John Charles Francis (22 June 1908 – 6 July 2001) was an Australian sportsman who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

with

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL).

Family

The son of Henry Walter Francis (1883–1964) and Sarah Victoria Francis, nee Jackson (1884–1929), John Charles Francis was born in Hawthorn on 22 June 1908 and educated at

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1905, the school caters for boys from Year 9 t ...

. His younger brothers

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

and Syd also played VFL football. In November 1933 Jack Francis married Jean Millicent Allison at St John's Church of England in Camberwell.

Football

Francis began his sporting career in 1923 when he played for Hawthorn, then in the Victorian Football Association, while still a schoolboy. In 1926 he again played senior football with Hawthorn, who were now in the VFL. He played six games that year, kicking two goals in his debut, against Collingwood, for whom future club great

Harry Collier Harry Collier (1 October 1907 – 16 August 1994) was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League. Family Collier was the older brother of former champion Collingwood player (and the 1929 Brownlow Medal winner) Albert. ...

was also debuting. One of his teammates that day was his uncle, Jim Jackson. He later briefly played for Brighton in the VFA after transferring there in 1929.

Cricket

Francis did not continue as a footballer, instead concentrating on cricket, and in the 1932/33 season made his first appearance with Victoria. Opening the batting, Francis scored 135 to help the Victorians draw with

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. He played two further first-class matches, both later in the season and as an opener, but did not make any major contributions for his team.

Death

John Charles Francis died on 6 July 2001 and was cremated at Springvale Botanical Cemetery.

References

External links

* *
Jack Francis's playing statistics
from The VFA Project * 1908 births 2001 deaths Australian cricketers Victoria cricketers People from Hawthorn, Victoria Hawthorn Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne People educated at Melbourne High School Cricketers from Melbourne {{AFL-bio-1908-stub