John Victor Saunders (21 March 1876 – 21 December 1927) was an Australian
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er who played in 14
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
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...
between 1902 and 1908. On his Test debut, he took five wickets in the second innings against England in Sydney.
He went on to take 79 Test wickets.
Jack Saunders was a medium-paced left-arm spin bowler. The sharp flick of the wrist he used in his delivery gave rise to doubts about its legality, and although he was never called for
throwing
Throwing is an action which consists in accelerating a projectile and then releasing it so that it follows a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a remote target. This action is best characterized for animals with prehensile l ...
, these doubts may have prevented his selection for more than one tour of England.
[ His best Test figures were 7 for 34, when he bowled unchanged to dismiss ]South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
for 83 in the Second Test at Johannesburg in 1902-03. His best first-class figures were 8 for 106 (13 for 194 in the match) for Victoria against South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
a few months later. He had an outstanding season in England in 1902, taking 123 wickets at an average of 16.95, taking five or more wickets in an innings 10 times.
After the 1909–10 Australian season Saunders moved to New Zealand, where worked as coach and groundsman to the Wellington Cricket Association.[''The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket'', Oxford, Melbourne, 1996, p. 461.] He 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 Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
for four seasons, and represented New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in one match against the touring Australian team in 1913–14.
References
External links
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1876 births
1927 deaths
Australia Test cricketers
Victoria cricketers
Wellington cricketers
Australian cricketers
Pre-1930 New Zealand representative cricketers
Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut
Cricketers from Melbourne
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