John Edward Barrett (15 October 1866 in South Melbourne – 6 February 1916 at Peak Hill, Western Australia) was an Australian cricketer who played two Tests in 1890. He worked as a medical doctor.
![]() Portrait of Jack Barrett in 1890 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | John Edward Barrett | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (1866-10-15)15 October 1866 South Melbourne | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 6 February 1916(1916-02-06) (aged 49) Peak Hill, Western Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Left-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Right-arm medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relations | Edgar Barrett (brother) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side |
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Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1884/85–1892/93 | Victoria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Barrett was educated at Wesley College in Melbourne before going on to Melbourne University to study medicine.[1] His father was a doctor in South Melbourne, and his older brother was also a doctor.[2]
A careful batsman, reliable in a crisis, Jack Barrett played first-class cricket for Victoria from 1885 to 1893.[3] Despite having missed many of Victoria's matches owing to his medical studies, he was selected to tour England in 1890 with the Australian team.[4]
On his Test debut, in the first Test of the series at Lord's, Barrett became the first Australian batsman to carry his bat in Test cricket.[5] In the second innings he opened the innings and batted for 280 minutes and scored 67 not out of a team total of 176.[6] On the tour as a whole he was second in the Australian batting averages with 1305 runs at 22.89.[4] According to A. G. Moyes, he "did a splendid job, showing unlimited patience and splendid defence, though he lacked grace and charm in technique to relieve the monotony".[7] He made his highest first-class score of 97 (and 73 not out in the second innings) in the final match of the tour against an England XI at Manchester.[8]
In addition to his cricketing skills, Barrett was also a leading Australian rules footballer, playing for South Melbourne in the late 1880s and early 1890s, topping the Victorian Football Association (VFA) goal kicking in 1889 with 40 goals.[9]
Barrett undertook further medical studies in England after the cricket tour, earning an MRCS diploma in surgery.[10] He retired from cricket at the age of 26 to pursue his medical career.[1] At the time of his death in the goldfields town of Peak Hill, Western Australia, he had been practising there for some years.[10]
Jim "Frosty" Miller Medal winners | |
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The award was named after Jim "Frosty" Miller in 1999; prior to that is was known as the Leading Goalkicker Medal | |
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