Blair played cricket regularly for the Royal Engineers Cricket Club until 1905, scoring over 500 runs in five seasons and captaining the team in 1892 and 1893. He also played racquets, winning the Army Doubles Championship several times. In his first-class debut he scored 61 runs against Gloucestershire at the County Ground, Bristol, form which his Wisden obituary said that he "never regained", despite being "strong in defence with plenty of shots".