Jack Newman

John Alfred Newman (12 November 1884 – 21 December 1973) was an English professional first-class cricketer who played county cricket for Hampshire between 1906 and 1930, and in the Plunket Shield for Canterbury in New Zealand for two seasons in the late 1920s. He was born in Southsea, but grew up in the village of Bitterne near Southampton. An all-rounder, he came to the attention of Hampshire as a teenager. A right-handed batsman and right-arm bowler, who was able to bowl medium paced outswingers with the new ball, followed by off spin once the shine had worn off the ball. Debuting in 1906, Newman would make nearly 550 appearances in first-class cricket. In these, he took 2,054 wickets and scored 15,364 runs. He formed a bowling partnership at Hampshire with Alec Kennedy, with the pair sometimes bowling unchanged throughout both innings of a match. He had the distinction of achieving the double on five occasions, and is one of just three players to take over 2,000 wickets, but to never play Test cricket.

Following his retirement, Newman spent the English summers between 1931 and 1939 umpiring, with him standing in 220 first-class matches. During the winter months he coached aboard, predominantly in South Africa, where he later emigrated to. He died in Cape Town in December 1973, aged 89, following a cerebral haemorrhage.

Playing career Early life and pre-war career Newman was born in Southsea on 12 November 1884. At an early age, he moved with his parents to the village of Bitterne near Southampton. He first took up cricket when he played for his local Sunday school team. At the age of 14, Newman attended a match at the County Ground in Southampton, where whilst watching the Hampshire players practice in the nets, he asked Thomas Soar if he could bowl to them, and was given permission. After watching him bowl for a few minutes, Soar fetched Hampshire secretary Fred Bacon, who invited Newman to join the staff at Hampshire when he left school in 1901. He made his debut in first-class cricket for Hampshire against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in the 1906 County Championship, with Newman making a further appearance that season against Kent.

Newman established himself in the Hampshire side in 1907, making first-class 19 appearances. and took his maiden five wicket haul with figures of 5 for 124 against Sussex in the County Championship. The following season, he made 22 first-class appearances, taking 93 wickets at an average of 20.62; he took five wickets in an innings on seven occasions during the season, in addition to taking ten wickets in a match thrice. He was Hampshire's leading wicket-taker in the 1908 County Championship, with 77. In 1909, he took 89 wickets at an average of 20.89 from 23 appearances, taking five wickets or more in an innings on seven occasions;

In 1910, Newman began what would become a twenty-year bowling partnership with Alec Kennedy. and nationally was second in the wicket-taking aggregate, behind Razor Smith's 215. His bowling form fell away in 1911, with him taking 79 wickets at an average of 31.67 from 25 appearances. In the 1914 season, which was truncated in August by the outbreak of the First World War, he took 82 wickets at an average of 25.03 from 30 matches. With the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) President Francis Lacey confirming the cessation of cricket during the war, first-class cricket in England would be suspended until 1919.

War service and cricket in India Newman would serve in the war with the 5th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, enlisting alongside other peers from Hampshire. He served with the battalion in British India where he played regimental and first-class cricket. Newman played in the first-class war relief match between an England XII and an Indian XII at the Bombay Gymkhana. He played a further first-class match later in the war, when he played for the Maharaja of Cooch-Behar's XI against the Bengal Governor's XI, Shortly after the cessation of hostilities in November 1918, Newman played for an England XII against an Indian XII at Bombay, and whilst awaiting demobilisation

Post-war career Newman missed the resumption of cricket in 1919 as he was still awaiting demobilisation in India. With Hampshire losing several cricketers during the war, Newman's medium-pace was utilised more opening the bowling in order to adjust the balance of the depleted Hampshire team. The following season, Newman achieved the double for the first time. Newman and Kennedy again led the Hampshire attack in 1921, bowling between them 14,792 deliveries and taking 340 wickets. Against Sussex at Portsmouth, Newman and Kennedy bowled unchanged throughout the match. he refused to bowl, resulting in Hampshire's captain Lionel Tennyson ordering him from the field, responding to Tennyson by kicking down the stumps as he left the field. He played first-class cricket for Canterbury in the 1927–28 Plunket Shield, making two appearances, while also playing against the touring Australians. Alongside this he also played twice for The Rest against New Zealand. He returned to England aboard the . From 31 appearances in 1928, he scored 1,474 runs at an average of 29.48, making three centuries. In the 1930 English season, he took 81 wickets at an average of 25.02 from 27 appearances, claiming five wickets of more on seven occasions; However, his batting aggregate declined to 683 runs at an average of 18.76. For Hampshire in 506 appearances, he took 1,946 wickets; only Kennedy (2,549) and Derek Shackleton (2,669) have taken more first-class wickets for Hampshire. He completed the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season five times between 1921 and 1928;

As a batsman, Arlott would describe him as "an orthodox, determined batsman". he scored 15,364 runs at an average of 21.57, making ten centuries and 69 half centuries. It was not uncommon for Newman to finish bowling and return to the field to open the batting, often doing so alongside Kennedy.

Umpiring career Following his retirement, Newman began standing as a first-class umpire. He first umpired in representative cricket whilst coaching in South Africa in the winter following the 1930 season, when he stood in a match between Cape Province and the touring MCC. He stood in a second first-class match in England in 1931 between the touring New Zealanders and the Gentlemen of England at Eastbourne. He was appointed to the first-class umpires list in December 1931, alongside Herbert Baldwin, Bill Hitch, Alec Skelding, and Claud Woolley. He remained on the first-class umpires list until 1939, standing in 218 first-class matches in England since his appointment to it. After the end of his umpiring career, Newman coached cricket in India, New Zealand, and South Africa. He subsequently emigrated to Cape Town, where he coached for much of the last thirty years of his life. Whilst coaching at Diocesan College, Newman coached future South African Test cricketers Sandy Bell and Tuppy Owen-Smith. He coached in Western Province, with the with Pawle opining that "no one did more for Western Province cricket"; He died a bachelor.

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