43 Facts About Frank Woolley

Frank Edward Woolley was an English professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1906 and 1938 and for the England cricket team.

Frank Woolley was an outstanding fielder close to the wicket and is the only non wicket-keeper to have held over 1,000 catches in a first-class career, whilst his total number of runs scored is the second highest of all time and his total number of wickets taken the 27th highest.

Frank Woolley played for England in 64 Test matches from 1909 to 1934 and is generally regarded as one of cricket's greatest all-rounders.

Frank Woolley was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the 1911 edition of the almanack and was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.

Frank Woolley was born at Tonbridge in Kent in 1887, the youngest of four brothers.

Frank Woolley's father, Charles Woolley, owned a bicycle workshop in the town's High Street and Woolley was born above the business.

Frank Woolley was interested in cricket from an early age and he would play with his brothers behind his father's workshop; the brothers watched matches on the Angel Ground from a tree which overlooked the ground.

Frank Woolley was a keen association footballer, good enough to play for Tonbridge and to sign for Tunbridge Wells Rangers FC in 1906.

Frank Woolley's father's business, which eventually developed into a motor vehicle garage, was doing well by the time Woolley was a teenager, and Frank had the opportunity to attend the fee-paying Tonbridge School.

Frank Woolley helped out by fielding during practice matches at the Angel Ground, before being asked to join in a match to make up the numbers by Tom Pawley, Kent's manager.

Frank Woolley did not consider himself a scholar and did not take up the chance of a place at Tonbridge, instead opting to leave school aged 14.

Frank Woolley was officially taken on as a young professional by Kent in 1903, training full-time under William McCanlis at the Nursery during the cricket season.

Frank Woolley impressed McCanlis and the other Nursery coaches and in 1905 he made his Kent Second XI debut against Surrey Second XI at The Oval.

Nursery professionals were made available for club sides which were able to request their service, and throughout the season Frank Woolley scored 960 runs and took 115 wickets playing for a variety of sides.

Frank Woolley was coached and mentored by Colin Blythe, a Kent professional who lived in Tonbridge and who bowled slow left-arm spin, the same bowling style as Woolley.

Frank Woolley achieved the feat 28 times, equalling WG Grace's record.

Frank Woolley scored more than 2,000 runs 12 times and in 1928 scored 3,352; in every season other than 1919 he scored at least 1,000 runs for Kent.

Frank Woolley took a total of 2,066 wickets and achieved the cricketer's double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season eight times.

Frank Woolley took 132 five-wicket hauls and took 10 wickets in a match 28 times.

Frank Woolley played 64 Test matches for England between 1909 and 1934 and did not miss a Test match for the side between 1909 and 1926.

Frank Woolley scored 3,283 Test runs at an average of 36.07 and made five Test centuries.

Frank Woolley took 83 wickets and 64 catches for the side.

Frank Woolley was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1911 and was the first winner of the Walter Lawrence Trophy for the fastest hundred scored in England in 1934.

In total Frank Woolley played in 978 first-class matches, including a record 764 for Kent, in a career which lasted until 1938.

Frank Woolley holds the Kent records for most career runs, centuries and catches and for total runs in a single season and is fifth on the county's list of all-time wicket takers.

Frank Woolley retired aged 51, scoring 1,590 runs in his final season.

Frank Woolley was inducted into the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations Hall of Fame in 2000 and made an inaugural member of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame when it was established in 2009.

Frank Woolley was equally graceful as a bowler, making full use of his height to extract additional bounce from his deliveries.

Altham pointed out that, although Frank Woolley lacked the subtlety of Wilfred Rhodes, he was nevertheless a formidable bowler on any pitch whose conditions helped him.

Frank Woolley's long reach and his "large, prehensile hands" made him an excellent fielder close to the wicket.

The best thing to do was to presume that your readers knew how Frank Woolley batted and use no adjectives at all.

Frank Woolley was recruited by Jack Hobbs, working in the munitions industry, to play for Keighley in the Bradford Cricket League and made a number of appearances in exhibition matches, including making a century for a Lancashire side against Yorkshire during 1916.

Frank Woolley began training in November 1916 and in March 1917 was posted to Dover, attached to a motor boat section.

Frank Woolley was promoted to Aircraftman first class and in February 1918 posted to Felixstowe where he was the coxswain of a rescue launch.

The RNAS merged with the Royal Flying Corps in April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force and Frank Woolley transferred to the new organisation.

Frank Woolley was posted to North Queensferry in Scotland where he worked for Admiral Sir John de Robeck.

Frank Woolley played a number of other exhibition matches during the summer of 1918, including for an England side against a Dominions XI and for sides organised by Plum Warner.

Frank Woolley was transferred to the RAF Reserve in January 1919 before being officially discharged in 1920; during 1922 he played a single first-class match for the Royal Air Force cricket team.

Frank Woolley had married Sybil Fordham, the daughter of an Ashford veterinary surgeon, in 1914.

Frank Woolley coached cricket at The King's School, Canterbury, but after the break out of World War II the school was evacuated to Cornwall and Woolley moved to Cliftonville where he joined the Local Defence Volunteers.

Frank Woolley played twice for Old England sides, was elected a life member of both Kent and MCC, and served on the Kent General Committee between 1950 and 1961.

Sybil died in 1962, and Frank Woolley moved to live with one of his daughters at Longwick in Buckinghamshire.

Frank Woolley died in 1978 at their home at Chester, Nova Scotia aged 91.