1923/24.^[1]

Born in Warooka in South Australia's Yorke Peninsula,^[2] the youngest of ten children to farmer Pohl Ohlstrom and Margaret Ann (nee Purtle),^[3] Ohlstrom attended Edithburgh Public School^[4] and played cricket and baseball as a youth.^[2] After leaving school at 14, Ohlstrom worked as a clerk in Edithburgh,^[5] before moving to Adelaide, where he played cricket for Glynde Cricket Club and baseball for Freemason Ramblers, one of the leading baseball teams in South Australia at the time.^[6]

Ohlstrom enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) on 23 June 1915 as a Corporal with the 32nd Infantry Battalion B Company^[7] and embarked from Adelaide for Egypt on the HMAT A2 Geelong on 18 November 1915.^[8]

The 32nd Infantry Battalion B Company was initially intended to join the Gallipoli campaign but troops were already withdrawing from the area by the time the HMAT A2 Geelong arrived in Egypt. After time spent guarding the Suez Canal, the Battalion was sent to the Western Front instead, where Ohlstrom was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 1 December 1917 and Lieutenant on 14 June 1918.^[9] Severely wounded in a gas attack in May 1918, Ohlstrom was recuperating in hospital when the Armistice was signed.^[9]

Awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal,^[9] Ohlstrom returned to Australia on 28 February 1919.^[7]

Following his return to Australia, Ohlstrom studied law at the University of Adelaide,^[8] where he played cricket for Adelaide University Cricket Club and founded the Adelaide University Baseball Club in 1922, captaining it until 1924.^[10] Ohlstrom gained a baseball Blue in 1923 and a cricket Blue in 1924.^[8]

Gaining a reputation as a bowler with great accuracy and the ability to significantly swing the ball,^[11] Ohlstrom's good form for University in Adelaide district cricket led to his selection in the 1923/24 South Australian training squad^[11] and following efforts including taking 8 wickets for 15 (8/15) against Glenelg Cricket Club,^[12] made his first-class debut for South Australia against New South Wales at Adelaide Oval on 14 December 1923.^[13]

Batting at no. 11, Ohlstrom made 1* and 3, and took 1/25.^[13] Ohlstrom is unique in first-class cricket for being dismissed hit wicket in his only completed innings and having a hit wicket as his only wicket.

In baseball Ohlstrom represented Australia in 1929 as a pitcher,^[14] represented South Australia from 1923 to 1935, as captain from 1927 to 1935, formed the Kensington Baseball Club in 1926, captaining it from 1926 to 1935,^[10] and was a state selector from 1927 to 1937.^[14] Ohlstrom retired from baseball in 1936.^[10]

In 1930, Ohlstrom represented Baseball South Australia on the cross-sport committee to determine the sporting colours of any official South Australian sporting team (the committee chose red, gold and blue).^[14]

Following his university graduation, Ohlstrom worked as a solicitor, becoming a partner in Edmunds, Jessop, Ward, and Ohlstrom in 1932, which later became Jessop, Ward, Ohlstrom, and Mollison.^[2]

A member of the Liberal and Country League (LCL),^[4] Ohlstrom served as Vice-President of the LCLs Glen Osmond and Eastwood Branch^[15] and was elected to Burnside Council in 1935, representing the East Adelaide and Glen Osmond Ward.^[2]

Ohlstrom was, at various times, President of the Australian Baseball Council, President and Secretary of the South Australian Baseball Association,^[10][16], President of the Glen Osmond Institute, President of the Parkside Branch of the Returned Soldiers' and Sailors' League (RSL), member of the Naval and Military Club, the Stock Exchange Club and the Amateur Sports Association.^[15]

Ohlstrom became engaged to Leonore Haynes in September 1921 and were married on 3 December 1921 at St Francis Xavier's Cathedral in Adelaide.^[17]

Ohlstrom died aged 49 at an Adelaide private hospital on 10 June 1940, ten days after undergoing surgery.^[2] He was survived by Leonore.^[2]

• List of South Australian representative cricketers

• Patrick Ohlstrom at ESPNcricinfo