John Leslie Ellis, who died on July 28, aged 83, was deputy wicketkeeper to Bert Oldfield during the 1926 Australians' tour of England. Playing in only 13 matches, he took 21 catches and made 23 stumpings; it was not his destiny to play for his country in a Test. He made his debut for Victoria in 1918, and played in 48 Sheffield Shield matches, including that at Melbourne in 1926-27, against New South Wales, when Victoria piled up 1107, still the world record. Ellis made the runs that took his side past the thousand and past the existing record of 1059 - also by Victoria, four years previously. `Long live Victoria!' he shouted each time. At the age of 44 he was a member of the veteran Australian team which undertook a four-month tour of India in 1935-36 under Jack Ryder's captaincy. He was a good enough batsman to score a century off South Australia and his animated outlook made him one of the `characters' of Australian cricket between the wars.
The Cricketer, October 1974