Jack Lowry

Jack Lowry
Personal information
Full name Jack Brown Lowry
Date of birth 25 November 1916
Place of birth Lambton, New South Wales
Date of death 5 February 2007(2007-02-05) (aged 90)
Height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 76 kg (168 lb)
Position(s) Centreman
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1936–1938 Prahran 40 (17)
1938–1946 St Kilda 53 (7)
1946–1947 Sandringham 15 (43)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1947.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Jack Brown Lowry (25 November 1916 – 5 February 2007) was an Australian rules footballer and cricketer, who at his peak played football with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and first-class cricket for Victoria.

A Melbourne High School student proficient at both cricket and football, Lowry began his careers with Prahran in both sports: the Prahran Cricket Club in district cricket beginning from the 1935–36 season, and the Prahran Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA).

A quality all-rounder who averaged 40 with the bat and took 101 wickets at 24.1 as a spin bowler throughout his district career,[1] Lowry was selected for Victoria in its non-Sheffield Shield first-class cricket fixture against Tasmania at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1937/38, scoring 62 in his first innings and being run out for three in his next.[2] However, this was his only first-class match, and he was never selected to a Sheffield Shield match.

As a footballer in 1937 for Prahran, Lowry was a premiership player and won a VFA Medal as league best and fairest playing primarily as a centre,[3] and occasionally as centre half forward.[4] On the back of this effort, Lowry was signed by League club St Kilda, and he made his debut in the opening game of the 1938 season. He soon also made the switch from Prahran to St Kilda in cricket, joining St Kilda from the 1939/40 season.

Lowry spent just over eight years playing football at St Kilda. He was a star centreman when fit and available,[5] but due to a combination of regular injuries and service with the Second Australian Imperial Force during World War II,[6] he was limited to just 53 senior appearances. After playing the opening match of the 1946 season for St Kilda, he sought to leave and was cleared to VFA club Sandringham,[7] where he was part of the club's inaugural premiership team at the end of that season.[8]

Lowry retired from football in mid-1947 due to injury,[9] as well as from district cricket after 131 first XI games. He continued playing subdistrict cricket as playing coach of Malvern for the next two seasons,[10][11] before finishing his career playing cricket and occasional football for Mornington.[12]

Lowry died in February 2007 at the age of 90.[13]

  1. ^ "VCA 1st XI Career records 1889–90 to 2020–21, I-M" (PDF). Cricket Victoria. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  2. ^ "Victoria v Tasmania 1937/38". CricketArchive.
  3. ^ "Tie for medal". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 20 August 1927. p. 19.
  4. ^ "J. Lowry joins St Kilda". The Age. 20 April 1938. p. 8.
  5. ^ "Lowry was a star". The Sporting Globe. 19 May 1943. p. 12.
  6. ^ "Carlton has a "find"". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 28 August 1944. p. 9.
  7. ^ Percy Beames (8 May 1946). "Lowry discontented at St Kilda". The Age. p. 8.
  8. ^ "Sandringham's first VFA premiership". The Argus. Melbourne. 7 October 1946. pp. 13–14.
  9. ^ "Jack Lowry retires". The Sporting Globe. 28 June 1947. p. 4.
  10. ^ "Lowry to coach Malvern". The Argus. 19 September 1947. p. 18.
  11. ^ "Highlights of today's play". The Sporting Globe. 15 October 1949. p. 8.
  12. ^ "Lowry stars for Mornington". Weekly Times. 20 June 1951. p. 51.
  13. ^ Cricket Archive: Jack Lowry