James Donald Higgs (born 11 July 1950) is a former Australian leg spinner who played in 22 Test matches between 1978 and 1981. In the words of Gideon Haigh "Jim Higgs was Australia's best legspinner between Richie Benaud and Warne. His misfortune was to play at a time when wrist-spin was nearly extinct, thought to be the preserve only of the eccentric and the profligate, and so to find selectors and captains with little empathy with his guiles."
Higgs began his district cricket career at Melbourne University, where he studied civil engineering. He took 132 district wickets before transferring to Richmond in 1972.
He made his debut for Victoria against Western Australia in 1970–71, taking four wickets. His best performances that summer was taking five wickets against South Australia. He had to take some time off from cricket in November due to exams, thus missing games against the touring English XI.
During the 1971–72 season, Higgs took his first five wicket haul at first class level with 5–162 against South Australia. He picked up eight wickets against West Australia and four against South Australia.
At the start of the 1972–73 season there was some talk Higgs might be a possibility for a spot in the squad to tour the West Indies at the end of the summer. However his form was less impressive, apart from six wickets against South Australia, and he was dropped from the Victorian side and replaced by Ray Bright.
Higgs started the following summer strongly with seven wickets against Queensland but was never as successful again – indeed he was made 12th man for some games. However, in a Richmond versus Northcote game he took 8 for 19.
1974–75 was Higgs' breakthrough season. He took 8–66 and 3–52 against Western Australia, 3–107 against the touring English, five against Queensland, eight against NSW and six against South Australia. He finished the summer with 42 wickets at an average of 21.92 and was subsequently selected for the Ashes tour in 1975 to England.
Ashley Mallett was Australian spinner at the time so Higgs did not play a Test on tour, but gained fame by not scoring a run for the whole tour. He batted twice and was bowled by the only ball he faced (against Leicestershire), which appealed to his humorous character.
Higgs' first class highlights included four wickets against Kent, six against the MCC and seven against Somerset. He took 27 wickets at an average of 32 with a first class batting average of 0. He injured his finger during the tour but played on regardless.
Higgs, along with Richie Robinson, did not take part in the reduced 14-man squad that participated in the 1975 World Cup.
Higgs did not enjoy as bountiful a time in 1975–76 apart from 4–86 against South Australia. Terry Jenner was picked ahead of him in the test team.
In the 1976–77 season, Higgs took 4–90 against South Australia and 5–90 in the district cricket final, helping secure Richmond a premiership, breaking a 30-year drought. However, by this stage Kerry O'Keeffe was Australia's preferred leg spinner and Ray Bright was the favoured second spinner. Ian Chappell wrote in a 1977 article that Higgs, along with fellow spinner David Hourn, "In my opinion neither of them are real cricketers. By that I mean they are only bowlers, not cricketers. They are both well below standard as fieldsmen and batsmen."
With the introduction of World Series Cricket, vacancies arose in the Australian team, especially for the spin bowling spot, as Kerry O'Keefe, Ashley Mallett and Ray Bright were all banned and no longer considered available for selection. Higgs took 6–131 against the touring Indians, which put him in the frame for the Australian side however Tony Mann was selected instead. Mann kept his place for the first four tests before being replaced by Bruce Yardley in the fifth. Both were better batsmen than Higgs, whose next best performance that summer was five wickets against West Australia. However Higgs was picked on the tour to the West Indies as the second spinner apart from Yardley.
1977–78: Tour of West Indies and Test Debut
Higgs started the West Indies tour spectacularly well, taking 6–91 and 6–71 against the Leeward Islands.
This earned him selection in the first test as part of a spin duo with Bruce Yardley; Higgs took 4–91, the best performing Australian, but Australia lost the test by an innings. He took 1–46 and 1–34 in the second test and did not play the third. In the fourth, Higgs' four wickets helped put Australia in a winning position but a second innings batting collapse saw them lose.
Playing Jamaica, Higgs got 5–73 and 4–43. In the final test Higgs took five wickets – 2–47 and 3–67; he and Yardley were on the verge of bowling Australia to victory when the crowd rioted and the game was called off. Higgs took 42 first class wickets at an average of 22 on the tour.
Higgs had come back form the West Indies with his reputation considerably enhanced. He took 3–82 against the touring Englishmen, and 4–72 against Western Australia