Bill Bradley (cricketer)

Bill Bradley
Personal information
Full name Walter Morris Bradley
Born (1875-01-02)2 January 1875
Lower Sydenham, Kent, England
Died 19 June 1944(1944-06-19) (aged 69)
Wandsworth Common, England
Batting Right-handed
Bowling Right arm fast
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 127) 17 July 1899 v Australia
Last Test 16 August 1899 v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1895–1903 Kent
1903 London County
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 2 144
Runs scored 23 956
Batting average 23.00 6.01
100s/50s 0/0 0/1
Top score 23* 67*
Balls bowled 625 28,440
Wickets 6 633
Bowling average 38.83 22.65
5 wickets in innings 1 44
10 wickets in match 0 10
Best bowling 5/67 9/87
Catches/stumpings 0/– 79/–
Source: CricInfo, 10 September 2009

Walter "Bill" Morris Bradley (2 January 1875 – 19 June 1944) was an English amateur cricketer who played in two Test matches in 1899. He played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1895 and 1903.[1]

Bradley was born in Sydenham in what was then part of Kent in 1875. He died at Wandsworth Common in 1944 aged 69.

Bradley attended Alleyn's School in Dulwich where he was in the school cricket XI.[2] He worked for Lloyds of London and played cricket for the firm where he was spotted and asked to play for Kent. He impressed for the county side and, according to his Wisden obituary, "became a protégé of Lord Harris" before playing regularly for Kent between 1895 and 1903.[2]

He made his first-class cricket debut for Kent against Somerset at Rectory Field in July 1895 and was capped by the county during the same season. he appeared most regularly between 1899 and 1902, making at least 23 first-class appearances in each season.[1] He took 536 wickets for Kent during his career, taking 10 wickets in a match 10 times and taking three hat-tricks for the county.[3] His final appearances for Kent were on the county's North American tour in September and October 1903 against the Gentlemen of Philadelphia.

A well built, attacking right arm fast bowler, Bradley bowled off a long run with a high action. He pitched the ball up and bowled long spells, attributes which earned him two Test caps in 1899. He excelled in his first, taking 5 for 67 against Joe Darling's Australians at Old Trafford[4] but met with less success in his second, at the Oval. The most successful amateur bowler of that season, taking 156 wickets at 19.1 including two hat tricks, he took 624 wickets in 9 seasons at 22.64. An old fashioned tail ender, he scored only 906 first-class runs at just 6.09 with 67 coming in one innings against Yorkshire at Canterbury in 1897, an unbeaten innings amassed in just 45 minutes.

Bradley is one of only twenty cricketers to have taken a wicket with his first ball in a Test match, dismissing Australian Frank Laver.[5][6]

As well as his 123 appearances for Kent, Bradley played in first-class matches for a variety of other teams. He appeared in six Gentlemen v Players matches and made his final first-class appearance in 1904 for GJV Weigall's XI against Cambridge University at Fenner's.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bill Bradley, CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 Walter Bradley, Obituary, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1945. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  3. ↑ Milton H (2016) 'Bowling Records' in Reid J (ed) 2016 Kent County Cricket Club Annual, pp.216–224, Canterbury: Kent County Cricket Club
  4. ↑ Fourth Test, England v Australia, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1900. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  5. ↑ Lynch S (2011) Well begun is half-done, CricInfo, 5 September 2011. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
  6. ↑ Williamson M, Miller A (2006) Curse of the first ball, CricInfo, 6 June 2006. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.