Bill Woodfull

Bill Woodfull Australia (AUS)
Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling type	-
	Tests	First-class
Matches	35	174
Runs scored	2300	13388
Batting average	46.00	64.99
100s/50s	7/13	49/58
Top score	161	284
Balls bowled	0	26
Wickets	0	1
Bowling average	-	24.00
5 wickets in innings	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	0
Best bowling	-	1/12
Catches/stumpings	7/0	78/0
Test debut: 12 June, 1926 Last Test: 18 August, 1934 Source: [1]

William Maldon "Bill" Woodfull OBE (22 August 1897, Maldon, Victoria, Australia - 11 August 1965, Tweed Heads, New South Wales) was an Australian cricketer. He captained both Victoria and Australia, and was best known for his dignified and moral conduct during the tumultuous Bodyline series in 1932-33 which almost saw the end of Anglo-Australian cricketing ties. Trained as a schoolteacher, Woodfull was known for his benevolent attitude towards his players, and his patience and defensive technique as an opening batsman. After making his first-class debut in 1921, Woodfull rose to national selection in 1926. Touring England, he was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. He reluctantly became captain in 1930 when Jack Ryder was dropped, and regained the Ashes on the English tour of the same year. After ceding them to England in the Bodyline tour, Woodfull bade farewell to international cricket on the 1934 English tour when he became the only captain to regain the Ashes twice.

Style

Woodfull batted in a manner which had little aesthetic pleasure or grace, with Wisden describing stating that “at first sight, he gave the impression of being clumsy”.^[1] Affected by a bout of rheumatoid fever in childhood, he had stiff-jointed style, and played with little noticeable backlift. This gave the impression of a laboured playing style. Despite this, he scored consistently through good placement and powerful drives generated by his strong forearms.^[1] He was known for playing with a straight bat and a close watch on the ball, which were the core features of a strong defensive ability, which yielded names such as “the unbowlable” (a reference to the fact that he was rarely bowled as a result of missing the ball) and “wormkiller”. He was also known for his reliability in crisis match situations, leading to epithets such as “The Rock” and “Old Steadfast”. Woodfull formed an opening partnership with Bill Ponsford at state and international level which yielded 18 century opening stands. Dubbed “Mutt and Jeff” by team-mates after a famous vaudeville act, they were regarded as one of the finest opening partnerships in Test history. As a captain, Woodfull was known for his courage and high moral principles in the face of the Bodyline series. Fellow player Stan McCabe described him as "the greatest man I ever met."^[2][3]

Early years

Born in the central Victorian town of Maldon, Woodfull's family moved to Melbourne when his father Thomas, a Methodist preacher, was given a transfer to Collingwood, and inner city suburb. Woodfull's father installed a net in the backyard and taught him the emphasis on defensive technique and patience which were to become his hallmark.^[4] Woodfull attended Melbourne High School and his early career was unremarkable. He made his district cricket debut in 1916 for Essendon, at the age of 19, but did not distinguish himself. He played no further cricket at the level before he gained his qualification as a schoolteacher in 1919. He was posted to Maryborough High School, and it was in the rural cricket competition that he began to gain attention. In 1920 and 1921, he accumulated 1335 runs at average of 225.83 in the local competition. When the England cricket team toured Australia in 1920-21, Woodfull played for a Ballarat XV, and scored a 50 and 1. A teaching transfer in 1921 saw him return to Melbourne, where the Victorian selectors trialled him in Second XI fixtures. In two matches against South Australia and New South Wales, he registered unbeaten scores of 186 and 227 respectively. In early 1922, he made his Sheffield Shield debut against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval, and in his second match against Western Australia, registered his maiden first-class century with 153.^[2][1] During this time, he also studied for an arts degree at night in addition to his post at Williamstown High School.^[4] Between 1922 and 1926, he accumulated over 3000 runs at an average of 67. He solidified his position in the Victorian Sheffield Shield team in the 1922-23 season, when he averaged 85, including a 117 against New South Wales. He averaged 74 in 1924-25, when his best effort was 97 and 236 in a match against South Australia. In a match against New South Wales in the same season, he compiled 81 and 120 not out as Victoria managed to win after their opponents had accumulated 614 in the first innings. At this stage in his career, he was primarily a middle order batsman, opening only occasionally.^[2][1]

Test debut

Woodfull's batting stance

As a result of consistent performances for Victoria, Woodfull was selected for Herbie Collins’ Australian Test team for the 1926 Ashes tour. He headed the batting averages in the first class matches and was third in the Tests. In his first two innings on tour, he struck a 201 against Essex at Leyton and a 118 at Surrey at The Oval. They were the first of eight centuries during the tour, in which he compiled 1809 runs at 58.35. He made his debut in the first Test at Trent Bridge, but did not bat and failed to make an impression in the second est at Lord's. He established himself as a Test opener in the Third Test at Headingley. After opening partner Warren Bardsley was dismissed without scoring, Woodfull put on a second wicket partnership of 235 with Charles Macartney to register his maiden Test century of 141. He followed this in the Fourth Test at Old Trafford with 117, the highest score of the innings.^[2][1][5] His 206 runs at 51 in the Tests placed him third behind Bardsley and Macartney.^[6]

