Full Name

John Thomas Brown

Born

August 20, 1869, Great Driffield, Yorkshire

Died

November 04, 1904, Pimlico, Westminster, London, (aged 35y 76d)

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Legbreak

Jack Brown died at Dr. Kingscote"s Medical Home in London, on the night of November 4, of congestion of the brain and heart failure. A statement appeared a few days before his death that there were hopes of his recovery from the heart trouble which in May terminated his cricket career, but other complications set in, and despite all that medical skill could do for him, the Yorkshire batsman passed away. As he was only in his thirty-sixth year he might, under happier circumstances, have gone on playing for a good many seasons to come. Still, during the time he was before the public he did enough to earn a place among the best cricketers Yorkshire has ever produced. He came out in 1889, and from the first showed such promise that no doubt was felt as to his ultimate success. Bad health checked him for a time, but in 1893 he firmly established his position, and henceforward, allowing for the variations of form to which all batsmen are subject, he was, till his health broke down, one of the mainstays of the Yorkshire eleven. Even so recently as 1903 he stood second to Geroge Hirst in the Yorkshire averages in county matches. Short in stature, but very strongly built, he was a batsman who could get runs under all conditions of weather and wicket. He was an all-round hitter, but his best stroke was his late cut. Few batsmen since Tom Humphrey"s time have been able to score with greater certainty from the short ball pitched on, or just outside, the off-stump. About half-way through his career he developed a wonderful faculty for pulling,but this so often cost him his wicket that he to a large extent gave it up and returned to the ways of orthodoxy. Neat and finished in style, he was, whether he scored fast or slowly, an excellent bat to look at. Of his performances for Yorkshire and other teams it would be easy to write at great length. Having regard to the surrounding circumstances, his greatest day in the cricket-field was, beyond all question, March 6th, 1895, when, at Melbourne, he and Albert Ward won the fifth and conquering Test Match for the first of the two elevens that Mr. Stoddart captained in Australia. The Englishmen had 297 to get in the last innings, and after the second wicket had fallen for 28, Stoddart himself being out from the first ball bowled on the final morning, Ward and Brown put on 210 runs together. Their partnership settled the matter, and in the end England won by six wickets. Brown made 140, and all the reports of the match agreed in stating that his innings was absolutely free from fault. Only those who have seen the Australians fight out a Test game can fully realise the merit of such a display. If he had done nothing else, that one innings would have been sufficient to give Brown a place in cricket history. All through the tour he was a great success in Australia, and Mr. Stoddart certainly made a mistake in not taking him out with his second team in 1897. One of the best innings Brown, ever played at home was his 163 in the Gentlemenand Players" match at Lord"s in 1900, when the Players, though they had to make 501 runs, won by two wickets. Brown was batting for four hours and three-quarters, and only gave one chance. His innings remains the highest ever obtained for the Players against the Gentlemen at Lord"s. For Yorkshire against the Australians, at Bradford, in 1899, he made 84 and 167. His biggest scores were 311 for Yorkshire against Sussex at Sheffield, in 1897, and 300 for Yorkshire against Derbyshire at Chesterfield, in 1898. On the latter occasion he and Tunnicliffe scored 554 together for the first wicket-a record partnership in first-class cricket. At Lord"s in 1896 for Yorkshire against Middlesex, he and Tunnicliffe did an extraordinary thing, making 139 for the first wicket in the first innings, and afterwards winning the game by scoring 147 together without being separated. Brown only played twice for England against Australia in this Country-at Lord"s and Manchester, in 1896. At Lord"s he had a considerable share in winning the match for England, batting with great skill for 36 in the last innings, after a heavy shower in the morning had spoilt the wicket. Personally, Brown was a quiet, pleasant-mannered man, and did not lack the sense of humour proverbially characteristic of Yorkshire cricketers. His benefit match at Leeds, in 1901, was the biggest thing of the kind ever known prior to George Hirst"s benefit at the same ground last year.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Jack Brown Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAve100s50s6sCtSt
Tests816347014036.1511070
FC383634471792031130.522976-2300

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests8135220---3.14-000
FC383-939156271906/52-29.613.5949.4-40
Jack Brown portrait

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Test

Debut/Last Matches of Jack Brown

Recent Matches of Jack Brown

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
Yorkshire vs Notts6--20-Jun-1901NottinghamFC
Players vs Gentlemen18 & 163--16-Jul-1900Lord'sFC
England vs Australia27 & 14*0/2229-Jun-1899LeedsTest # 62
Yorkshire vs Gloucs80 & 490/1529-Jul-1897HarrogateFC
Thornton's vs Australians9--31-Aug-1896ScarboroughFC

Photos of Jack Brown

Jack Brown strikes a pose