Ian King

Ian Harold King (born 1 June 1943) is a former Australian first-class cricketer, one of only a handful of Indigenous Australians to have played first-class cricket and convicted paedophile.

Born one of ten children in Brisbane, Queensland, King was a successful junior basketballer and professional welterweight boxer who won 28 of 32 fights under the name "Young Rainbow" (derived from his preference for brightly coloured clothes) before turning to cricket.

A right-arm fast bowler and right-handed batsman, King started playing for Sydney club Bankstown before returning to Queensland where he continued to impress with his express pace bowling in grade cricket, leading to his first-class debut for Queensland, against Western Australia at the Brisbane Cricket Ground on 31 October 1969. The first Aboriginal to play for Queensland since Eddie Gilbert in 1936, King opened the bowling, taking 1/27 and 2/59.

On 7 December 1969, King became the first Indigenous Australian to play List A cricket, taking 5/33 against New South Wales. It was to be King's only List A match, leaving him with the impressive List A bowling average of 6.60. Two of the wickets were hit wicket; still the List A record for the number of hit wickets by a bowler in an innings.

Considered to be the fastest bowler to represent Queensland since Wes Hall,

King "gave glimpses of rare talent, exceptional pace and splendid fielding ability." Claiming he abused the boys to make them better athletes and to help prepare them for manhood, On 28 January 2013 it was reported that King, while serving his prison sentence in Canberra, was punched in the eye by another prisoner and rushed to hospital amid concerns he would lose an eye.