James Craig was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia on 15 October 1900.

He retired at the end of 1931,[4] having played 203 games for West Perth.

[5] He made his debut for Western Australia at the 1924 Australasian Football Carnival, held in Hobart.

[6] In 2000, he was included as an interchange player in West Perth's "Team of the Century".

[7] In 2005 he was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame.