Jack Blackham

John McCarthy Blackham, born 11 May 1854 in Fitzroy North, Melbourne, was a Test cricketer for Victoria and Australia. His father, Frederick Kane Blackham, ran a newsagency, and his mother was Lucinda McCarthy. Working as a clerk for the Colonial Bank of Australasia, Blackham’s thick dark beard was considered a sign of reliability by customers. His brother-in-law was cricketer George Eugene "Joey" Palmer.

Blackham specialised as a wicket-keeper, a position he revolutionised. He played in the first Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877 and in the famous 1882 Ashes Test. Known as the "prince of wicket-keepers," he later captained Australia. He began his cricket career at sixteen as a batsman for Carlton Cricket Club, first appearing for Victoria in 1874 and remaining their automatic wicket-keeper for over twenty years. He was part of the first eight Australian teams to tour England.

Blackham was one of the first wicket-keepers to stand close to the stumps, even against fast bowlers, using gloves described by Jack Pollard as "little more than gardening gloves." This eliminated the need for a long-stop. Pollard noted that during one English tour, clergymen complained Blackham endangered cricket by encouraging the abolition of long-stop, traditionally their fielding spot in village teams.

Selected for the first Test in Melbourne in March 1876/77, Blackham’s inclusion caused Australia’s leading bowler Fred Spofforth to refuse to play, as Spofforth preferred New South Wales teammate Billy Murdoch. In that Test, Blackham took three catches and made the first Test stumping, dismissing Alfred Shaw off Tom Kendall in England’s second innings. In 1878, he toured England and North America with the inaugural Australian team. Nicknamed "Black Jack" for his beard, he was Australia’s regular wicket-keeper from 1877 to 1894.

On the first day of that first Test, batting at number eight, Blackham became Charles Bannerman’s seventh partner when Australia were 143 for 6. He was 22 years and 308 days old, then the youngest Test cricketer, 64 days younger than previous youngest Tom Horan. As a right-hand batsman, he was a useful lower-order player.

Blackham’s final Test came at age forty at the Sydney Cricket Ground against Andrew Stoddart’s English team. Tossing the coin, Stoddart said, "Someone will be swearing directly, Jack. I hope it's you." Blackham won the toss, elected to bat, and scored 74 in a 154-run partnership with Syd Gregory (who made 201), helping Australia to 586. After England followed on, Australia needed 176 to win in the final innings. At stumps on day five, they were 113 for 2, but heavy rain fell overnight. Teammate George Giffen slept through the storm and was unaware until breakfast, when Blackham’s face was "long as a coffee-pot." Blackham predicted danger; on a "sticky dog" wicket, Australia collapsed to 166 all out, losing by ten runs. Blackham paced the balcony "like a caged tiger, muttering 'Cruel luck – cruel luck.'" When some said "The rain beat us," Blackham retorted, "The sun beat us." He injured himself in this match and never played Test cricket or kept wickets again.

In 35 Tests, including Australia’s first seventeen, Blackham scored 800 runs at an average of 15.68 (highest 74) and dismissed 60 batsmen (36 caught, 24 stumped). For Victoria in 45 matches, he scored 1600 runs at 22.85, with one century (109 in 1884), and dismissed 451 batsmen. He captained Australia in eight matches, winning three. His nervous temperament made him worry over small setbacks and unable to watch close finishes.

Blackham also played Australian rules football for Fitzroy Football Club in the Victorian Football Association during the 1880s. He invested his earnings from English tours unsuccessfully. A lifelong bachelor, he died in Melbourne on 28 December 1932; his funeral proceeded from St Paul’s Cathedral to the Melbourne Crematorium. In 1996, he was one of ten inaugural inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame, alongside Fred Spofforth, Victor Trumper, Clarrie Grimmett, and others.