Bill Woodfull
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William "Bill" Woodfull (22 August 1897, Maldon, Victoria, Australia - 11 August 1965, Tweed Heads South, New South Wales) was an Australian cricket player. He played for Victoria and the Australian cricket team, and captained both.
A solid opening batsman, Woodfull made his first-class cricket debut for Victoria in the 1921-22 season. He later toured England in 1926, making his Test cricket debut in the first Test. He formed a strong opening pair with Bill Ponsford in an era when Australia fielded a formidable team, and earned the nickname The Rock for his immaculate defensive technique and supremely patient personality.
For the next tour of England in 1930, Woodfull was appointed captain, and led Australia until his retirement 25 Tests later in 1934.
He led Australia during the notorious Bodyline series in 1932-33, when the touring English cricket team, led by Douglas Jardine, used the tactic of bowling at the bodies of the Australian batsmen. Despite numerous injuries to himself and his players, he remained publicly calm and patient throughout this tumultuous series, only expressing his true disgust in private. One remark, to English team manager Pelham Warner as he visited the Australian dressing room to express sympathies for a nasty wound to Woodfull caused by the Bodyline bowling, was leaked to the press and became one of the most famous quotations to emerge from this momentous period of cricket history:
- I don't want to see you, Mr Warner. There are two teams out there. One is trying to play cricket and the other is not.
After the Bodyline series, Woodfull led Australia to England in the reconciliatory tour of 1934, after which he retired from first-class cricket.
He was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1927, and inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2001.
Outside cricket, Woodfull made a successful career as a teacher and served as headmaster of Melbourne High School. He always considered his contributions to education more important than anything he ever did on the cricket field. In 1934 he turned down the offer of a knighthood for services to cricket, but in 1963 accepted an OBE for services to education.
Woodfull played 35 Tests for Australia, scoring 2,300 runs at an average of 46.00. In his first-class career, he played 174 matches, scoring 13,388 runs at an average of 64.99.
| Preceded by: Jack Ryder | Australian Test cricket captains 1930-1934 | Succeeded by: Vic Richardson See alsoCricinfo Player Profile : Bill Woodfull (http://www.cricinfo.com/db/PLAYERS/AUS/W/WOODFULL_WM_02000452/) |