Famous Cricketers No 96 - Clarrie Grimmett

Clarrie Grimmett When the Australian government finally suspended first-class cricket for the duration of the war after Pearl Harbour on December 7th, 1941, it brought to an end the long and highly successful career of the leg-spinner and googly bowler Clarrie Grimmett. The Sheffield Shield had itself ceased at the end of the 1939-40 season but eleven games were staged in 1940-41, in which Grimmett played his final five matches. Making his last appearance on February 24, 1941, although accomplishing little with the bowling, Arthur Morris being his sole victim, he scored sixty-seven, the last of his twelfth half-centuries as well as participating in a stand of 130 for the eighth wicket. At the age of 49 years, 62 days, he was the fifth oldest Australian to have played for Australia. At that specific moment in time, Grimmett could well claim that he was the most successful bowler in the country’s history. His final Test appearance against South Africa in March 1936 had left him with a total of 216 wickets, a phenomenal number for a person who had started so late in life. It was a figure not beaten in Tests until Alec Bedser did so at Headingley in 1953. It was not until Lindwall appeared in the fifth Test at Melbourne in February 1959, that his Australian Test record was finally broken. Even in 2006 Grimmett still remains ninth in the Australian all time bowling list. Throughout his career he created records for every country in which he played. In 1930 he took 29 wickets against England in England, beating the 27 wickets set by McDonald in 1921, a record which lasted until Bedser’s 39 wickets in 1953. His 33 wickets against the West Indies in 1930-31 in Australia were surpassed only in 1963 by Trueman with 34 wickets in England. He holds the Australian record against South Africa with 44 in 1935/36, second only to S.F.Barnes’ 49 wickets for England against South Africa, as well as finishing second in Australia versus South Africa in 1930/31 with 33 wickets to Whitty`s 37. His individual innings and match Test records were equally impressive with five wickets in an innings being taken on 21 occasions, second only to S.F.Barnes’ 24 times whilst his ten wickets in a Test match on seven occasions was equalled again only by Barnes. He began with 11-82 in his first Test at Sydney in 1924/25 and 13-173 against South Africa in his final appearance. Since then the number of players surpassing this figure still remains small, featuring 13 bowlers with five wickets or more in the innings and only three with seven or more with ten wickets in a match. Beginning at Sydney in the Fifth Test of 1924/25, Grimmett appeared in 37 of the next 41 Tests until left out of the side for good at the end of the 1935/36 season. During the period between the wars only Oldfield with 54 appearances and McCabe with 39 had taken more caps than Grimmett for Australia. Inevitably many of Grimmett’s Test records have been overtaken due to the large increase in matches but in first-class games in Australia it is almost certain that the majority of his records will remain unbeaten. Pride of place goes to his contribution in the Sheffield Shield, when playing in his seventy-ninth and final competition fixture against New South Wales in January 1940, he took 11-229 to finish with a total aggregate of 513 wickets at an average of 25.29 apiece. When the Sheffield Shield ended in 1940, the next highest bowler in the competition was Fleetwood-Smith with 246, Ironmonger with 215, E.Jones with 208 and O’Reilly with 203. His record of 48 five wickets in an innings and 13 ten or more wickets in an innings is also a record unlikely to be beaten. In 1939-40 he captured 49 wickets in the Sheffield Shield, achieving it earlier in 1934/35, a figure beaten by only two other Australians at that time, L.O.B.Fleetwood-Smith with 60 and W.J.O’Reilly with 52. His match figures of 16-289 against Queensland still remains in second place after Giffen`s 16-186 for South Australia against New South Wales. Equally importantly, he hardly ever missed a Shield game, failing to appear in only seven matches out of seventy-nine. Four of these clashed with appearances in Test matches, two were lost as a consequence of returning late from England in 1930 and the final game came from a leg injury in 1939. In all games he was to take 50 or more wickets in ten Australian seasons, his best being 82 wickets in 1929/30, the next highest bowler being Dennis Lillee with fifty or more on six occasions. In all games he remains the most celebrated South Australian cricketer with 668 wickets in those matches, altogether claiming 905 in Australia. Remarkably he never bowled a 3