Bill Whitty
Encyclopedia
William James "Bill" Whitty (15 August 1886 in Sydney
– 30 January 1974 in Tantanoola, South Australia
) was an Australian Test cricketer who played 14 Tests
from 1909 to 1912.
, Whitty had only played junior cricket before he was noticed by Test batsman Victor Trumper
, who recommended him for coaching and gave him the opportunity to bowl to the New South Wales state team
. In 1907, at the age of 21, Whitty made his first-class
debut for New South Wales against Queensland
at the Sydney Cricket Ground
, taking 3 wicket
s. This was the only first-class match Whitty played for his home state, as he was recruited to Adelaide
by Clem Hill
to play for South Australia
in 1908. Whitty played 5 first-class games in the 1908–09 Australian season, including one match for a "Rest of Australia" team against the Australian XI, where he took 3 wickets. Over the entire season, Whitty took 11 wickets with a strike rate of 96.3, which was enough to earn him selection into the Australian team
to tour England
in 1909.
. Despite his struggle to hold on to his Test position, Whitty took 77 wickets on the tour, at the impressive average
of 20.42. On his return home to Australia, he continued to play for South Australia in 1909–10, helping them to win the Sheffield Shield for the second time in their history. In the final match of the season against New South Wales, Whitty took 5/43 as his former team was dismissed for just 92 in their first innings.
Whitty's six-foot tall frame allowed him to swing
the new ball considerably, and he also bowled reasonably quick left-arm orthodox
deliveries with the older ball. He was seen as the ideal partner for fast bowler
Tibby Cotter
, and the pair opened the bowling at home against South Africa
in 1910–11. This series has been described as Whitty's "greatest Test success", as he played all 5 Tests to take 37 wickets at the outstanding average of 17.08. Whitty took 8 wickets in the first Test, followed by 3 in the first innings of the second Test in Melbourne
. In the second innings, with South Africa requiring 170 runs for victory, Whitty produced one of the "most sensational" bowling spells by an Australian in the period, taking 6/17 in 16 overs
as South Africa were bowled out for 80. Whitty's good form continued throughout the series, including a further 8 wickets in the third Test, and 5/79 for South Australia against the tourists. In the fourth Test, Whitty produced his best Test performance with the bat, making 39 not out
in an 82-run partnership
with Vernon Ransford
, which remained a record for the 10th wicket in Tests between the two nations until it was broken by Mike Hussey and Glenn McGrath
in 2005–06.
Whitty was again selected in the Australian team for the first two Tests against England during their 1911–12 tour of Australia, but managed just 3 wickets at 61.67, and was left out of the team for the remainder of the five-Test series. Despite this performance, and partly due to a "boardroom brawl" which saw Australia leave behind many of its best players, Whitty was selected to tour England for the 1912 Triangular Test series
, which also featured South Africa. The squad has often been described as "one of the worst teams Australia ever sent overseas", 10 of the 15 players having never travelled to England before. Whitty took 25 wickets in the 6 Test matches, including 7 wickets against England at The Oval
, and 5/55 against South Africa at Old Trafford
. He finished the tour with 109 wickets at 18.08, second only in averages to Charles Macartney
.
South Australia took their 3rd Sheffield Shield in 1912–13, with Whitty taking figures of 5/65 in Melbourne and 5/92 (and a run out
) in Sydney. He was selected in the Australian team scheduled to tour South Africa in 1914–15, but the tour was cancelled due to World War I
, effectively ending Whitty's Test career.
During his Test career, Whitty also toured New Zealand
, the United States
, Canada
and Bermuda
. In the United States, at the end of the 1912 England tour, Australia incredibly lost to a Philadelphian team, with Whitty being one of only two players to score over 20 in Australia's first innings, before being bowled
on the fourth delivery
of the final over, with Australia needing 3 runs
for victory.
