Scott was born in Toorak, Victoria, and soon moved to Melbourne, where he began to play cricket at a high level. He made his first-class debut in February 1878, and was soon chosen for the Australian team. By the time of the 1886 Australian tour of England, he had been appointed captain, but he remained in England at the tour's conclusion to pursue a career in medicine, and played no further first-class cricket. Scott began as a right arm fast-medium bowler and achieved his best analysis of six wickets for 33 runs on his first-class debut. But it was as a middle order batsman that Scott developed into an international player. He scored four first-class centuries, including one for Australia when he scored 102 at The Oval in 1884. Scott assumed the leadership of the Australian team following a dispute between English and Australian authorities which resulted in the dropping of Billy Murdoch, the Australian captain. However, the team which he led was afflicted by internal disputes over which he could exert no authority, and the tour was unsuccessful.