Famous Cricketers No 57 - W. M. Woodfull

and his defence was again impregnable.” He did not play against Tasmania in the match in which Victoria scored a world record 1059 with Ponsford compiling a world record 429. The winning margin of an innings and 666 runs was also a world record. Throughout his career, Woodfull never played for his State against Tasmania, only doing so for Australian XI teams. As most State batsmen feasted on the Tasmanian attack, Woodfull would have probably significantly boosted his career record if he had played in all the matches for which he was eligible. Woodfull played almost a lone hand in his first game against New South Wales, easily topping the score in each innings and being the only player to reach 40. This was the first match in which he opened the batting for his State. His first Shield century (115) came against South Australia and he followed this with 123 and 94* in his next two innings against them. This later performance came in George Giffen’s benefit match. The first pairing of Woodfull and Ponsford occurred in this game. They added 133 for the fourth wicket, both scoring centuries. Woodfull’s 217 runs in the match came in just over five and a half hours. Woodfull failed in the second M.C.C. game but his team mates did not, four struck centuries as Victoria ran up 617/6. Woodfull finished second in the VCA’s District batting averages, scoring 636 runs at 63.60. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 3. Victoria v M.C.C., Melbourne, November 17, 18, 20 (Victoria won by two wickets) run out (A.P.F.Chapman/J.F.McLean) 74 278 210 not out 4 164-8 231 4. Victoria v New South Wales, Melbourne, December 23, 26, 27 (Victoria won by seven wickets) c H.S.T.L.Hendry b A.A.Mailey 47 125 160 not out 84 178-3 142 5. Victoria v South Australia, Melbourne, December (30), January 1, 2, 3, 4 (Victoria won by 268 runs) c R.J.B.Townsend b F.L.Morton 0 328 257 1 c V.Y.Richardson b N.L.Williams 115 287 90 6. Victoria v New South Wales, Melbourne, January 26, 27, 29, 30 (New South Wales won by an innings and 28 runs) c W.A.S.Oldfield b J.D.Scott 27 353 560 c and b A.A.Mailey 24 179 7. Victoria v South Australia, Adelaide, February 16, 17, 19, 20 (Victoria won by seven wickets) c V.Y.Richardson b W.J.Whitty 123 386 275 not out 94 193-3 303 8. Victoria v M.C.C., Melbourne, March 9, 10, 12 (Match drawn) c A.P.F.Chapman b C.H.Gibson 6 617-6d 71 2 282-0 SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct Sheffield Shield 4 8 2 514 123 85.66 2 2 1 Other matches 2 3 1 84 74 42.00 - 1 2 Season 6 11 3 598 123 74.75 2 3 3 Career 8 13 4 773 153 85.88 3 3 6 1923/24 With no touring team, Woodfull was restricted to eight first-class innings for the season. He did not score as prolifically as the previous year, but Victoria won the Sheffield Shield in convincing fashion anyway. His debut against Queensland was delayed by Ponsford and Mayne sharing an Australian record opening partnership of 456. Woodfull was not originally selected for this game but was called up when a player was injured. Woodfull’s cautious 117 against New South Wales may well have determined the destination of the Sheffield Shield as Victoria won by only 43 runs. A slow innings he 10