Famous Cricketers No 57 - W. M. Woodfull

1925/26 This was another season with no touring teams in Australia. After Woodfull’s previous season, he was well in the running for a place in the team to England. This was confirmed by his selection in the ‘Australian XI v The Rest’ game which was used as a Test trial. He did not perform well and did not reach 60 in any of his first seven innings. Woodfull missed the game against the touring New Zealand team, the match in which Hendry scored 325*. Victoria selected virtually a Second XI for this game. Woodfull returned to form with an outstanding performance against South Australia. A first innings 97 was followed by a Shield-best 236. He batted on three separate days during his second innings. His match aggregate of 333 was a career-best and was scored in under ten hours. A century against New South Wales and another against Tasmania quickly followed. His aggregate of 890 runs for the season was to remain his Australian best. Ponsford and Woodfull scored 264 between them in the second innings against New South Wales, the other nine batsman scored only 52 in total. Woodfull’s 148 against Tasmania came in only 100 minutes. This was to remain his fastest first-class century. Tasmania was the last State against which Woodfull made his debut. His record in his first game against each State shows: South Australia (22*), Western Australia (153), New South Wales (47 & 84*), Tasmania (148) and Queensland (46*). An impressive 500 runs at 166.33. Victoria only won one Shield match, being crushed by an innings in both games against New South Wales, the eventual Shield winners. New South Wales passed 700 in both their innings against Victoria. The Australian XI vs The Rest game was the first time that Woodfull and Ponsford had opened the batting together. Woodfull was appointed captain of the Carlton District Cricket Club. Because of first-class commitments, he only batted five times for them. Woodfull finished fourth in the VCA’s batting averages, scoring 316 runs at 63.20. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 25. Victoria v Western Australia, Fitzroy, November 6, 7, 9 (Victoria won by an innings and 282 runs) c and b M.Inverarity 28 536 151 103 26. Victoria v South Australia, Adelaide, November 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 (South Australia won by 123 runs) c and b C.V.Grimmett 13 275 170 1 b J.D.Scott 44 182 410 27. Australian XI v The Rest, Sydney, December 4, 5, 7, 8 (The Rest won by 156 runs) run out (J.W.Rymill/A.J.Richardson) 11 226 380 1 st H.S.B.Love b C.V.Grimmett 42 296 298-9d 28. Victoria v New South Wales, Melbourne, December 26, 28, 29, 30, 31 (New South Wales won by an innings and 162 runs) c J.M.Gregory b C.G.McCartney 53 413 705 lbw C.G.McCartney 13 130 29. Victoria v South Australia, Melbourne, January 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, (8), 9 (Victoria won by 287 runs) c D.E.Pritchard b J.T.Murray 97 232 462 c V.Y.Richardson b W.J.Whitty 236 604 87 30. Victoria v New South Wales, Sydney, January 23, 25, 26, 27 (New South Wales won by an innings and 96 runs) b S.C.Everett 15 290 708 1 b S.C.Everett 126 322 31. Australian XI v Tasmania, Launceston, February 27, March 1, 2 (Australian XI won by an innings and 175 runs) c A.C.Newton b G.H.Allan 148 475 104 196 32. Australian XI v Tasmania, Hobart, March 4, 5, 6 (Australian XI won by an innings and 184 runs) c R.L.Bennett b A.E.Watson 64 494 187 123 13