ONE of the most accomplished figures in St Kilda’s history could very well have been lost to cricket thanks to the late Frank Tyson.

Nick Riewoldt’s football career speaks for itself after 15 years at St Kilda, but as a teenager his path wasn’t so clear cut as he explored a cricket career.

A left-arm bowler and right handed batsman, Riewoldt made the state schoolboys cricket team as an all-rounder and was coached by Tyson, the legendary English fast bowler who passed away on the weekend aged 85.

Nick’s father Joe surprised talkback radio on Tuesday morning by calling up SEN’s Morning Glory to reflect on his son’s junior years under the slightly unorthodox guidance of Tyson – who was considered one of the fastest bowlers of his era and settled in Australia after his cricket career finished.

“In the late 1990s we engaged Frank as his one-on-one bowling coach,” Joe recalled.

“Something that I haven’t seen before or since is that he was explaining you shouldn’t have to look where your feet are – that should all be natural. You should have your run-up absolutely perfect.

“To prove a point he made my son bowl a couple of overs with a blindfold on.”

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At this stage, hosts Andy Maher, Tim Watson and Andrew Gaze had no idea that “Joe from Port Melbourne” was in fact the father of Nick Riewoldt.

However when Maher asked what happened to this young boy and his promising cricket career, Joe Riewoldt was coy in his response.

“He gave cricket up the year he got drafted,” Joe said.

“So he played AFL footy now?” Maher replied.

“He does play AFL footy now,” Joe said.

“Oh good on him, who is he?” Maher asked.

After a few wild guesses that prompted Tim Watson to quip “I feel like I’ve got the blindfold on now,” Joe revealed who his son was.

“He made the state schoolboy side as an under-16,” Joe said.

“He wasn’t terribly quick, but was just really accurate. He had really good line and length. Frank used to say to him ‘you will never be a really quick bowler because of your stature, you’re too slim.’”

“We never found out but he certainly made the right choice!”

Tyson played 17 Tests for England in the late 1950s and took 76 wickets. He has the lowest bowling average of any bowler to take more than 20 Test wickets.