Jack Russell: ‘Painting Was My Escape’

I am led tidily to Bristol and Jack Russell’s gallery/ studio space. Robert ‘Jack’ Russell is one of the most iconic English cricketers and certainly amongst the most well-loved. Famed as a man of truly eccentric habits, such as wearing the same hat, and near-on the same kit, for every day of his 20-year playing career, he was, more notably, the most gifted keeper of a generation. He played 54 Test matches, 40 ODIs and 465 first-class games. Having moved seemingly flawlessly into a career as a painter, I meet Jack at his gallery space, located just off ‘Russell Mews’. When the council offered him a retirement send-off he preferred to have something permanent – “You’ll learn that about me, I like permanence”. He begins with, ‘First things first, tea?’ and at one point during our hour sat talking about life beyond cricket, he stands up and gives me a brief shadow wicketkeeping masterclass. As I leave, with both his books and a beautiful hand drawing of the Oval, he says: ‘Don’t forget, the kettle’s always on here’.

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I started in quite an amateur-ish era, ’82 turned pro. I was on the dole in the first winter. I used to play pool for money, hustle for money. I’d take my giro cheque and go to the pub and hustle. I used to play like a Test match, so slowly they’d get bored and then I’d clean them up. I took a £25 giro cheque and I’d still be there at midnight, everyone wanted to go home and I was still going. They’d say ‘OK, Jack’s the winner, he can take the pot’. Fifty quid. That’s a day’s work. My brother-in-law was a carpet fitter, so I did carpet fitting for two years. He only paid me dole money, but I said that’s fine, it’s just learning a trade. The painting started after that.

I’ve always had a fascination for the creative. If we were playing away somewhere I’d normally go to an art gallery, look at things closely and go, ‘How have they done that?’ We were playing a three-day game at Worcester, the ground was flooded, I’d got fed-up in the pavilion, lost all my money at cards. It was a serious card school, there’d be £1,000-plus in the pot and they’d still be going. There are players who would ring up the office and say, ‘Can I have my next month’s wages?’ It was all going on the cards.

The football thing filled a nice little gap for me. I
 didn’t get paid or anything. I used to love the kit, the tracksuits, JR on it. Magic. I was getting more involved in Gloucestershire so I rang up eventually and said, ‘I can’t do you a proper job anymore’. I was either going to do a job properly or not at all. I loved it though.

As a wicketkeeper, there’s only one of you, you’re on your own. As captain it changed, suddenly you’re juggling 10 people. I’d been so me, me, me. I was so focused, I missed my grandmother’s funeral. I’m not proud of that. I walked past my wife once. She’s only been three times to the cricket, and twice because I forgot kit, she’s not into it. I always kept the family separate. So, when I was captain, I had to forget about myself. Back then there are no coaches, you’re basically the manager of the team. You’re doing pre-season. I was the first captain at Gloucester to put things in writing. Pre-season back then, starting in March, was quite revolutionary – now it’s all year round. My first pre-season started April 1 and the first week was playing football, second week was nets, then it was the season. My last pre-season started in October before the following summer because I had to do rehab on my back.

I did the odd bit for Sky. I loved doing radio because 
you don’t have to dress up, I can’t be arsed to dress up anymore. Anyway, I upset Sky so I won’t be going on there much… I think they thought I was a nightmare, you know.

I’m not good at conforming, at being told. I’m not worried if people like the pictures or not. You know that as an artist you are going to get criticised. Lowry said: ‘If you’re frightened of criticism don’t show your work in public’. And he was right. I’m not worried about what people say, but it is lovely when people say, ‘That’s going on my wall’. I get a kick out of that just as much playing cricket. I’m a professional artist. I put professional artist/retired cricketer. That’s what I do. I like things that are permanent. So I’ll do something like a painting, that’ll be there when I’m gone. There’s something permanent about it.

I say to people, I’m just history. But I’m a part of history. Which is great. When I was a kid I used to look at the stones in the graveyard and go ‘who’s Bill Smith, who’s Bill Jones, what did they do’. Right, I’m not passing through this world without leaving some kind of a mark. I didn’t know it was going to be cricket. That’s a driving force for me. If people have found me interesting enough, you know, I might have achieved some of it.