Alan Louden Pearsall (21 May 1915 – 8 March 1944) was an Australian sportsman who played first-class cricket for Tasmania and Australian rules football in the Victorian Football League (VFL) with South Melbourne.

Family

The son of Benjamin James Pearsall (1880-1951), and Olive Mabel Pearsall, née Marsden, Alan Louden Pearsall was born at the Edinburgh Hospital, MacQuarie Street, Hobart, Tasmania on 21 May 1915. He married Dorothy Eva Bumford on 15 March 1941.

Education

He was educated at the Hobart High School.

Cricket

Pearsall made seven first-class appearances for Tasmania during the 1930s, scoring a total of 300 runs at 23.07 and taking 6 wickets. He made his debut in a match against an Australian XI team and dismissed Bill Brown for 96. Ian Johnson and Keith Miller are other Test players whose wicket he took in his career. He opened the batting against Victoria at Launceston in 1935/36 and made the only half century of his career, an innings of 56.

Football

Pearsall played football for Lefroy in Tasmania from 1933 until 1940. When Pearsall moved to Victoria to do his pilot training he joined South Melbourne and played two VFL games for the club in 1941.

Military service

In World War II, Pearsall served as a Flying Officer with the RAAF.

Death

He died, on active service, on 8 March 1944, when his plane came down into the English Channel.

Footnotes