1. Jack Marsh's career was curtailed by continual controversy surrounding the legality of his bowling action; he was no-balled multiple times for throwing.
47 Facts About Jack Marsh
1. 2.
Jack Marsh was first no-balled for throwing in 1897, but it was not until 1900 that he came to prominence in a trial match against the New South Wales state team.
3.
Jack Marsh dismissed leading Test cricketers Victor Trumper and Monty Noble, but was called for throwing.
4.
Jack Marsh vowed to prove the legitimacy of his action by bowling with his arm encased in splints, which prompted the umpire to resign in humiliation.
5.
Jack Marsh made an immediate impression and led the first-class bowling averages for the season after three matches.
6.
Jack Marsh was no-balled in his second match by Bob Crockett, but things came to a head in his fourth match when the same umpire no-balled him seventeen times, leading to angry crowd demonstrations.
7.
The cricket community was divided on whether Jack Marsh's action was fair and various theories were propounded, which sought to show a motive for foul play against Jack Marsh.
8.
The most popular of these theories was that Jack Marsh was scapegoated in a campaign against throwing and was a soft target because of his race.
9.
Jack Marsh only played in two more first-class matches, which came in the two seasons following his no-balling.
10.
In later years, Jack Marsh turned to alcohol and was briefly jailed for assault.
11.
Jack Marsh was killed in a brawl outside a pub; two men were charged with manslaughter but were acquitted.
12.
Jack Marsh was born into the Bundjalung people at Yulgilbar, which sits on the Clarence River in northern New South Wales.
13.
Jack Marsh's surname is believed to have possibly derived from that of Francis Henry Marsh, whose property Camira was separated from Yulgilbar by the Richmond Range.
14.
Jack Marsh made his first impression in the sporting arena as a professional runner, following his brother Larry to the Sydney athletics tracks in 1893.
15.
Eight years later a publication briefly noted that Jack Marsh's time was an Australian record.
16.
Jack Marsh gained prominence in the inner-southern Sydney suburb of La Perouse, which had a large Indigenous population, by demonstrating his boomerang skills.
17.
Jack Marsh, while throwing boomerangs, was spotted by cricket officials and he was persuaded to take up the sport.
18.
Jack Marsh began playing cricket in a competition based around Moore Park, near central Sydney, representing South Sydney.
19.
Jack Marsh had an eventful day, bowling Test batsmen Victor Trumper, Frank Iredale and future Test player Bert Hopkins.
20.
Jack Marsh collected the wickets of Test batsmen and future Australian captains Monty Noble and Syd Gregory.
21.
Jack Marsh took this action to ensure that his elbow was kept straight and to demonstrate that he could bowl fast without throwing.
22.
Jack Marsh had previously performed such an exhibition to ground members and the requisite splints and bandages were acquired from the nearby St Vincent's Hospital, in order to bind his bowling arm.
23.
Jack Marsh was proactive in attempting to defend the legitimacy of his bowling action.
24.
Jack Marsh's intentions were published in the Sydney Morning Herald and Curran was made aware that Jack Marsh would seek to challenge him.
25.
Jack Marsh made his first-class debut when he was selected for the New South Wales team to play South Australia at the Adelaide Oval in December 1900, just a month after he was no-balled for throwing.
26.
Jack Marsh bowled six of his opponents and was not questioned by either umpire.
27.
At this point, Jack Marsh led the first-class averages in bowling, with 21 wickets at a bowling average of 17.38 in three matches.
28.
Jack Marsh was no-balled a further two times in his second over and five of Victoria's first nine runs were extras.
29.
Jack Marsh was called a total of 17 times during the innings, the most in a single first-class innings in Australia.
30.
At one point Jack Marsh lost his temper and deliberately threw three consecutive balls.
31.
When Jack Marsh bowled from the other end in the second innings of the match, his action was deemed by Crockett's umpiring partner Sammy Jones to be fair.
32.
When Crockett called Jack Marsh, it was his 29th match as a first-class umpire and the no-balling was seen in some quarters as a signal that he felt ready to officiate in Test matches.
33.
The English played in a match at Bathurst where Jack Marsh was selected, but MacLaren refused to play against him.
34.
Noble, who selected the New South Wales teams, used the complaints about Jack Marsh to ignore growing calls to have the bowler selected for New South Wales and Australia.
35.
Jack Marsh was reported in the media as having said "Say old man, toss me up a soft one so I can get a smack at you".
36.
Jack Marsh played his only first-class match of the season against Queensland, in another one-off match.
37.
Later in the season, Jack Marsh played in a match for New South Wales against Australia, which was not first-class.
38.
Jack Marsh took the wicket of Clem Hill as the match ended in a draw.
39.
Jack Marsh was never selected again, although he continued to dominate grade cricket.
40.
The general consensus among the English touring party was that Jack Marsh's bowling was unfair, with Warner describing him as a "shier", a 19th-century term for a thrower.
41.
The Australian Test batsman and captain Warren Bardsley rated Jack Marsh alongside Fred Spofforth and England's Sydney Barnes.
42.
Jack Marsh played out his days in the Sydney competition and topped the bowling aggregates from 1901 to 1904.
43.
In front of 12,000 spectators on a wet track, Jack Marsh starting from a two-yard start maintained an early lead until Postle caught him on the line.
44.
Jack Marsh joined Alexander's Hippodrome Company, travelling around Australia in a sideshow, where his cricketing fame brought much attention.
45.
In retirement, Jack Marsh drank heavily and was jailed for 14 days for committing an assault in Melbourne in 1909, something he blamed on alcohol.
46.
Jack Marsh died after an assault caused by an argument outside the pool room of the Royal Hotel in Orange, New South Wales.
47.
The Bulletin wrote in Jack Marsh's obituary that he was "a darkly troubled man with manners which white brothers found impossible to put up with".