Hall of Fame · inducted 2013
1st X1 career: 1937-38 to 1955-56 (19 seasons; 265 matches). Captain/coach of 1953-54 premiership team. Member of 1938-39 and 1939-40 premiership teams.
Superb wicket-keeper: 265 catches; 170 stumpings.
Right-hand batsman: 2765 runs, average 15.27, with 1 century.
Holds record for most consecutive 1st X1 appearances - 215 - in Melbourne district cricket.
Committee member, VCA delegate and Victorian Selector for many years, as well as President from 1959-61.
Manager, Australian Tours to South Africa (1966-67), West Indies (1973), and Rest of World team in Australia (1971-72).
Club Legend · inducted 2017
Bill Jacobs played 265 games for Fitzroy over 19 seasons, playing in 3 premierships, 1938-39, 1939-40, and was Captain-coach of the 1953-54 premiership team. He was a superb wicketkeeper, taking 265 catches and making 170 stumpings. He also made 2765 runs at an average of 15.27, with one century and 4 half-centuries. He holds the record for the most consecutive 1st XI games – 215. He also played 7 matches for Victorian XIs during the 1940s. Off the field Bill served on the Club Committee, was a Cricket Victoria delegate and a Victorian selector for many seasons. He was President from 1959-61, including for the 1960-61 premiership, which was captained by Jack Potter.
Bill was also appointed Manager of Bob Simpson’s Australian Team that toured South Africa in 1966-67. He was also appointed Manager of the Rest of the World XI, captained by Sir Garfield Sobers, which toured Australia in 1971-72 when the proposed tour by South Africa had to be cancelled. The team comprised 3 West Indians, 4 South Africans, 3 Englishmen, 3 Pakistanis, 3 Indians and 1 New Zealander, and was staged while India and Pakistan were at war! Bill was also Manager of Ian Chappell’s Australian team of 1973, which toured the West Indies and went through the tour undefeated. It would be many years until another team could defeat the West Indies on their home soil.
Bill was also a founding member of the Cricket Victoria 200 Club and a Life Member of Cricket Victoria.
Bill was also a footballer, playing for Brunswick in the VFA and in 1941 for Fitzroy Reserves. In 1944, Fitzroy’s last football premiership, Bill served as the Cricket Club’s representative on the football club committee.
Bill became a famous football and cricket commentator on 3AW for 34 years, including calling 27 consecutive Grand Finals. He called VFA football on Channel 10 with Phil Gibbs.
He was a cricket commentator on Channel 9 during the 1960s with Tony Charlton, covering the 1963-64 South African Tour. He won a number of AFL and Cricket Victoria media awards over his career.
During the 1977 Centenary Test he was official TV interviewer with special guests during breaks in play. He also pioneered lunchtime entertainment at cricket matches in the 1970s, with events including the footballers mile, hit the pin for golfers, etc.
