A fine allrounder, born India on August 9, 1898, and educated Wellington College, Frederick Theodor Badcock went to New Zealand in 1924 afte army service in India and made reputation for himself as a player an coach, his immaculate grooming an bearing rendering him a striking figure described by R. T. Brittenden as having 'the urbanity of Herbert Sutcliffe and the anitm grace of Keith Miller'. His smooth dark hair tumbled as he bowled fast-medium with a easy action, and his fielding was worlc class. In his first four matches for Wellington he took a startling tally of 3 wickets, and, with runs flowing from a cultured bat, he became probably the finest allrounder New Zealand fielded between the wars. In 1927 he was chosen for the tour of England, but the authorities then had rethink and left him out because all their players were to have a life expectancy of a further 10 years at top level. Those gentlemen would have been surprised to see Badcock still bowling well at Lord's in 1945: when he took 6 for 69 off 40 overs for New Zealand against A Lord's XI. He was the almost 47. Having taken 8 for 105 in 52 overs for Wellington against the 1927-2 Australians, he won his first Test cap two years later when New Zealand became Test nation at Christchurch. He took 2 for 29, was one of Maurice Allom's four victims in five balls, and completed a pair. He took five wickets in the second Test, Wellington, and was dropped after the rair ruined third Test at Auckland. In 1931-32, by which time he had moved to Otago, Badcock played in the two Tests against the touring South Africans, scoring 64 Christchurch and 53 at Wellington. Both matches were lost. A year later came England ... and Walter Hammond, who was bowled by Badcock for 227 in the final Test, at Christchurch (where he had Sutcliffe caught behind first ball of the match), and scored 336 not out in the second, at Auckland, where Badcock toiled through 59 overs to come away with 2 for 126 (Ames and Allen). His Test career in seven matches was thus modest. But his aggressive batting continued to develop, and twice he recorded a century before lunch for Otago v Canterbury. Later he coached in Sri Lanka; and when New Zealand sides passed through Perth, where he eventually settled, he was not only there to greet them, but bowled to them in the nets -- perfectly attired, of course.
Wisden Cricket Monthly

Fred Badcock played seven times for New Zealand between 1929-30 and 1932-33, though he was born in India and educated at Wellington College, Berkshire. Tall, dark and handsome, he bowled at a good medium pace, was a brilliant fielder and a good enough batsman to score 64 and 53 in successive Tests against South Africa in 1931-32. His first Test, against England at Wellington, was also New Zealand's first, and he made a pair in it, as well as being one of M. J. C. Allom's four victims in five balls. He ended his Test career, barely three years later, bowling to Hammond while he was scoring 227 and 336 not out in the only two Test matches which England played in New Zealand in 1932-33. Badcock's peripatetic life included a spell in England during the Second World War, when he played occasionally for Northamptonshire, some coaching in Ceylon and retirement in Western Australia. In all first-class cricket he scored 2,356 runs (average 26.47), including four centuries, and took 214 wickets at 23 apiece.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

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Nov 22, 2005 Ted Badcock © Wisden Cricket Monthly

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