Upon his return to Australia, he established his partnership with Ponsford, and in the 1926-27 Shield season, they put on a 375 run opening stand which laid the foundation for the world record first class score of 1107 against New South Wales. In 1927-28 Woodfull recorded his career best score of 284, during a brief tour to New Zealand as part of an Australian XI.^[2]

In the 1928-29 home Ashes series, Woodfull defiantly carried his bat to make an unbeaten 30 as Australia were skittled for 66 on a sticky wicket in Brisbane in the first Test. He hit three centuries in the series, with 491 runs at 54.56 despite which Australia lost the Ashes 4-1. He aslso managed 275 not out for Victoria during a tour match against the Englishmen, his highest score for his state. His 1929-30 Australian season was cut short when he suffered a broken hand after being hit by a short ball from Hugh Thurlow.^[2][5][7]

Captaincy

Woodfull's Test career batting performance.

After the heavy defeat in the previous Ashes series, captain and fellow Victorian Jack Ryder was omitted altogether from the 1930 Ashes tour, and Woodfull appointed captain. At first, Woodfull was reluctant to accept the job, feeling that it rightfully belonged to Ryder. When he was informed that Ryder was not even touring, he only agreed after a ballot was organised. After winning, Woodfull led the youngest fifteen man squad to ever tour England, with eleven never having played on English soil. Commentators expected Australia to be easily defeated, being described as "the weakest squad ever to come to these shores."^[7] The tour started with a match against Worcestershire, with Woodfull scoring a century and previously obscure young batsman by the name of Don Bradman making 236* in 275 minutes. After a poor First Test at Trent Bridge, Woodfull set the tone with an opening stand of 162 with fellow Victorian Ponsford in the Second Test at Lord's, before a 231 run stand with Bradman (254) saw Woodfull reach 155. He was unbeaten on 26 in the second innings as Australia completed a seven wicket triumph. He contributed 50 to a stand of 192 with Bradman at Headingley (the match in which Bradman scored 309 in a day), but rain helped England to a draw. The Fourth Test was rained out, but Australia won the last to regain the Ashes. Woodfull had contributed 345 runs at 57.5, second only to Bradman.^[7] In all first class matches he compiled 1435 runs at 57.36 including six centuries as Australia recovered the Ashes. Woodfull and his fellow Victorian Ponsford played a significant part by making three century opening stands – 162 at Lord’s, 159 at The Oval and 106 at Old Trafford to help Australia take the initiative.^[2][5]

This was followed by home series against the West Indies in 1930-31, the first tour of Australia by the Caribbean side. Ponsford unselfishly broke up his opening combination with Ponsford by dropping down to No. 6 to accommodate young batsman Archie Jackson. Woodfull was uncomfortable batting out of position, but when restored after Jackson's illness became too much, struck 83. He ended with a modest 204 runs at 34 as Australia won 4-1.^[7] The following season saw a tour to Australia by the South Africans. Woodfull opened for the entire series, and returned his best ever series figures of 421 at 70.17, second only to Bradman. In Melbourne in 1931-32 against he South Africans, he compiled his Test best of 161.^[2][5][7]

Bodyline

Main article: Bodyline

In 1932-33, the English team led by Douglas Jardine won the Ashes in a very acrimonious series. Their "Bodyline" tactics, which involved bowling at the bodies of the Australian batsmen and employing a close leg-side cordon to catch balls fended away from the upper body, caused great controversy and ill-feeling among Australian players and crowds. During the season, Woodfull’s physical courage and dignified leadership won him many admirers. He refused to employ retaliatory tactics even though his men were repeatedly hit.^[2]

Australia lost heavily by ten wickets in the first Test at Sydney, when the bowling spearhead of Bodyline, Harold Larwood, took ten wickets.^[3] Before the second Test, Woodfull had to wait until minutes before the game before he was confirmed as captain by the selectors.^[8] Although he led Australia to a dramatic victory in the game, his form was a problem - he had managed only 43 runs in the four innings so far.^[5]

The controversy reached its peak during the second day of the third Test. An all-time record Adelaide Oval crowd of 50,962^[9] watched Australia finish off England’s first innings for 341. Then, Woodfull opened Australia’s batting with Jack Fingleton, who was dismissed straight away for a duck. Minutes later Larwood, bowling to a conventional field setting, struck Woodfull an agonising blow under his heart with a short, lifting delivery.^[10] As Woodfull bent down over his bat in pain for several minutes, the huge crowd began jeering and hooting. When play resumed, England’s Gubby Allen bowled an entire over to Don Bradman.^[11] Journalist-cricketer Dick Whitington, who was at the ground, later wrote on what happened next:

