Jack Potter (born 13 April 1938) is an Australian former

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played 81 matches for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. He also represented Australia, although never in a

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

Biography

Potter was born at

Coburg, Victoria Coburg is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Darebin, Darebin and City of Merri-bek, Merri-bek Loc ...

in 1938 and made his first-class debut in January 1957 against

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

making only 6, he made his

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

debut in the final game of the season against

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

scoring 21. The following season he scored two centuries, 115 and 110, both coming against

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

as he cemented his place in the state side. Potter scored two more centuries during 1959 and toured New Zealand with Australia B in February 1960. In 1960–61 he scored two centuries and shared in 252 and 237 run partnerships with

Bill Lawry William Morris Lawry (born 11 February 1937) is an Australian former cricketer and commentator who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia in 25 Test matches, winning nine, losing eight and drawing eight, and led Australia ...

. After a patchy 1961–62 season, he was the third highest runscorer in the Sheffield Shield 1962/63 season, he also scored a century against the touring MCC. In December 1963 he scored 123* for a Combined XI against the touring South Africans, it earned him a place in the 12 man squad for the second Test however

Tom Veivers Thomas Robert Veivers (born 6 April 1937) is an Australian former cricketer, teacher, politician and public administrator who played in 21 cricket Test matches between 1963 and 1967. He is the great-uncle of Jack Wildermuth. Cricket career ...

was selected ahead of him. Potter once again finished the season with two centuries and an average of 55.50 and earned a place on the tour of England in 1964. In the first Test of the 1964 Ashes Potter was once again twelfth man, towards the end of the tour Potter fractured his skull during a one-day match in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He was therefore unable to tour

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

along with the rest of the team where he was likely to make his Test debut. Potter was dropped halfway through the 1964–65 season after poor form but the following season he scored his best first-class score of 221 against

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, however he passed 50 only once more during the season. In 1966–67 Potter was made captain of Victoria and led them to the

title, averaging 53.50 during the season. Halfway through the 1967–68 season he retired from cricket at the age of 29. He scored 82 and 105* in his final match, passing 5,000 runs for Victoria during his final innings. Throughout his first-class career he also played, and captained, Fitzroy Cricket Club. In September 1974 Potter was appointed as Head Coach of Victoria, the first to hold such a role. Between 1987 and 1989 he was the inaugural head coach of the Australian Cricket Academy helping in the development of

Shane Warne Shane Keith Warne (13 September 1969 – 4 March 2022) was an Australian international cricketer whose career ran from 1992 to 2007. Warne played as a right-arm leg spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batter for Victoria, Hampshire ...

. Potter's notable achievements include holding the record for being 12th man for Australia the most times without winning a cap (thrice) and being the first prominent spinner to bowl a 'doosra' (a leg-break bowled with an off-break action).Amol Rajan, ''Twirlymen'', 2011, p.85.

References

External links

April 2013 interview with Jack Potter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Jack 1938 births Living people Australian cricketers Victoria cricketers Cricketers from Melbourne Australian Institute of Sport coaches 20th-century Australian sportsmen