64 Facts About Bill Ponsford

William Harold Ponsford MBE was an Australian cricketer.

Bill Ponsford represented his state and country in baseball, and credited the sport with improving his cricketing skills.

Bill Ponsford spent over three decades working for the Melbourne Cricket Club, where he had some responsibility for the operations of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the scene of many of his great performances with the bat.

At the completion of the stadium redevelopment in 2005, a statue of Bill Ponsford was installed outside the pavilion gates.

In recognition of his contributions as a player, Bill Ponsford was one of the ten initial inductees into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

The son of William and Elizabeth Ponsford, Bill Ponsford was born in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy North on 19 October 1900.

Bill Ponsford's father was a postman whose family had emigrated from Devon, England, to Bendigo, Victoria, to work in the mines during the 1850s gold rush.

Bill Ponsford's mother was born in the goldfields, at Guildford, before moving to Melbourne with her father, a Crown Lands bailiff.

Bill Ponsford grew up on Newry St in Fitzroy North, and attended the nearby Alfred Crescent School, which stood beside the Edinburgh Gardens.

Bill Ponsford had the best batting and bowling averages for his school team in 1913,1914 and 1915 and eventually rose to the captaincy.

The medallion was awarded along with an honorary membership of the club, and Bill Ponsford trained enthusiastically, running from school to the nearby Brunswick Street Oval in the Edinburgh Gardens to practise in the nets.

In December 1914, Bill Ponsford completed his schooling and earned a qualifying certificate, which allowed him to continue his education at a high school should he wish.

Bill Ponsford instead chose to attend a private training college, Hassett's, to study for the Bank Clerk's exam.

Bill Ponsford passed the exam and commenced employment with the State Savings Bank at the Elizabeth Street head office in early 1916.

In May 1916, the Bill Ponsford family moved to Orrong Rd in Elsternwick, a wealthier part of Melbourne.

The young Bill Ponsford's shot-making lacked power, and after making twelve singles, he was bowled.

Bill Ponsford played ten matches in his first season with the St Kilda First XI and averaged 9.30 runs per innings.

Bill Ponsford topped the bowling averages, taking 10 wickets at an average of 16.50 runs per wicket with his leg spin.

Bill Ponsford's selection was controversial; the leading personality in Victorian cricket and national captain, "The Big Ship" Warwick Armstrong, had been dropped.

Batting down the order, Bill Ponsford made six in the first innings and 19 in the second innings.

Later that month, Bill Ponsford made his maiden first-class century, scoring 162 against Tasmania at the NTCA Ground in Launceston, despite batting low in the order, at number eight.

Batting at number three, Bill Ponsford joined his captain Herbie Collins at the wicket after the dismissal of opening batsman Warren Bardsley.

Bill Ponsford was one of the younger players in the squad; 9 of the 15 players were over the age of 36.

Bill Ponsford had scored 1,013 runs in the space of four innings.

Bill Ponsford toured New Zealand with an Australian squad in 1928.

Bill Ponsford's form was good in the lead up to the Tests; he scored 60 not out for Victoria against the tourists, and added 275* against South Australia.

Bill Ponsford travelled to England for a second time, with the 1930 Australian team.

Bill Ponsford was paired with a new partner, Archie Jackson; Woodfull chose to bat down the order to allow the young New South Welshman to open the batting.

Bill Ponsford finished just short of his century, unbeaten on 92.

Bill Ponsford was reunited with Woodfull as his opening partner for the remaining Tests after Jackson, ill and struggling for form, was omitted.

Bill Ponsford returned for the third Test in Adelaide, batting down the order.

When Bill Ponsford returned to the dressing room after his dismissal, his teammates were amazed by the mass of bruises that covered his back and shoulders.

Bill Ponsford's performance saw him named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1935.

Bill Ponsford seemed in 1934 to hit the ball much harder than when he was here in 1926 and 1930, while his placing improved out of all knowledge.

Together, the two Bills made another century partnership, before Ponsford was dismissed for 83; Woodfull went on to make a century.

Bill Ponsford's announcement remarked upon the changing atmosphere in high level cricket and touched on the effects of Bodyline.

Bill Ponsford continued playing for the Melbourne Cricket Club until 1939, but never represented his state or country again.

Bill Ponsford began his working life at the State Savings Bank.

Bill Ponsford received a lucrative offer to play for Blackpool Cricket Club, which he was inclined to accept.

In 1932, at the end of his five-year contract with the newspaper, Bill Ponsford successfully applied for a position on the staff of the Melbourne Cricket Club.

Bill Ponsford was appointed to an unspecified office job working for the club secretary Hugh Trumble, which required him to transfer his cricket and baseball allegiances from St Kilda to Melbourne.

In 1956, following the retirement of Vernon Ransford, Bill Ponsford unsuccessfully applied for the position of club secretary, effectively its chief executive officer and one of the most prestigious positions in Australian cricket.

Bill Ponsford remained with the club until his retirement in June 1969.

Bill Ponsford met Vera Neill at his local Methodist church; the pair married in 1924 and settled in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield South.

Bill Ponsford became a Freemason in 1922 and continued in the movement until 1985, retiring with the rank of Master Mason.

In 1978, four years after the death of his wife, Bill Ponsford moved in with his son, Geoff, at Woodend in rural Victoria, and was an active lawn bowler.

An infection after an operation in 1988 saw Bill Ponsford admitted to a nursing home in nearby Kyneton.

Bill Ponsford died there on 6 April 1991; at the time he was Australia's oldest living Test cricketer.

Baseball was a reasonably popular sport in Australia in the early 20th century and Bill Ponsford alternated between cricket and baseball throughout his sporting life.

Bill Ponsford improved rapidly and by 1913 he was included in the Victorian schoolboys side for a tournament in Adelaide.

The manager of the Giants, John "Mugsy" McGraw, watched part of the tournament; the Ponsford family claim that McGraw was so impressed with Ponsford's skills that he later spoke to Ponsford's parents about the possibility of Bill playing in the United States.

In 1919, Bill Ponsford was selected for Victoria's baseball team, alongside future Test cricket teammate Jack Ryder.

Bill Ponsford was not satisfied with merely making centuries; he strove to score 200 and more.

Apart from Brian Lara, Bill Ponsford is the only man to twice score 400 runs in a first-class innings and along with Bradman and Wally Hammond, he remains one of only three men to have scored four triple-centuries.

Bill Ponsford was known for batting in partnerships, sharing in five that amassed over 375 runs each.

For services to cricket, Bill Ponsford was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1982 New Year Honours announced on 31 December 1981.

Bill Ponsford was one of the ten inaugural inductees when the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame was launched in 1996.

In 2001, Bill Ponsford was selected in the Melbourne Cricket Club Team of the Century.

Bill Ponsford was described by his son as being "tickled pink" by the honour, but that he would only agree to the renaming if he was not required to participate in any public appearance or media interview.

Bill Ponsford Stand was torn down; the new stand was completed in 2004 and again named in his honour.

Bill Ponsford was noted for his ability to maintain intense levels of concentration for extended periods.

Bill Ponsford possessed a strong cut shot and he drove through mid off powerfully, although critics noted that his backlift was not completely straight.

Bill Ponsford had a tendency to shuffle too far to the off; this exposed his leg stump and he was bowled behind his legs on six occasions in Tests against England.

When volunteering for service with the Royal Australian Air Force, Bill Ponsford discovered he possessed abnormal colour vision, unable to distinguish red from green.