At lower levels, Whitty played for East Torrens in Adelaide from 1908–15, consistently taking over 50 wickets a season, and leading district bowling averages for four consecutive years from 1911. He played for Glenelg
from 1920–27, and continued playing in the Mount Gambier
region until 1937. He was also an enthusiastic golf
er, and at one stage played off scratch
. Whitty lived on his property at Tantanoola
from 1938, where he died aged 87, the longest surviving of Australia's pre-WWI Test cricketers.
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
– 30 January 1974 in Tantanoola, South Australia
Tantanoola, South Australia
Tantanoola is a town in South Australia. The name is derived from the aboriginal word tentunola, which means boxwood / brushwood hill or camp. Tantanoola was originally named 'Lucieton' by Governor Jervois after his daughter Lucy Caroline, on 10 July 1879. It was changed by Governor Robinson to...
) was an Australian Test cricketer who played 14 Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
from 1909 to 1912.
Early career
Born in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Whitty had only played junior cricket before he was noticed by Test batsman Victor Trumper
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
, who recommended him for coaching and gave him the opportunity to bowl to the New South Wales state team
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
. In 1907, at the age of 21, Whitty made his first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
debut for New South Wales against Queensland
Queensland Bulls
The Queensland cricket team, nicknamed the Bulls, are the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket team in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments:*Sheffield Shield, 4-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926/27 season...
at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, taking 3 wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...
s. This was the only first-class match Whitty played for his home state, as he was recruited to Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
by Clem Hill
Clem Hill
Clement "Clem" Hill was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five...
to play for South Australia
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
in 1908. Whitty played 5 first-class games in the 1908–09 Australian season, including one match for a "Rest of Australia" team against the Australian XI, where he took 3 wickets. Over the entire season, Whitty took 11 wickets with a strike rate of 96.3, which was enough to earn him selection into the Australian team
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
to tour England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1909.
Test career
Whitty played in the first Test of the series, recording figures of 0/43 and 0/18 as England posted a dominant 10 wicket victory. Whitty was replaced for the second Test, which Australia won, along with the third, in retaining the AshesThe Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
. Despite his struggle to hold on to his Test position, Whitty took 77 wickets on the tour, at the impressive average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 20.42. On his return home to Australia, he continued to play for South Australia in 1909–10, helping them to win the Sheffield Shield for the second time in their history. In the final match of the season against New South Wales, Whitty took 5/43 as his former team was dismissed for just 92 in their first innings.
Whitty's six-foot tall frame allowed him to swing
Swing bowling
Swing bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as swing bowlers. Swing bowling is generally classed as a subtype of fast bowling.-Physics of swing bowling:...
the new ball considerably, and he also bowled reasonably quick left-arm orthodox
Left-arm orthodox spin
Left-arm orthodox spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket.Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left arm bowler using the fingers to spin the ball from right to left of the cricket pitch...
deliveries with the older ball. He was seen as the ideal partner for fast bowler
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
Tibby Cotter
Tibby Cotter
Albert "Tibby" Cotter was an Australian cricketer who played in 21 Tests between 1904 and 1912....
, and the pair opened the bowling at home against South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
in 1910–11. This series has been described as Whitty's "greatest Test success", as he played all 5 Tests to take 37 wickets at the outstanding average of 17.08. Whitty took 8 wickets in the first Test, followed by 3 in the first innings of the second Test in Melbourne
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
. In the second innings, with South Africa requiring 170 runs for victory, Whitty produced one of the "most sensational" bowling spells by an Australian in the period, taking 6/17 in 16 overs
Over (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
as South Africa were bowled out for 80. Whitty's good form continued throughout the series, including a further 8 wickets in the third Test, and 5/79 for South Australia against the tourists. In the fourth Test, Whitty produced his best Test performance with the bat, making 39 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
in an 82-run partnership
Partnership (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...
with Vernon Ransford
Vernon Ransford
Vernon Seymour Ransford was an Australian cricketer who played in 20 Tests between 1907 and 1912. His best series was the 1909 tour of England when he topped the Australian batting averages, helped by a career best score of 143 not out. The following year he was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year...
