This article first appeared in the book Saltire & Flannels by Fraser Simm. This title, and Echoes of a Summer Game, also by Fraser Simm, are available for online purchase in the Cricket Scotland Shop.

The first name to be placed on a blank piece of paper is nearly always that of the No 1 and opening batsman. In the case of a Scotland all-time XI, this can be done without a second's thought … John Kerr. It is done … No doubt about it …. The name of Scotland's premier batsman of all time is unchallenged, but whereas the names of Hobbs, Hammond or Hutton may be known to millions in England, their counterpart north of the border does not register on the sporting consciousness in anything like the same degree.

John Kerr's achievement in scoring 147,15 and 60* against the all-conquering 1921 Australians has perhaps never been surpassed by a player representing Scotland in a competitive cricket match. In the innings of 147, he batted all day at Raeburn Place - this against an attack which had torn the English batting apart in the first three test matches played, dismissing the entire test side for consecutive scores of 112 & 147,187 & 283, 259 & 202. Only two batsmen had reached the 100-mark against the tourists at this advanced stage of the season, and in their previous match the Aussies had just rolled over Lancashire in two days.

This "unknown" batsman then proceeded to make his mark in such a way that Warwick Armstrong remarked he could not understand why Kerr had not been considered by England. Rare praise indeed! Armstrong did not comment on the donkey drops which claimed 3 wickets in 8 balls - after Kerr's first 3 overs cost as much as 32 runs! Kerr played in every Scottish international match over a 25 year period between 1908 and 1933.

Jack Hobbs also ranked Kerr amongst the world's best batsmen, so there can be no arguing with these expert views. Kerr's claim does not, of course, rest on only one match or opinion. He actually considered an innings played.against the powerful 1919 Australian Imperial Forces team to be the best of his career. Scotland's 260 was matched by the A.I.F. total of 350, then, on a crumbling wicket, the Scots slumped to 80 for 8. Kerr alone achieved double figures, and saved his side with a score of 40* amid the mayhem. As if this were not enough he also scored 103 (out of a total of 183) for Gireenock against the same tourists. In 1925, an innings of just 31 in in opcning stand of 59 against a Lancashire test attack of Macdonald, Parkin and Tyldesley was enough to be remarked on by Wisden as being "the most interesting batting of the match, playing good bowling with marked skill".

He scored four centuries in matches against Ireland and his 21,558 is the third highest run aggregate ever in domestic Scottish cricket. In a happy co-incidence, John Kerr and Jack Hobbs came together on the field again in 1935, the year after Hobbs' retirement. For HB Rowan's XI the 52 year-old Surrey veteran made 62; for Greenock, Kerr, who was two years younger, made 61. A few years later he turned out against Kilmarnock, for whom the young Jim Aitchison was playing and no doubt learnt at the feet of the master. John Kerr finally put his boots up in 1940, by which time he was 55; his 41 centuries for Greenock were a mere 32 more than any other player for the club.

There is a danger that Kerr's sucees could could develop into a long list of remarkable scores and indeed, the tale of John Kerr has largely been told in figures; what about the inner man? Descriptions of his batting compare it to the precision of a first-class engineering job, matching his chosen profession. Initially orthodox with a mainly off-side repertoire, he later developed a strong array of legside shots which, with exemplary footwork, defied the bowlers' attempts to pack the offside field. Kerr was said to have faith in himself, sound technique, courage in abundance and a sense of adventure. Perhaps, in his single-mindedness as a player, he did miss out on some of the social side of the game, but after retiring he tried to catch up on this aspect. Following his father, brother & cousin as an international player, his record still stands second to none.