Clayvell Lindsay (Jack) Badcock

A record-breaking Tasmanian-born right-handed batsman hailed as a potential champion as a teenager, whose seven Tests proved a poor record of his obvious talents.

In 1929 Badcock began playing for the Northern Tasmanian club, Esk. He made more than 1,000 runs in each of his first three seasons with the club and gave impressive displays for Tasmania, for whom he first played at 15.

His golden season for the State was in 1933-34. He started off with 25 and 107 against Victoria in Hobart, and in Launceston (against Victoria), despite bruises from a nasty motorcycle accident, he batted all the first day of the match to be 229 not out and next day was out for 274 a Tasmanian record that still stands.

Badcock moved to South Australia after the 1933-34 season. He made his Test debut for Australia in 1936. Badcock at the crease looked as impregnable as Woodfull and as full of runs as Bradman.

He exuded a class and personality all of his own, but apart from 118 against England at Melbourne in 1937, his Test debut efforts were disappointing. In the seven Tests he played he managed only 160 runs at 14.54, and yet at home in 1938-39 he was able to score 271 not out against New South Wales at Adelaide and 236 against Queensland at Adelaide. In 1940 he hit three centuries in a month against Victoria.

He retired at 27, after heading the South Australian batting averages in 1940-41, with 554 at 69.25 for the season.