Johnny in the news

I had this query from 49er Naval Patel in Mysore:

Ivo Tennant's account on Cricinfo of the Darrell Hair prosecution now in progress in London refers to "former England batsman" John Jameson "who was called for his expertise on the Laws of Cricket."

Would that be "our" John Jameson, and have you seen any mention of his official position which qualifies him as having expertise on the Laws of Cricket?

Jacob, have you got John on your roster?

Regards Naval

You can find aspects about this case mentioning John in this report cited by Naval at Darrell Hair tribunal, 3rd day: Reverse swinging in the court: Ivo Tennant in London: October 4, 2007

Here is a Profile of Johnny from CricInfo:

Full name John Alexander Jameson


Picture, courtesy John.

Born June 30, 1941, Byculla, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra, India
Current age 66 years 96 days
Major teams England, Warwickshire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Fielding position Wicketkeeper
Other Umpire, Coach

John Jameson was a solidly-built opening batsman with a propensity to attack rather than defend, and who on his day was one of the cleanest hitters in English cricket. Add into that his brisk medium-pace bowling, a good slip fielder and, on occasion, a reliable stand-in wicketkeeper, and it was clear to see why he was so highly regarded at Warwickshire. His international opportunities were limited and were undone by his habit of being run-out - three of his first four innings ended that way, including the first instance of it happening to an England batsman twice in the same match. In the Caribbean in 1973-74 he top-edged the first ball he faced out there for six over the slips. In 1974 he featured in a world-record second-wicket stand of 465 with Rohan Kanhai, and the following summer was included in England's World Cup squad. He retired prematurely in 1976 to coach at Taunton School (his alma mater) before becoming a first-class umpire (1984-87) , Sussex's coach (1988) and then MCC's assistant secretary in 1989. As late as 1994 he was still playing for Warwickshire's Over-50 side, despite bad knees which left him with an increasingly rolling gait.
Martin Williamson

John is very qualified to comment as he served as an umpire between 1984 and 1988 in English first class cricket and was also the Assistant Secretary of the MCC. He is much respected in all cricketing circles.

John is a Savageite and was one of the outstanding sportsperson while at school. He would have been an international in any sport he chose.

I had a chance to play hockey, football and cricket alongside John. I especially remember one football game at the Oval where, between the three of us, my brother, Ranjit, John and myself, we turned certain defeat in a House Match into a victory due to John leading us from the front. He greatly encouraged my slow right arm leg spin bowling and gave me a sufficient time to get among the wickets. Even as a schoolboy his field placings are something I remember vividly. We won games because of how he handled us.

We Savageites missed him sorely when he left school to move to England?

Yes, John is on my roster.



I have this great picture of John submitted to me by one of his childhood friends, 57er Aubrey Ballantine, brother of the late 54er Pamela Ballantine (Pamela was awarded the MBE for services to race equality, London Borough of Redbridge in October 2000 just a few months before her sad demise).

And if you search through earlier entries of this blog you will find an appreciation of John's dad by 56er Ubi (HS Uberoi). John's father was a great friend of our school in more ways than one.