John Drake ("Jack") Scott (31 January 1888 – 7 April 1964) was an Australian cricketer and Test match

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

. Scott played as a right-arm

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. ...

and was also a useful lower-order right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

. He was the first man to dismiss Don Bradman in

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 officia ...

, in December 1927. Scott went on to umpire fifty games, including ten Ashes tests.

Cricket career

Born in Sydney, Scott's first-class playing career ran for two decades, from 1908–09 to the 1928–29 Australian seasons. During this time he played 59 matches. He also played

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

for Newtown and in 1908 had the distinction of scoring the club's first ever premiership try.Alan Whiticker/Hlen Hudson: Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. 1995. () The bulk of his cricket career was spent with

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, but he moved to

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 ...

for the 1925–26 season. Scott's best bowling figures were 6–48 against

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 ...

, taken in 1909–10. The 1913–14 season saw him make his only century, exactly 100 against

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. After his retirement from playing, Scott stood as a first-class umpire on more than 50 occasions, including ten Test matches between 1936 and 1947. His first match was between Australia and

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 ...

at the

Brisbane Cricket Ground The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Ga ...

on 4 to 9 December 1936, a match convincingly won by the visitors. Scott's partner in that match was George Borwick. Scott and Borwick went on to stand in another nine Ashes Tests matches together: a further four as part of the 1936–37 tour and five more on the 1946–47 tour. Scott's last match was at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 28 February to 5 March 1947. As a player, Scott was regarded as a "likeable larrikin". In his early career, Johnnie Moyes compared him to

Tibby Cotter Albert "Tibby" Cotter (3 December 1883 – 31 October 1917) was an Australian cricketer who played in 21 Test matches between 1904 and 1912. He served in World War I with the First Australian Imperial Force and was killed in action in the mou ...

, while

Jack Pollard Jack Ernest Pollard OAM (31 July 1926 – 25 May 2002) was an Australian sports journalist, writer and cricket historian. Early life Born in Sydney on 31 July 1926, Pollard began his journalism career in 1943 as a copy boy at Sydney's ''Daily ...

called him "a fiery, outspoken fast bowler with a long record of defying authority". Indeed, Scott was barred for an entire Sydney grade season after a show of bad temper. As an umpire, he earned a reputation for disciplining fast bowlers for bowling short rising deliveries – the type of bowling for which he had been known. Scott died at Springbank, South Australia at the age of 76.

References

Footnotes

* Moyes, A. G., ''Australian Cricket: A History'', Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1959. * Pollard, Jack, ''Australian Cricket: 1918–1948, The Bradman Years''. Sydney, The Book Company, 1995. () * Pollard, Jack, ''Australian Cricket: The game and the players''. Sydney, Hodder & Stoughton, 1982. ()

External links

*
Statistical summary
from CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, John 1888 births 1964 deaths Australian cricketers Australian rugby league players Australian Test cricket umpires Cricketers from Sydney New South Wales cricketers South Australia cricketers Rugby league players from Sydney Newtown Jets players

Cricket career

See also

References

Footnotes

External links