Clayvel Badcock became the second youngest player to play for Tasmania at the age of 15, however most of his first class career was played with South australia in Adelaide. He was a strong right-hander, and was a confident stroke maker, scoring a triple hundred against Victoria in 1936 (325) and a couple of double hundreds against Queensland and New South Wales. He favoured the square cut (which was hit with such authority and timing) and also the drive on either side of the wicket.He made one century in his Test career, 118 against England in the 5th Test at Melbourne in 1936/37. Despite his hundred, he failed to gain the consistency that was often showed in his first class career, and with failures in his next 8 innings his Test career was over. He never managed to take his score into double figures after the 1936 success and Lumbago cut his first class career early.