Jack Blackham
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 Australia (AUS) |
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| Batting style | Right-handed batsman (RHB) | |
| Bowling type | Right arm leg spin | |
| Tests | First-class | |
| Matches | 35 | 275 |
| Runs scored | 800 | 6395 |
| Batting average | 15.68 | 16.78 |
| 100s/50s | 0/4 | 1/26 |
| Top score | 74 | 109 |
| Balls bowled | 0 | 312 |
| Wickets | 0 | 2 |
| Bowling average | - | 69.00 |
| 5 wickets in innings | 0 | 0 |
| 10 wickets in match | 0 | 0 |
| Best bowling | - | 1/8 |
| Catches/stumpings | 37/24 | 274/181 |
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Test debut: 15 March 1877 |
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John ("Jack") McCarthy Blackham (11 May 1854 – 28 December 1932) was an Australian Test cricketer and captain, right-hand batsman and Australia's first Test wicket-keeper. He played first-class cricket for Victoria.
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[edit] Early life
Blackham was born in Fitzroy North, Melbourne, Victoria and became a bank clerk, and held a position in the Colonial Bank of Australasia for many years. He was included in the first eleven of the Carlton Cricket Club when only sixteen.
[edit] Cricket career
In 1874 Blackham became wicket-keeper in the Victorian team and held that position for over 20 years. He was a member of the first eight Australian teams to visit England.
Blackham was one of the first wicket-keepers to stand up close to the stumps, even to the fastest bowlers, wearing gloves that Pollard describes as “little more than gardening gloves”. He also eliminated the need for a long-stop, and Pollard says that “in England on one of his trips there a group of clergymen complained that he was a danger to the wellbeing of cricket, encouraging as he did the abolition of long-stop, the clergy’s traditional fielding spot in village teams.”
Blackham began with Victoria in 1874-75, and was selected for the very first Test match, held at Melbourne in March 1876/77. Australia’s demon bowler Fred Spofforth refused to play in this match because Blackham was preferred to Spofforth’s New South Wales’ team-mate Billy Murdoch. In this match he took three catches and the first Test match stumping.
Described by team-mates as the “prince of wicket-keepers” and Australia’s first cricketing hero, ‘Black Jack’ Blackham (nicknamed for his dark beard) was Australia’s regular wicket-keeper from 1877 to 1894.
Blackham went on all of the first eight teams to England.
As a right-hand batsman, Blackham was a useful lower order player. At the age of 40, his 74 in his last Test match, in a partnership of 154 with Syd Gregory (who made 201) helped Australia to 586 – not enough to prevent England from winning by 10 runs. In this match he was injured and never played Test cricket or kept wickets again.
[edit] Summary
In his 35 Tests, Blackham made 800 runs at an average of 15.68 (highest score of 74), and dismissed 60 batsmen (36 caught, 24 stumped). In 45 matches for Victoria he scored 1600 runs at 22.85, with one century (109 in 1884), and dismissed 451 batsmen. His value as a bat, however, cannot be judged by averages, as he was often at his best when the game was at a critical stage. He was not a success as a captain as he worried too much when off the field. After his retirement in 1895 a match for his benefit was arranged and an annuity was bought with the proceeds.
He captained Australia in eight matches, winning three. His nervous temperament meant that he worried over small setbacks, and could not bear to watch close finishes.
Blackham later invested his earnings from his tours of England, without success. He died in Latrobe, Melbourne, Victoria.
| Preceded by Billy Murdoch |
Australian Test cricket captains 1884/5 (deputised) 1891/2-1894/5 |
Succeeded by George Giffen |
| Preceded by none |
Australian Test wicket-keepers 1876 - 1894 |
Succeeded by Billy Murdoch |
[edit] References
- Pollard, Jack, Australian Cricket: 1803-1893, The Formative Years, Sydney, The Book Company, 1995. (ISBN 0-207-15490-2)
- Pollard, Jack, Australian Cricket: The Game and the Players, Sydney, Hodder & Stoughton, 1982. (ISBN 0-340-28796-9)
- Robinson, Ray, On Top Down Under: Australia’s Cricket Captains, Sydney, Cassell, 1975. (ISBN 0-7269-7364-5)
- Serle, Percival. (1949). "Blackham, John". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1949 edition of Dictionary of Australian Biography from
Project Gutenberg of Australia, which is in the public domain in Australia and the United States of America.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Blackham, John McCarthy |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Jack |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Cricketer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 11, 1854 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fitzroy North, Victoria |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 28, 1932 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Latrobe, Victoria |
