Early Years
Born in the New South Wales bush town of Cobar on 8 December 1914, he was one of five children born to a stationmaster, but was orphaned at the age of six. He was raised by relatives in Lyndhurst, in the northwest of the state and played his early cricket and rugby league for Cowra. At this stage of his life, Toshack's ambition was to play rugby league for Australia. One of his childhood friends, Edgar Newham, also played both sports and wanted to play Test cricket. However, the town's doctor, a local community leader, advised them that they were targeting the wrong sport, and the two boys followed his recommendation. Newham later played rugby league for Australia.
In his youth he was also a boxer, and earned the nickname "Johnson" for his dark-skinned resemblance to American black heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson. In the mid 1930s, he made brief appearances for the State Colts and Second XI, and played cricket against the likes of Stan McCabe, an inductee into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. In December 1933, Toshack played in a colts match for New South Wales against Queensland. He took 3/63 and 3/36 but was unable to prevent a five-wicket defeat. He then took a total of 3/88 in a match for New South Wales Country against their city counterparts, and was promoted into the state's Second XI. Toshack took a total of 1/91 in a match against the Victorian Second XI and did not play for his state again until 1945.
His cricket aspirations, already hindered due to economic difficulties caused by the Great Depression, were further interrupted when he was wheelchair-bound for months after a ruptured appendix in 1938. He was not allowed to enlist in the Australian Defence Force during World War II and worked at Lithgow's Small Arms factory, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. Only at the end of the war, aged 30 did he go to Sydney. At the time, he was a medium-fast left-arm bowler and approached Petersham—as Toshack lived in their locality, they had the right to register him ahead of other clubs. They did not select Toshack, so he joined Marrickville in Sydney Grade Cricket, starting in the third grade team in 1944–45. Within two matches, he rose to the first grade team. By this time, Petersham regretted their decision to spurn Toshack and lodged a complaint with the cricket authorities, claiming that he was obliged to represent them and ineligible to play for Marrickville. Toshack later recalled that Petersham were "told where to go".
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