As Larwood was about to deliver the first ball of his next over to Woodfull, Jardine held up play to switch to the “bodyline” field setting. This, to the huge Saturday afternoon crowd, was hitting a man when he was down, an unforgivable crime in Australian eyes and certainly no part of cricket. Mass hooting came after almost every ball. [Umpire] Hele believes that had what followed occurred in Melbourne the crowd would have leapt the fence and belaboured the English captain; Larwood, and possibly the entire side.^[12]

During the over, another rising delivery knocked the bat out of Woodfull’s hands. He battled it out for 89 minutes, collecting more bruises before Allen Bowled him for 22.^[13] Later in the day, the English team manager Pelham Warner visited the Australian dressing room to express his sympathies to Woodfull. Woodfull's abrupt response was leaked to the press and it became the most famous quotation of this tumultuous period in cricket history:^[2]

Australian wicketkeeper Bert Oldfield was struck a severe blow to the head while batting on the third day of the match. Woodfull came onto the ground to help him back to the dressing room. During the fifth day's play the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket^[14] sent the following cable to the MCC in London:

Jardine threatened to withdraw his team from the fourth and fifth Tests unless the Australian Board withdrew the accusation of unsporting behaviour. The MCC backed their captain but offered to abandon the tour. The standoff was settled only when Australian Prime Minister Joseph Lyons warned the Australian Board of the severe economic hardships that could result if the British public boycotted Australian trade. Given this understanding, the Board withdrew the allegation of unsportsmanlike behaviour two days before the fourth Test, thus saving the tour.^[16]

Woodfull (left) walks out to open the batting with Vic Ricardson in the final Bodyline Test.

In the second innings at Adelaide, England set Australia an impossible 532 for victory. Australia lost its first wicket at three when Jack Fingleton was bowled by Larwood. Woodfull was joined by Bradman, who played in an unorthodox counterattacking method, before being dismissed for 66. Woodfull continued on to score an unbeaten 73, carrying his bat as his teammates capitulated around him. Australia was eventually all out for 193, with Bert Oldfield unable to bat due to a fractured skull.^[17]

Woodfull made scores of 67, 19, 14 and 67 in the final two Tests, which Australia lost; England reclaimed the Ashes 4-1.^[2] Overall, he had scored 305 runs at a moderate 33.89 average - but significantly, he had defied the English bowling for over twenty hours in total, more than any other Australian. Eventually, rule changes were made to effectively outlaw the tactic by 1934.^[17]

International farewell

In 1934, he lead Australia back to England on a tour which had been under a cloud after the cricket diplomacy of the previous Bodyline series. After agreements were put in place so that Bodyline would not be used. However, in a match against Nottinghamshire, Bill Voce, one of the bodyline bowlers of 1932-33, used it in Australia's first innings. Woodfull told the nottinghamshire administrators that if it were repeated in the second innings, his men would leave the field and return to London. In the second innings, Voce was absent with a "leg strain". Woodfull performed poorly, with 228 runs at 28.5, but it was sufficient for an Australian triumph as Bradman and Ponsford each averaged over 90 and Clarrie Grimmett and Bill O'Reilly each taking over 25 wickets. During his captaincy he was crticised for his relatively defensive strategy, tending to bat opponents out of the match instead of going for victory. Following Bodyline, he heavily relied on O'Reilly and Grimmett, using only three specialist bowlers as he sought to reinforce the batting line up.^[7] This made Woodfull the only captain to twice regain the Ashes. He scored 1268 runs at 52.83 during the tour with three centuries. Upon retiring immediately after he was awarded a joint testimonial with Ponsford on his return to Victoria.^[2]

Retirement

Outside cricket, Woodfull had a successful career as a mathematics teacher and headmaster at his alma mater Melbourne High School.^[2] The rejuvenated Maldon Oval in his home town was renamed the Bill Woodfull Recreation Reserve, and when the Great Southern Stand was constructed at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1992, one of the entrances was named the Bill Woodfull Gate.^[2]

Woodfull married Gwen King, who he met while singing in the choir at his father's church in Albert Park, and they married after Woodfull's return from the England tour in 1926. They had three children.^[7]

In 1963 accepted an OBE for services to education.^[2] In 1965, he collapsed and died while playing golf in Tweed Heads, New South Wales.^[5] Woodfull was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2001.^[5]

Notes

References

• Frith, David (2002). Bodyline Autopsy. ABC Books. ISBN 0-7333-1321-3.
• Perry, Roland (2000). Captain Australia. Random House Australia. ISBN 1-74051-093-3. 

See also

• Cricinfo Player Profile : Bill Woodfull

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