Famous Cricketers No 96 - Clarrie Grimmett

SEASON’S AVERAGES Batting and Fielding M I NO Runs HS Ave 50 Ct Sheffield Shield 6 9 2 105 35 15.00 - 4 Other match 1 1 1 10 10* - - 1 Season 7 10 3 115 35 16.42 - 5 Career 197 259 44 3980 71* 18.51 11 113 Bowling O M R W BB Ave 5i 10m Sheffield Shield 276.6 35 1043 49 9-180 21.28 5 3 Other match 41 3 172 9 5-64 19.11 1 - Season (8b) 317.6 38 1215 58 9-180 20.94 6 3 Career (8b) 3916.6 476 } 25202 1118 10-37 22.54 103 24 (6b) 4426.5 1216 1935/36 – Australia in South Africa The Australian selectors chose fourteen players to tour South Africa in 1935/36, thus depriving the Sheffield Shield of a number of key players. The Australians, despite the absence of Bradman, won thirteen of the sixteen games played, ten by an innings, this including four victories in the Test matches. On only one occasion did they find themselves behind on first innings and only one side achieved over 300 runs. The bowling in both Test and provincial matches was dominated by the spin attack of Grimmett and O’Reilly, especially as the third spin-bowler, Fleetwood-Smith was unable to take any further part after the eighth game due to an injured hand. Between them they took 187 wickets on the tour, Grimmett having an almost identical record of 92 at 14.80, claiming five or more wickets in an innings on nine occasions, four times claiming ten or more wickets in a match. Three of these were achieved in the Test series, when after a steady first two Tests, he took 5-32 and 5-56 in the Third, 3-70 and 7-40 in the Fourth and finished the Fifth at Durban with 7-100 and 6-73. His match figures of 13-173 in the latter Test were the best by an Australian bowler in South Africa, as was his 44 in the series with only S.F.Barnes having achieved more with 49 in 1913/14. He was also the first Australian bowler to take five wickets in an innings on five occasions in a Test series, bringing his total of taking five wickets in an innings in Tests to twenty-one, another Australian record. He finished with 44 wickets in the five match series at 14.59 apiece, only 54 coming from his other colleagues. In the Third Test he at last claimed the world record with his 190th Test wicket, when he bowled Mitchell in the second innings, thus beating S.F.Barnes’ 189th in 1914. One Test later he claimed his 200th victim when dismissing F.Nicholson in the second innings and he ended the series and his Test career with 216 at 24.21 in 37 games. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 198. Australians v Natal, Durban, November 23, 25, 26 (Australians won by an innings and 26 runs) did not bat - 522-5d 30 6 83 7 H.F.Wade st W.A.S.Oldfield 242 1 I.J.Siedle c and b R.L.Harvey lbw E.L.Dalton c W.J.O’Reilly C.E.Tutton b A.P.Murray c A.G.Chipperfield I.D.E.Anderson lbw 20 4 52 2 R.L.Harvey b 254 I.D.E.Anderson b 199. Australians v Western Province, Cape Town, November 30, December 2 (Australians won by an innings and 44 runs) c L.C.G.Whiteing b J.B.Robertson 9 318 29 15 47 2 G.L.Napier c E.L.McCormick 170 J.B.Robertson c M.W.Sievers 16.4 4 36 3 H.B.Jordaan st B.A.Barnett 104 T.R.de Klerk b R.J.Crisp b 45