[5] He achieved notice for scoring "unexpected extra runs" as a tailend batsman in a match against Western Australia in his first season.
[6] In November 1978 he played for Queensland against the touring English team,[7] and took 3 for 56 notably bowling David Gower,[8] and had a short but notable performance with the bat being part of a partnership with John Maclean which scored 54 runs in just 47 minutes.
[9] In December 1978 he was criticized for "spraying the new ball" while trying to achieve extra pace in a match against Tasmania.
Balcam only played one List-A game for Queensland in which he took five for 49, his best figures at state level.
He debuted for Victoria in List-A cricket before being selected in the first-class side but struggled in his three seasons for the team failing to average below 30.00 in any of them.