Eric Hollies
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Eric Hollies was an English cricketer who is mainly remembered for taking the wicket of Donald Bradman for a duck in Bradman's final Test match innings.
William Eric Hollies was born on June 5 1912 in Old Hill, Staffordshire, England and died on April 16 1981, Chinley, Derbyshire, England. A leg spin bowler, Hollies made his English county debut for Warwickshire in 1932 and debuted for England in 1934, after showing his skill on the generally very easy Edgbaston wickets.
He took over 100 wickets for Warwickshire every year between 1935 and 1957 with the exceptions of 1936 (dreadful weather that reduced his normally prodiguous output of overs), 1953 (injury) and 1956 (poor form, probably due to him captaining the side). At his peak, he was one of the best bowlers in England and it is believed by many that the MCC erred in not taking him to Australia after he was the leading wicket-taker in the country for a struggling Warwickshire side in 1946. That year, on one of the relatively few hard pitches, he took, without the direct assistance of a fielder, all ten wickets in an innings against Nottinghamshire.
After a poor season in 1947, Hollies returned to form in 1948 and was the one bowler who looked threatening against the Australian batsmen. In addition to his performance in the Oval Test, he too eight for 107 against a remarkably strong batting side for his county. In 1949, he played in all four Tests but the pitches blunted his effectiveness completely (though he was always steady) and from 1951, when English bowling recovered some of its pre-World War II strength, he was never in the running for Test honours despite playing a major role in Warwickshire's County Championship success in 1951. He was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1955 after taking 100 wickets for the tenth time.
After Hollies retired from county cricket, he played for Staffordshire a few times in 1958 and continued to bowl in league cricket until the 1970s.
By the time of his retirement in 1957, he had taken more wickets for Warwickshire than any other player. He was, however, remarkable for his incompetence as a batsman; his total of runs (1673) was 650 fewer than his haul of wickets, and only once (in 1954) did he reach 30 in an innings. In fact, he did not reach 20 in any innings between 1946 and 1953.
External links
- Cricinfo Player Profile : William Eric Hollies (http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/PLAYERS/ENG/H/HOLLIES_WE_01000645/)