Famous Cricketers No 76 - J.N.Crawford

1910/11 – in Australia South Australia were unlucky not to win back-to-back Sheffield Shields, losing on a countback to New South Wales after being beaten in Sydney. Crawford played four of the five first-class matches for the season, missing the one match played against NSW in Sydney. He was in excellent batting form, scoring 368 runs at 61.33 and scoring a half-century in each match. He was less dangerous with the ball, securing just 14 wickets at a fraction over 30 runs apiece. The Australian Board of Control, however, would not pick him in the Test matches against South Africa and as a result the New South Wales all-rounder Charles Kelleway made his debut instead. Crawford appeared to be eyeing opportunities outside his home state until the SACA appointed him Oval clerk at a salary of £200 per annum. The duties included coaching the state side and acting as a youth scout. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 162. South Australia v Victoria, Adelaide, October (28), 29, 31, November 1 (South Australia won by six wickets) not out 79 220 15 5 42 5 D.B.M.Smith c S.Hill 111 1 W.W.Armstrong b P.A.McAlister lbw F.T.Delves c P.W.Zschorn G.R.Hazlitt c W.L.Chamberlain b W.W.Armstrong 23 202-4 29 5 87 2 V.S.Ransford b 305 2 A.Kenny b 163. South Australia v South Africans, Adelaide, November (4), 5, 7, 8 (South Africans won by 281 runs) c S.J.Snooke b R.O.Schwarz 66 183 14 7 31 2 S.J.Snooke c C.Hill 133 C.B.Llewellyn c G.C.Campbell c and b A.E.E.Vogler 9 176 28.5 4 135 3 P.W.Sherwell lbw 507 1 S.J.Snooke b S.J.Pegler b 164. South Australia v Victoria, Melbourne, November 25, 26, 28, 29 (Victoria won by an innings and 87 runs) c G.R.Hazlitt b W.W.Armstrong 69 243 33 7 90 2 W.Carkeek c C.R.Moyle 614 1 T.S.Warne b c W.W.Armstrong b F.J.Laver 25 284 165. South Australia v South Africans, Adelaide, March 10, 11, 13 (South Africans won by six wickets) c S.J.Snooke b S.J.Pegler 57 240 6 0 33 0 292 not out 40 100 - - - - 51-4 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Sheffield Shield 2 4 1 196 79 65.33 - 2 4 Other SA matches 2 4 1 172 66 57.33 - 2 1 Season 4 8 2 368 79* 61.33 - 4 5 Career 165 255 26 6956 232 30.37 8 35 123 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Sheffield Shield 77 17 219 9 5-42 24.33 1 - Other SA matches 48.5 11 199 5 3-135 39.80 - - Season 125.5 28 418 14 5-42 29.85 1 - Career 4395.1 1018 12295 601 8-24 20.45 38 7 1911/12 – in Australia Crawford remained a restless spirit and an unsourced press cutting from his own collection reported that he had ‘thrown up his Adelaide appointment’, was ‘going farming’ but had ‘buried the hatchet’ with the Surrey authorities and ‘may be home in time for the big games next year’ which was presumably a reference to the 1912 Triangular Test Series. In the event this never occurred. Crawford was less consistent with the bat in six first-class matches although he achieved two centuries. The first 25