James Alexander Joseph Christy, the former South African opening batsman, died suddenly in hospital in Durban on February 1 at the age of 66. Born in Pretoria on December 12, 1904, he was educated at Jeppe High School and made his first-class debut for Transvaal in 1925-26, scoring a century in his second innings. He was a tall, powerful batsman with a long reach who excelled against fast bowling, as well as a useful medium-pace bowler. He toured England in 1929, when he made his Test debut, but after scoring 148 against Nottinghamshire he injured a finger and played in only five more matches. In 1930 he took up a business appointment in London which allowed him to play in only the final Test against England that winter. He tourered Australia and New Zealand under H. B. Cameron in 1931-32, when he scored 1,170 runs and headed the averages, making 102 against Western Australia in his first innings in Australia. On that tour he scored his only Test century - 103 against New Zealand at Christchurch, he and Bruce Mitchell sharing an opening stand of 196 in two hours. In his 10 Tests he scored 618 runs at 34.33. He also played for Queensland in 12 matches in the Sheffield Shield in 1934-35 and the following season. The highest score of his first-class career was 175 for Transvaal against Rhodesia at Salisbury in 1927-28, one of three centuries he scored in successive innings.
Irving Rosenwater, The Cricketer, April 1971