Jack Board
Encyclopedia
John Henry Board was an English
cricket
er who played in six Tests
from 1899 to 1906.
Jack Board was a wicketkeeper and a right-handed batsman who started out as a tail-ender but developed into a useful player who often opened the innings for his county, Gloucestershire
. Picked by W. G. Grace
out of Bristol club cricket for the South v North match at Lord's in 1891, Board went straight into the Gloucestershire side afterwards and stayed there for 20 years. In 1895, he set the county record for dismissals in a season, with 75. As a batsman, he scored 214 against Somerset
in 1900, the highest by a Gloucestershire wicketkeeper, and in 1903 he shared in a sixth wicket partnership of 320 with Gilbert Jessop
against Sussex
at Hove, though his share was just 71, while Jessop scored 286. The stand remains the county record for the sixth wicket.
Board was picked for two overseas tours, both to South Africa. He went with Lord Hawke in 1898-99, and won his first two Test caps; he top-scored in his first Test innings, but then never exceeded the 29 he scored in that match. In 1905-06, he played in four Test matches in the tour led by Plum Warner
. He was never picked for a Test match at home, and nor did he play against Australia
.
Board, a gardener by trade before he took to professional cricket, became a well-known cricket coach at the end of his career. From 1910, he went each winter to New Zealand, where he coached and played for Hawke's Bay
, returning each English summer for a few games for Gloucestershire. After the First World War, he became an umpire in English cricket and combined that with winters in South Africa coaching. It was on the return trip from South Africa to England in 1924 aboard the Kenilworth Castle ship that he had a heart attack and died.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played in six Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
from 1899 to 1906.
Jack Board was a wicketkeeper and a right-handed batsman who started out as a tail-ender but developed into a useful player who often opened the innings for his county, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
. Picked by W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
out of Bristol club cricket for the South v North match at Lord's in 1891, Board went straight into the Gloucestershire side afterwards and stayed there for 20 years. In 1895, he set the county record for dismissals in a season, with 75. As a batsman, he scored 214 against Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
in 1900, the highest by a Gloucestershire wicketkeeper, and in 1903 he shared in a sixth wicket partnership of 320 with Gilbert Jessop
Gilbert Jessop
Gilbert Laird Jessop was an English cricket player, often reckoned to have been the fastest run-scorer cricket has ever known, he was Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1898.Relations...
against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
at Hove, though his share was just 71, while Jessop scored 286. The stand remains the county record for the sixth wicket.
Board was picked for two overseas tours, both to South Africa. He went with Lord Hawke in 1898-99, and won his first two Test caps; he top-scored in his first Test innings, but then never exceeded the 29 he scored in that match. In 1905-06, he played in four Test matches in the tour led by Plum Warner
Plum Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner MBE , affectionately and better known as Plum Warner, or even "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket was a Test cricketer....
. He was never picked for a Test match at home, and nor did he play against Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
.
Board, a gardener by trade before he took to professional cricket, became a well-known cricket coach at the end of his career. From 1910, he went each winter to New Zealand, where he coached and played for Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay cricket team
A Hawke's Bay cricket team, representing Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand, played first-class cricket between 1883–84 and 1920–21, competing in the Plunket Shield in the 1914-15 and 1920–21 seasons...
, returning each English summer for a few games for Gloucestershire. After the First World War, he became an umpire in English cricket and combined that with winters in South Africa coaching. It was on the return trip from South Africa to England in 1924 aboard the Kenilworth Castle ship that he had a heart attack and died.