Jimmy Sinclair

Jimmy Sinclair

Personal information
Full name	James Hugh Sinclair
Born	(1876-10-16)16 October 1876 Swellendam, Cape Province
Died	23 February 1913(1913-02-23) (aged 36) Yeoville, Gauteng
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling style	Right-arm fast-medium
International information
National side	South African
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class Matches 25 129 Runs scored 1069 4483 Batting average 23.23 21.55 100s/50s 3/3 6/21 Top score 106 136 Balls bowled 3598 19543 Wickets 63 491 Bowling average 31.68 21.43 5 wickets in innings 1 33 10 wickets in match 0 10 Best bowling 6/26 8/32 Catches/stumpings 9/- 66/-
Source: Cricinfo, 17 June 2016

James Hugh "Jimmy" Sinclair (16 October 1876 in Swellendam, Cape Province – 23 February 1913 in Yeoville, Gauteng) was a South African cricketer who played in 25 Tests from 1896 to 1911. He scored South Africa's first three Test centuries and was the first person from any country to score a century and take five wickets in an innings in the same Test. He is one of the fastest-scoring Test batsmen of all.

Jimmy Sinclair stood six feet four inches tall and was a "prodigious right-handed hitter and an excellent fast bowler, combining a nice variety of pace with a high delivery". He made his first-class debut for Transvaal in the 1892-93 Currie Cup a few weeks after turning 16, opening both bowling and batting, taking eight wickets and scoring 37 and 11. He took 10 wickets and top-scored with 75 for a Johannesburg XV against Lord Hawke's XI in 1895-96 and was selected for all three Tests that followed.

At this stage in its history South Africa had played three Tests, all against England, and been so outclassed that no batsman had scored more than 29. That dismal record was not disturbed in the First Test in 1895-96, but in the Second Test Sinclair set a new record, scoring 40 in the first innings. He finished the series South Africa's second-highest scorer with 103 runs at an average of 17.16 and, opening the bowling, South Africa's second-highest wicket-taker with eight wickets at an average of 30.37. South Africa lost all three Tests by large margins.

In February 1897 Sinclair scored 301 not out in a club game, which remained the highest score in any form of cricket in South Africa for many years. South Africa's next Tests came in 1898-99, with a two-match series against England. This time, thanks largely to Sinclair, the matches were more evenly contested, and South Africa gained a first-innings lead each time before losing. He did not bowl in the First Test, but scored 86, South Africa's first Test fifty, opening the first innings; apart from Pelham Warner's 132 in England's second innings, no one else in the match reached 40. In the Second Test Sinclair became the first person from any country to score a century and take five wickets in an innings in the same Test. In England's first innings he took 6 for 30, dismissing them for 92, then went in to bat with South Africa's score at 27 for 2 to make 106 before being last out with the total on 177. He was caught on the boundary in each innings.