Former Australia and Queensland wicketkeeper John Maclean has died at the age of 80 after a lengthy illness.

He played four Tests and two ODIs for Australia during the 1978-79 home Ashes series when many of Australia’s best players, including No. 1 wicketkeeper Rod Marsh, were banned from playing in the Test team because of their participation in World Series Cricket.

Maclean made his first-class debut for Queensland in 1968 and quickly made an impact breaking the state record for most dismissals in a season, previously held by former Australia wicketkeeper Wally Grout. Maclean also made his highest first-class score of 156 in his first season in the Sheffield Shield.

Those performances earned him a place on an Australia development tour of New Zealand in 1969-70 alongside Greg Chappell and Dennis Lillee. But later that year, Marsh was selected ahead of Maclean for the opening Test of the 1970-71 Ashes and Maclean would not get another opportunity to play for Australia until 1978-79, which was the final season of his first-class career.

He was a key part of Queensland’s side that finished second four times in five Shield seasons between 1973-74 and 1977-78. He captained Queensland in 30 of his 86 Shield appearances before stepping aside to help entice Chappell to Queensland from South Australia.

Maclean finished his first-class career with 385 dismissals, including 354 catches and 31 stumpings, and his 314 dismissals including 290 catches and 24 stumpings are the fourth-most for Queensland and 11th-highest in Shield history.

Maclean was awarded an MBE in the 1980 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to cricket. He went on to be vice-president of Queensland Cricket in 1990-91 and president of Queensland Cricket between 1992-94. He also served as the players’ committee representative to the Australian Cricket Board (now Cricket Australia) and was awarded Queensland Cricket life membership in 1998.

Current Queensland Cricket chair Kirsten Pike paid tribute to Maclean’s significant contribution to the game in the state. “As a player, he led from the front and the tributes from past teammates and the wider community since his passing have emphasised his ‘team first’ leadership as well as his generous nature,” Pike said. “He played in an era that admired tough, dedicated players who gave their all on the field and then enjoyed the camaraderie that followed the game, building life-long friendships along the way. He flew the flag for Queensland in all he did, as a player and then as a coach, businessman and administrator.

“John was a passionate contributor as a Life Member and enjoyed seeing the success that Queensland has enjoyed over the past 30 years. We share our condolences with his family and many friends.”