James Edward Pothecary (6 December 1933 – 11 May 2016) was a South African

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 three

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) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

in 1960. He was born in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

and died there too. Jim Pothecary showed early promise when as a 16-year-old he took all 20 wickets in a match: 10 for 18 and 10 for 36 for his club Seapoint against Lansdowne in Cape Town in the 1950–51 season. He matured into a useful right-handed lower-order batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler who played for several seasons for

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

in South African domestic cricket without particular distinction. But in 1959–60, he took 25 wickets at the low average of 14 runs per wicket, and was selected for the 1960 South African tour to England. He had a disappointing tour, as did most of the South African side, and was not in the first-choice team that contested the first two Test matches. But the controversy that blew up over the fast bowler

Geoff Griffin Geoffrey Merton Griffin (12 June 1939 – 16 November 2006) was a Test cricketer who toured England with the South African cricket team in 1960, appearing in two Test matches. A right-arm, fast bowler and lower order batsman, his selection fo ...

, who was called by several umpires 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 ...

, meant there was a vacancy to partner opening bowler

Neil Adcock Neil Amwin Treharne Adcock (8 March 1931 – 6 January 2013) was a South African international cricketer who played in 26 Test matches. A tall aggressive fast bowler, he could lift the ball sharply off a length. He was the first South Afri ...

in the last three Tests, and Pothecary was called up. He failed to take a wicket in his first match, at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also t ...

, but at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

he took five wickets in the drawn match. Even better followed at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

, where Pothecary took four wickets in the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

first innings, and Adcock took six, as the home team were bowled out for just 155. But though South Africa had a first innings lead of 264, they were unable to force victory, and Pothecary failed to take a wicket in England's second innings, which opened with a partnership of 290 by

Geoff Pullar Geoffrey Pullar (1 August 1935 – 25 December 2014) was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, Lancashire and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Gloucestershire and in 28 Test cricket, Tests for England cricket t ...

and

Colin Cowdrey Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, (24 December 19324 December 2000) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University (1952–1954), Kent County Cricket Club (1950–1976) and England (1954–1975). Univers ...

."South Africans in England, 1960", ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' 1961, pp. 264–308. Pothecary played in South African cricket until 1964–65 but was chosen for no more Tests.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pothecary, Jim 1933 births 2016 deaths South Africa Test cricketers South African cricketers Western Province cricketers Cricketers from Cape Town