Ted Pickett

Edward Arthur Pickett, OAM (2 April 1909 – 29 January 2009) was a leading Australian sportsman of the twentieth century, playing representative cricket, Australian rules football, tennis, badminton, golf, billiards, snooker and athletics. He has been called "probably the greatest all-round sportsman Tasmania has produced". and representing Northern Tasmania in tennis. His skill behind the stumps led Pickett to his first-class debut for Tasmania aged nineteen on 19 February 1929 against Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, scoring three runs and claiming two dismissals.

Pickett became Tasmania's first choice wicketkeeper but due to Tasmania not being a part of the Sheffield Shield, his first-class opportunities were limited and in six years played only eleven matches for Tasmania, scoring 86 runs at 7.16 and taking seven catches and five stumpings. However, Pickett is considered one of the best wicketkeepers to play for Tasmania with his stumping ability particularly impressive.

In a match against the 1930 Australian side en route to England, Pickett, who worked on the front counter of the Launceston Examiner newspaper, sought time off to play. Unfortunately for Pickett, Nash got Bradman out lbw for 22 before the Examiner's photographer arrived.

Australian rules football

Pickett was also a leading Australian rules footballer, playing for Launceston and Longford in the Northern Tasmania Football Association. He won the Tasman Shields Trophy for the NTFA best and fairest in 1935. He also played for Northern Tasmania a number of times against visiting interstate sides.

Following his retirement from football, Pickett became a bookmaker in Launceston in 1938 and held a licence for 37 years. He was discharged on 16 November 1943.

Billiards and Snooker Pickett played in the Australian billiards championship four times and in 1955 was the first player to win the Tasmanian billiards and snooker titles in the one year. He played in three Australian snooker championships, and won the national title in 1955, becoming the first Tasmanian to do so.

Pickett was Walter Lindrum's opponent in a series of charity exhibition matches held around Tasmania. Additionally, as an athlete, he won numerous quarter-mile events at carnivals around Tasmania, including winning the 1928 Smithton and Latrobe quarter miles and finishing second in the Latrobe Gift.

Honours and legacy The Ted Pickett Shield, awarded to the winner of the Tasmanian snooker championships, is named in his honour.

Pickett was inducted into the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame in 1994

Ted Pickett's age of 99 years and 302 days places him third among the longest-lived of Australian first-class players and his living 79 years and 345 days after his first-class debut is a record in Australian cricket.