Full Name

John Victor Saunders

Born

March 21, 1876, Melbourne, Victoria

Died

December 21, 1927, Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria, (aged 51y 275d)

Batting Style

Left hand Bat

Bowling Style

Left arm Medium, Slow Left arm Orthodox

John Victor Saunders will be remembered chiefly as a member of the Australian team of 1902, which toured England and South Africa under Darling's captaincy. He came over with a big reputation as a left-handed slow bowler, and, favoured as he was by a wet season, met with considerable success. In all matches he obtained 127 wickets for just over 17 runs apiece, and in the four Test Matches in which he took part he dismissed eighteen men at a cost of rather more than 26 runs per wicket. On turf which suited him he was undoubtedly a difficult bowler. Delivering the ball from a good height and getting on an appreciable amount of spin, his big break made him at times quite deadly, but his action was open to criticism. In the Test Match at Sheffield, when Australia played better all-round cricket than England and won by 143 runs, Saunders obtained five wickets for 50 in the first innings, but had 68 runs hit off twelve overs in the second innings without dismissing anybody. At Manchester, where Australia won a remarkable match by 3 runs, Saunders, on a ruined pitch, had much to do with the victory. Eight runs were wanted when Tate, the last man, joined Rhodes, and, having scored a 4 from the first ball he received from Saunders, he was bowled by the fourth which came with the bowler's arm and kept low. The Oval match was the one in which G. L. Jessop played his great innings of 104 after half the England side were out for 48. Saunders took four wickets in the second innings, the first three falling to him for 10 runs, but Darling undoubtedly kept him on too long, and he came in for severe punishment when Jessop was hitting in such terrific fashion. During the tour Saunders' most noteworthy bowling performance was in the second match against Surrey at the Oval when he took six wickets for 9 runs. Among his best performances on Australian wickets were:--

6 for 71, Victoria v. South Australia, at Melbourne 1899-00
6 for 90,Rest v. Australian team, at Sydney 1899-00
6 for 70, Victoria v. New South Wales, at Melbourne 1900-1
11 for 130,(including 6 for 57), Victoria v. New South Wales, at Sydney 1901-2
13 for 194,(including 8 for 106), Victoria v. South Australia, at Adelaide 1902-3
12 for 262,(including 7 for 122), Victoria v. New South Wales, at Sydney 1905-6
10 for 143, Victoria v. South Australia, at Adelaide 1906-7
6 for 61, Victoria v. New South Wales, at Sydney 1907-8
6 for 76, Victoria v. New South Wales, at Sydney 1909-10

In Test matches against England he obtained 64 wickets for 25-32 runs each, and against South Africa, 15 for 11.73 apiece. One of his analysis at Johannesburg was 7 for 34. After making his last appearance for Victoria he settled in New Zealand and played in representative games for Wellington.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Jack Saunders Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAve100s50s6sCtSt
Tests142363911*2.2900050
FC1071704758629*4.7600-710

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests142735651796797/349/6622.733.0245.1660
FC107-24116120645538/106-21.813.0043.6-489
John Victor Saunders

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test

Debut/Last Matches of Jack Saunders

Recent Matches of Jack Saunders

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
Victoria vs NSW0 & 18*6/76 & 0/8626-Jan-1910SydneyFC
Victoria vs South Aust23* & 23/70 & 5/6901-Jan-1910MelbourneFC
Victoria vs NSW1* & 40/17 & 4/6327-Dec-1909MelbourneFC
Victoria vs South Aust5 & 14/17313-Nov-1909AdelaideFC
Victoria vs NSW4* & 71/178 & 1/5723-Jan-1909SydneyFC

News and Features about Jack Saunders