Ball hit wicket and Woolley made 115 not out

By A.C. De Silva

OLD STALWART.... Frank Woolley - the former England Test cricketer who died in Canada at the age of 91, was one of the outstanding personalities of English cricket for over 30 years.

He played in the English County Championships with Kent from 1906 to 1938 and made 64 Test appearances. He scored 58,969 runs at an average of 40.75 and hit 145 centuries. His 2,068 wickets were taken at an average of 19.85. He held 1,015 catches mainly at slip, a record which remains as a longstanding record.

Though he is no longer living, he has been involved in several outstanding feats, but one of them will long be remembered. Playing for England against South Africa in the 1922-23 series in Johannesburg, he played the first ball he received onto the stumps and the bails didn't dislodge and what's more - he went on to make a century (115 not out).

Woolley received that ball from South African A.E. Hall and it went into his stumps but with luck on his side, Woolley went onto make 115 not out in that Test match.

Woolley is no stranger to Sri Lanka, but it was so long, long age that he was here - 1911 to be exact as a member of Sir Pelham Warner's powerful MCC side. The one-day match was on October 1 at the CCC grounds and it ended in a win for the visitors by 152 runs. Coming into bat at No. 7, Woolley was bowled by E.R. de Saram for 6 out of a total of 213. But Woolley struck back hard to dismiss Ceylon (as we were then known) for 61. Woolley took the wickets of J.C. Johnson and W. Rosayro for 2 runs off 3 overs.

Woolley was back here after World War I on October 11 in 1920 again with the MCC team led this time by J.W.N.T. Douglas. The visitors dismissed Ceylon for 122 at the CCC grounds with Woolley taking 3 for 28 off 8 overs and among his victims were M.K. Albert (top scorer with 33), Dr. C.H. Gunasekera (29) and Cecil Horan.

However, Woolley failed with the bat and was bowled by W.T. Grewell for 9 and MCC managed to escape with a draw making 108 for 9 wickets at the close.

Visit No. 3 by Woolley was on October 19 in 1929 when he came here with Gilligans MCC team that was bound for New Zealand. The match came up at the old SSC ground - that's Victoria park. Ceylon was captained by Dr. C.H. Gunasekera. Ceylon made 171 for 9 wkts dec. and Woolley got the wicket of Cecil Horan for 36. MCC made 110 for 5 wickets and Woolley opening the innings made 18.

Frank Edward Woolley was beyond doubt one of the finest and most elegant left-handed all-rounders of all time. In a first-class career extending from 1906 to 1938.

The awful lot of runs that he scored (58,969 runs) has been surpassed by Sir Jack Hobbs. Even more impressive that the number of runs Woolley amassed, was the manner in which he made them. Standing well over 6 feet, he was joy to watch.

He played an eminently straight bat, employed his long reach to full advantage, and used his feet in a manner nowadays rarely seem. His timing of the ball approached perfection and he generally had pleasing strokes.

When Frank Woolley announced his retirement in 1938, he spoke of his happy cricket life. In his first season with Kent, the county won the County Championship for the first time and altogether between 1906 and 1913 the county came on top four times. "Those were great days when plenty of amateurs could spare the time for cricket," said Woolley no sooner he retired.

Some of Frank Woolley's achievements: Performed the hat-trick once against Surrey at Blackheath in 1919, twice he completed 100 runs before lunch - against Surrey at Blackhalt in 1930 and against Derbyshire at Canterbury in 1933.

In his 98 Test innings, he scored 13 'ducks' but never a "pair". His 154 not out against South Africa at Old Trafford in 1929 was scored in 165 minutes during which time he and R.E.S. Wyatt put on 245 runs for the third wicket. Playing for England vs Australia at the Oval in 1912, he had a match analysis of 104 balls, 4 maidens, 49 runs and 10 wickets.