Famous Cricketers No 96 - Clarrie Grimmett

above shoulder height. Soon after the First World War he constructed a full size turf pitch in his Sydney back garden and trained a black and white fox terrier called Joe to retrieve and return all eight balls once they had been delivered. The construction of his back garden plus the ability of his dog to return the ball made him virtually a machine with the ball. Although he lost the dog soon after arriving in Adelaide, by 1926/27 he had once again acquired a new house with a new turf wicket, possessing again the ability to constantly practice. He possessed all the armoury of the traditional spinner, the leg-break as his stock ball, interspersed with the occasional wrong-un, a more lethal top-spinner which was to gain himmany wickets and eventually the flipper, which it was claimed took him twelve years to master. He was never a vast spinner of the ball. It was the immaculate accuracy which proved the key to his extraordinary success. His talent was not that he could bowl any of these but his remarkable control through constant practice, which allowed him to determine the amount of spin, pace, and flight. He was always trying to think one ahead of the batsman, always looking for new improvements and fresh deliveries through constant pressure. Bradman wrote that although both Mailey and Fleetwood-Smith spun the ball more, they also bowled too many loose balls. ‘I always classified Clarrie Grimmett as the best genuine of the slow leg-spinners and what made him the best in my opinion, was his accuracy.’ He could virtually land a ball consistently on the same spot, often bowling the same over in approximately two minutes. From an early age he also developed the ability to keep his hands subtle. He would interlock his fingers, pulling and stretching them as hard as possible, tensing and flexing his muscles before bowling, to make them feel easier to handle. Above all he was constantly working on a plan for a particular batsman. Throughout most winters he would bowl for a couple of hours, preparing to bowl on his own, rather than with a batsman at the crease. His gradual build-up at the practice crease kept him in perfect muscular condition. He never smoked and remained a teetotaller until his final Test in South Africa in 1935/36. Thus by 1930 he was virtually a complete bowler, yet was to continue throughout his career to constantly improve his game and technique.. In 1924/25 he began to take wickets regularly for South Australia, claiming five or more wickets on four occasions in seven games. When England, after losing three consecutive Tests, won the fourth, ending a run of sixteen games, Grimmett, aged 33, was brought in to give additional spinner cover for the over-worked Mailey. It was interesting to note that in an early match against MCC the English captain Arthur Gilligan had considered Grimmett’s bowling very fine. ‘He had been most troublesome at times and had maintained a splendid length throughout, so that none of the batsmen dared treat him with any degree of freedom.’ In the event, Grimmett coming on at 4-89 and initially capturing the wicket of Frank Woolley, their top-scorer, bowled off-stump, went on to take 5-45, following this with 6-37 in his second innings, the first bowler to take ten wickets or more on his Test debut for Australia. Mailey, who was given only five overs in his first innings, was not even called upon to bowl in the second which Australia won by 307 runs. In their next and final match against M.C.C. in the last of the season after claiming 1-40 in the first innings, he went on to take 7-85 in the second, South Australia winning by ten wickets. M.A.Noble in Gilligan’s Men wrote ‘that he had developed into a bowler of class…had they succeeded in punishing him in this match, the Englishmen might have effectively prevented his being selected for the next tour of England; as it is he now looks almost a certainty.’ An earlier comment re-enforced this view, suggesting on English wickets he would do well, especially in a wet season where he would get tons of wickets. Grimmett was chosen to tour England in 1926, but was not brought into the side until the Third Test at Headingley, Mailey having failed to take a wicket in the Second Test at Lord’s. He took 5-88, his third five wicket haul in succession, retaining his place for the remaining two games. Although England went on to easily defeat Australia by 289 runs to end their long run of defeats, Grimmett had a fine record of 5-182 in 88 overs. P.F.Warner was certainly of the opinion that Grimmett had been extremely unlucky, for ‘over and over again I saw him beat the batsman and miss the wicket.’ He finished the Tests, having bowled more overs in three Tests than any bowler in five and topping the bowling averages with thirteen wickets at 31.84. In all first-class matches on the tour he captured 105 wickets at 17.68. He had at last emerged as one of Australia’s main line bowlers. 5