{{short description|Australian cricketer}} {{for|the former English footballer|John Cottam (footballer)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=September 2012}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Jack Cottam | image = JT Cottam, Test cricketer.png | caption = | fullname = John Thomas Cottam | nickname = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1867|9|5|df=yes}} | birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|1897|1|30|1867|9|5|df=yes}} | death_place = Coolgardie, Western Australia | heightft = | heightinch = | family = | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Legbreak | columns = 2 | column1 = Tests | matches1 = 1 | runs1 = 4 | bat avg1 = 2.00 | 100s/50s1 = 0/0 | top score1 = 3 | deliveries1 = 0 | wickets1 = 0 | bowl avg1 = – | fivefor1 = 0 | tenfor1 = 0 | best bowling1 = – | catches/stumpings1= 1/0 | column2 = First-class | matches2 = 7 | runs2 = 273 | bat avg2 = 22.75 | 100s/50s2 = 0/3 | top score2 = 62 | deliveries2 = 175 | wickets2 = 3 | bowl avg2 = 32.66 | fivefor2 = 0 | tenfor2 = 0 | best bowling2 = 2/48 | catches/stumpings2= 4/0 | international = true | onetest = true | country = Australia | testdebutfor = | testdebutagainst = England | testcap = 49 | testdebutdate = 25 February | testdebutyear = 1887 | lasttestdate = 25 February | lasttestfor = | lasttestagainst = | lasttestyear = 1887 | source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/john-cottam-4631 Cricinfo | date = 19 October | year = 2025 }}
'''John Thomas Cottam''' (5 September 1867 – 30 January 1897) was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test match in 1887.
Jack Cottam had played in only one first-class match – for New South Wales against the touring English cricket team, when he scored 29 and 14 not out<ref>{{cite web |title=New South Wales v A Shaw's XI 1886-87 |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/3/3178.html |website=CricketArchive |accessdate=27 March 2020}}</ref> – before making his Test debut a few days later in the Second Test against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Cottam made just four runs as Australia lost by 71 runs.<ref>{{cite web |title=2nd Test, England tour of Australia at Sydney, Feb 25 – Mar 1 1887 |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/17702/scorecard/62421/australia-vs-england-2nd-test-england-tour-of-australia-1886-87 |website=Cricinfo |accessdate=27 March 2020}}</ref> Cottam's five other first-class matches came on New South Wales' tour of New Zealand in 1889–90, when he was the most successful batsman:<ref name=NO/> he made three fifties including his highest score of 62, the only fifty in the match, when New South Wales beat Wellington.<ref>{{cite web |title=New South Wales in New Zealand, 1889/90 |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1880S/1889-90/NSW_IN_NZ/NSW_IN_NZ_JAN-MAR1890_STATS.html |website=Cricinfo |accessdate=27 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Wellington v New South Wales 1889-90 |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/3/3531.html |website=CricketArchive |accessdate=27 March 2020}}</ref>
Cottam was a talented batsman – "style, strokes, physique, and a happy, sanguine temperament were all his" – but he did not seek to make the most of his cricketing ability.<ref name=NO>{{cite journal |last1=Not Out |title=Cricket |journal=Referee |date=17 February 1897 |page=8 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/121515350}}</ref> He went to the West Australian goldfields, where he died of typhoid fever in hospital at Coolgardie in January 1897, aged 29.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Cricket Chatter |journal=The Arrow |date=20 February 1897 |page=2 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/114451415 | access-date= 18 October 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Deaths at the Hospital |journal=The Western Australian Goldfields Courier |date=6 February 1897 |page=17 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250947906/27847730}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{cricinfo|id=4631}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottam, John}} Category:Australia Test cricketers Category:New South Wales cricketers Category:Deaths from typhoid fever in Australia Category:1867 births Category:1897 deaths Category:Infectious disease deaths in Western Australia Category:Australian cricketers Category:Cricketers from Sydney