Johann Gottlieb Jackschon (23 January 1846 – 10 July 1931) was an Australian

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 ...

scorer In cricket, a scorer is someone appointed to record all runs scored, all wickets taken and, where appropriate, the number of overs bowled. In professional games, in compliance with Law 3 of the ''Laws of Cricket'', two scorers are appointed, ...

. He served as scorer for the

New South Wales cricket team The New South Wales cricket team (formerly nicknamed NSW Blues) are an Australian men's professional first class cricket team based in the Australian state ofNew South Wales. The team competes in the Australian first class cricket competition ...

at various times over a period of around 40 years. On several occasions, he took the innovative step of making a separate memorandum recording the number of balls faced and runs scored by each batsman off each bowler, unlike scoring in a conventional scorebook but similar to the modern linear system of scoring. Jackschon was born in Maust, in Teichland north of

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

Spree-Neiße Spree-Neiße (, ; Polish language, Polish: ''Powiat Sprewa-Nysa,'' ) is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the southern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the south clockwise) the districts Niederschlesischer Oberlausitzkreis an ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

(now in eastern Germany). He emigrated to Australia with his parents and two older sisters, arriving in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in August 1852 on the brig ''Reiherstieg''. The family settled in Grafton, about north of Sydney. One of his sisters later married a police constable Henry Bassman; the other married Joseph Kempnich, who ran a sugar mill. In his earlier years, Jackschon played cricket as

wicketkeeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a catch, stump the batsman out, or run out a batsman when occasion arises. The wicket-ke ...

for teams in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

and Albert, playing his first match at Yamba. He was honorary scorer for the

from around 1886 until around 1893, when he moved back to Grafton. He had an orange orchard at Carr's Creek, and he became secretary of the Grafton District cricket association. His father died in Grafton in 1897. He continued to return to

to score important cricket matches, including Test matches. Lord Sheffield gave Jackschon a gold medal for scoring in matches played by an English touring team captained by

WG Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

that Sheffield organised in 1891-2. A report in ''The Referee'' of the Jubilee match played between New South Wales and Victoria in 1906 mentioned that Jackschon had compiled a table of balls faced and runs scored by each batsman off each bowler, in a similar manner to the modern linear system of scoring used in the 1890s by John Atkinson Pendlington, and developed Bill Ferguson and

Bill Frindall William Howard Frindall, (3 March 1939 – 30 January 2009) was an English cricket scorer and statistician, who was familiar to cricket followers as a member of the Test Match Special commentary team on BBC radio. He was nicknamed the Bearded W ...

. After Jackschon moved back to Sydney in November 1904, he lived for some time in

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

on the North Shore, and then moved to the Eastern Suburbs to be closer to the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

. He underwent an operation for appendicitis in December 1911. He resumed his role as honorary scorer for New South Wales and then as official scorer from 1913. Affectionately nicknamed "the Professor" and occasionally "Jacko", "General" or "Daddy", he regularly occupied a seat in "Veterans Corner" in the Sydney Cricket Ground's pavilion, near the visitors dressing room, attending cricket or rugby matches for around 30 years. He is often referred to by his initials, J.G., and his first name is sometimes Anglicised as John. In some sources, his surname is given as Jackscohn or occasionally Jackson. The year of his birth is confused in some sources. He was reported to have celebrated his 74th birthday in January 1924, when he was probably 78, and was said to be variously 84 or 86 at his death in Bondi in July 1931, when he was probably 85. He was associated with the Manchester Unity of

Oddfellows Odd Fellows (or Oddfellows when referencing the Grand United Order of Oddfellows or some British-based fraternities; also Odd Fellowship or Oddfellowship) is an international fraternity consisting of lodges first documented in 1730 in London. ...

for many years. After a funeral at St. Clement's Church in Mosman, he was buried in the Northern Suburbs cemetery. He was survived by his widow, Sarah, and a sister, Mrs Kempnich.

References

"Now I remember"
JC Davis, ''The Referee'', 29 July 1931, p. 12
group photograph
''Saturday Referee and the Arrow'', 27 February 1915, p. 3
portrait photograph and report
''The Referee'', 28 February 1906, p. 10
"Trumper's sticky wicket century"
''The Referee'', 15 February 1934, p. 23
cartoon image
''The Referee'', 23 November 1927, p. 1
"Death of an old resident"
''The Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser'', 14 May 1897, p. 4
Report of his death
''The Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser'', 17 July 1931, p. 4 {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackschon, Johann Gottlieb 1846 births 1931 deaths Cricket scorers Australian cricketers People from Grafton, New South Wales