Famous Cricketers No 98 - Tom Goddard

1935 Goddard reached the 200 wickets mark for the first time in 1935 but he had to bowl a lot of overs to do it, 1553 in all, more than any one else in the country. Only Freeman and Verity took more wickets in the season. He was often over-bowled and this no doubt affected his average which was 20.36 overall. For Gloucestershire, in the Championship alone, he bowled 1453.4 overs, nearly 600 more overs than any other player, but as the County’s main wicket taker he took 189 Championship wickets at 20.10. Eighteen times did he take five wickets in an innings, six times he took ten wickets in a match. He often got badly punished because of the number of overs he had to bowl an example being the match against Warwickshire at Gloucester when, although he took five wickets he conceded 170 runs in 31.5 overs. This was the start of a magnificent run by Goddard which saw him take 915 wickets in five English seasons up to the Second World War, reaching 200 wickets on three occasions. As a batsman he scored 407 runs in 44 innings and he held sixteen catches. Own Team O M R W Opp Ct Total Total 272. Gloucestershire v Warwickshire, Edgbaston, May 4, 6, 7 (Match drawn) c L.T.A.Bates b W.E.Hollies 24 360 40 10 87 3 N.Kilner c V.Hopkins 228 H.E.Dollery b J.H.Mayer lbw did not bat - 165-4 41 9 132 4 N.Kilner c W.L.Neale 388-7d F.R.Santall c E.J.Stephens R.E.S.Wyatt b L.T.A.Bates b 273. Gloucestershire v Oxford University, The Parks, May 8, 9, 10 (Match drawn) c J.W.Seamer b T.G.L.Ballance 27 460 35.1 11 110 4 J.G.Halliday b 386 1 T.G.L.Ballance b N.S.Mitchell-Innes c W.L.Neale A.P.Singleton c W.L.Neale did not bat - 240-7d 15 4 28 2 N.S.Mitchell-Innes c C.J.Barnett 126-5 1 D.F.Walker c and b 274. Gloucestershire v Nottinghamshire, Trent Bridge, May 11, 13, 14 (Match drawn) c C.B.Harris b W.Voce 4 288 36.1 8 97 2 C.B.Harris c W.L.Neale 250 A.Staples c V.Hopkins did not bat - 13-0 37.3 10 109 5 S.D.Rhodes c C.C.R.Dacre 270 J.Hardstaff b A.Staples c W.L.Neale G.F.H.Heane lbw H.J.Butler c C.J.Barnett 275. Gloucestershire v Yorkshire, Gloucester, May 18, 20, 21 (Yorkshire won by eight wickets) b C.Turner 0 128 16.4 6 45 3 C.Turner lbw 166 1 T.F.Smailes b E.P.Robinson c W.R.Hammond c T.F.Smailes b H.Verity 2 116 10 1 38 1 H.Sutcliffe c E.J.Stephens 79-2 276. Gloucestershire v Lancashire, Gloucester, May 22, 23, 24 (Lancashire won by eight wickets) c G.Duckworth b F.S.Booth 1 163 32 8 79 1 F.S.Booth lbw 341 c G.E.Tydesley b F.B.Watson 25 260 9 1 34 1 C.Washbrook c C.J.Barnett 84-2 277. Gloucestershire v Surrey, Bristol, May 25, 27, 28 (Match drawn) b R.J.Gregory 0 308 30.2 7 87 2 E.W.Whitfield lbw 338 A.R.Gover c B.H.Lyon did not bat - 190-8 23 4 69 4 E.R.T.Holmes c and b 243-8d 2 H.S.Squires c W.R.Hammond H.T.Barling c V.Hopkins L.B.Fishlock b 278. Gloucestershire v Surrey, Kennington Oval, May 29, 30, 31 (Match drawn) b R.J.Gregory 28 265 36 9 76 0 344 did not bat - 192-7 21 2 92 2 R.J.Gregory c E.J.Stephens 252-4d L.B.Fishlock c C.J.Barnett 38