, which remained a record for the 10th wicket in Tests between the two nations until it was broken by Mike Hussey and Glenn McGrath
Glenn McGrath
Glenn Donald McGrath AM , nicknamed "Pigeon", is a former Australian cricket player. He is one of the most highly regarded fast-medium pace bowlers in cricketing history, and a leading contributor to Australia's domination of world cricket from the mid-1990s to the early 21st century...
in 2005–06.
Whitty was again selected in the Australian team for the first two Tests against England during their 1911–12 tour of Australia, but managed just 3 wickets at 61.67, and was left out of the team for the remainder of the five-Test series. Despite this performance, and partly due to a "boardroom brawl" which saw Australia leave behind many of its best players, Whitty was selected to tour England for the 1912 Triangular Test series
1912 Triangular Tournament
The 1912 Triangular Tournament was a Test cricket competition played between Australia, England and South Africa, the only Test-playing nations at the time....
, which also featured South Africa. The squad has often been described as "one of the worst teams Australia ever sent overseas", 10 of the 15 players having never travelled to England before. Whitty took 25 wickets in the 6 Test matches, including 7 wickets against England at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
, and 5/55 against South Africa at Old Trafford
Old Trafford (cricket)
Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...
. He finished the tour with 109 wickets at 18.08, second only in averages to Charles Macartney
Charles Macartney
Charles George "Charlie" Macartney was an Australian cricketer who played in 35 Tests between 1907 and 1926...
.
South Australia took their 3rd Sheffield Shield in 1912–13, with Whitty taking figures of 5/65 in Melbourne and 5/92 (and a run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
) in Sydney. He was selected in the Australian team scheduled to tour South Africa in 1914–15, but the tour was cancelled due to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, effectively ending Whitty's Test career.
During his Test career, Whitty also toured New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. In the United States, at the end of the 1912 England tour, Australia incredibly lost to a Philadelphian team, with Whitty being one of only two players to score over 20 in Australia's first innings, before being bowled
Bowled
Bowled is a method of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is covered by Law 30 of the Laws of cricket.A batsman is out bowled if his wicket is put down by a ball delivered by the bowler...
on the fourth delivery
Delivery (cricket)
A delivery or ball in cricket is a single action of bowling a cricket ball towards the batsman.During play of the game, a member of the fielding team is designated as the bowler, and bowls deliveries towards the batsman...
of the final over, with Australia needing 3 runs
Run (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a run is the basic unit of scoring. Runs are scored by a batsman, and the aggregate of the scores of a team's batsmen constitutes the team's score. A batsman scoring 50 or 100 runs , or any higher multiple of 50 runs, is considered a particular achievement...
for victory.
After World War I
Whitty continued to play domestically after the War ended, and was still good enough to regularly take 5-wicket hauls in first-class cricket up to the age of 38. Whitty played his final first-class game as New South Wales wrapped up the 1925–26 Sheffield Shield. A feature of Whitty's first-class career was his remarkable success bowling to his hero Trumper, with Whitty dismissing him seven times in ten innings - Trumper remaining not out in the other three.At lower levels, Whitty played for East Torrens in Adelaide from 1908–15, consistently taking over 50 wickets a season, and leading district bowling averages for four consecutive years from 1911. He played for Glenelg
Glenelg, South Australia
Glenelg is a popular beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a popular tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of restaurants.Established in 1836, it is...
from 1920–27, and continued playing in the Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
region until 1937. He was also an enthusiastic golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er, and at one stage played off scratch
Golf handicap
A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's playing ability based on the tees played for a given course. It is used to calculate a net score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms...
. Whitty lived on his property at Tantanoola
Tantanoola, South Australia
Tantanoola is a town in South Australia. The name is derived from the aboriginal word tentunola, which means boxwood / brushwood hill or camp. Tantanoola was originally named 'Lucieton' by Governor Jervois after his daughter Lucy Caroline, on 10 July 1879. It was changed by Governor Robinson to...
from 1938, where he died aged 87, the longest surviving of Australia's pre-WWI Test cricketers.