Some old bowlers...

[NotMcKenzie]

For Cotter, we do actually have footage as well from the film of the 1905 Australia side.

I'd say that the position coincides pretty well with the photograph above:

No. 14 is McDonald

 

[Starfighter]

Right, I'm impatient and I don't think that obscure South African bowlers are everyone's forte, so lets just get the ones that have been missed.

First row:
1: Fred Spofforth
2: Tibby Cotter
3: Jack Gregory
4: Schofield Haigh
5: Bill Edrich
Second row:
6: Bill Voce
7: Jack Crawford
8: Alan Davidson
9: Bill Whitty
10: Manny Martindale
11: Maurice Tate or may be Sid Pegler - see later discussion.
Third row:
12: J.J. Kotze
13: Walter Brearley
14: Ted McDonald
15: Ray Lindwall
16: Bob Crisp (at about 16-17 seconds)
17: Arthur Gilligan - or may be George Parker - see later discussion.
Fourth row:
18: 'Buster' Nupen (Jimmy Blanckenberg's action is also pretty slingy)
19: Bill Copson
20: Bill Johnston
21: Denys Morkel
22: Arthur L. Ochse

 

[jimmy101]

Geez JJ Kotze looks unpredictable & scary doesn't he.

 

[Starfighter]

Five Bills. Seems William was the 'in' name of the era.

 

[cnerd123]

I know what I'm watching at lunch today

 

[Burgey]

Some bloke cooking rice?

 

[Burgey]

This has been a very enjoyable thread. Thanks for posting it.

 

[the big bambino]

Starfighter. Your link to Copson has a fellow bowling at about 48 seconds into the clip. Trying to distinguish if its Copson or Bowes. Looks more like Bowes to me. Do you have any idea?

 

[Starfighter]

It's Bowes. The non-energetic run up and languid action with the front arm sort of just flopping over are quite distinctive to him. You sort of get used to seeing it from miles away when you've seen enough of him. Here's Copson from a similar distance, a very short run with a big sidestep and distinct flick.

I always wonder how fast Bowes actually was. He was known for sending down a lot of bouncers when the mood took him yet he really does not look remotely quick.

 

[jimmy101]

For Cotter, we do actually have footage as well from the film of the 1905 Australia side.

Quirky bowling action isn't it? Especially with the little heel twist before the start of his run-up.

I'm noticing a lot of the bowlers from pre-war times had short run-ups. Makes me think that those marathon run-ups were only really utilised on a large scale after WW2. Only Larwood seems to buck this trend.

Wes Hall immediately springs to mind when it comes to post-war bowlers with huge run-ups, apparently he used to run in from near the fence itself.

 

[jimmy101]

Manny Martindale & Jack Gregory seem to have had quite long run-ups.

 

[cnerd123]

That clip from 1905 is literally the first proper footage of cricket isn't it? Or close to that if I'm wrong.

Fascinating.

 

[the big bambino]

It's Bowes. The non-energetic run up and languid action with the front arm sort of just flopping over are quite distinctive to him. You sort of get used to seeing it from miles away when you've seen enough of him. Here's Copson from a similar distance, a very short run with a big sidestep and distinct flick.

I always wonder how fast Bowes actually was. He was known for sending down a lot of bouncers when the mood took him yet he really does not look remotely quick.

The blokes he ko'd probably had a favourable opinion. I read in Frith's bodyline book he almost killed Headley with a blow to the chest. Robertson Glasgow has a great word portrait of him describing the contradiction between his sharp pace opposed to the shambolic amble of his run up.

 

[Starfighter]

That clip from 1905 is literally the first proper footage of cricket isn't it? Or close to that if I'm wrong.

Fascinating.

There's those clips with Grace and Ranji that are older, but those two balls of Cotter bowling at the end of the 1905 video are the first to actually show serious, in match action.

 

[cnerd123]

The 1920s and 1930s were such a great time for cricket - check out the crowds for the Tests. People really cared back then ay?

 

[the big bambino]

Quirky bowling action isn't it? Especially with the little heel twist before the start of his run-up.

I'm noticing a lot of the bowlers from pre-war times had short run-ups. Makes me think that those marathon run-ups were only really utilised on a large scale after WW2. Only Larwood seems to buck this trend.

Wes Hall immediately springs to mind when it comes to post-war bowlers with huge run-ups, apparently he used to run in from near the fence itself.

They did, especially the English. I've read a few instances in biographies where bowlers were advised by mentors to cut their run ups. County cricket was practically non stop back then so I'm guessing it was a tactic to preserve energy over a long season.

 

[a massive zebra]

There's those clips with Grace and Ranji that are older, but those two balls of Cotter bowling at the end of the 1905 video are the first to actually show serious, in match action.

There is a bit more to it than this.

The first cricket film shows Ranjitsinhji batting in the nets during the 1897/98 Ashes tour. There are also clips of Grace and Ranji batting in the nets in 1899 and Arthur Mold bowling in the nets in 1901. The earliest surviving video featuring in match action is actually of a Lancashire League match between Accrington and Church in 1902.

Film of Gilbert Jessop, George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes in England’s one-wicket victory in the 1902 Ashes Test at The Oval once existed. Horribly, it was lost before the Internet age. This film from 1905 is the earliest surviving film featuring in match action from first class cricket.

 

[Starfighter]

I wasn't counting films we don't have or weren't in matches, and I don't consider the Lancashire club footage serious enough (sorry Bumble).

 

[the big bambino]

Right, I'm impatient and I don't think that obscure South African bowlers are everyone's forte, so lets just get the ones that have been missed.


11: Maurice Tate - he's notable for the fact that his action changed substantially. Here's him bowling in 1935.


17: Arthur Gilligan

Is that Tate and Gilligan? It looks like Hobbs and Sutcliffe batting. If so it could be Parker the South African at the top of the screen and Pegler bowling leg spin at the bottom of the screen.

 

[Starfighter]

Is that Tate and Gilligan? It looks like Hobbs and Sutcliffe batting. If so it could be Parker the South African at the top of the screen and Pegler bowling leg spin at the bottom of the screen.

The title card is worth looking at. And the fast bowler matches descriptions of Gilligan's action (and Gilligan's physical appearance). Tate's 1926 action is somewhere between that one and the later one. There's also this footage which I believe is the 1923 Lord's Gentlemen vs Players match, which shows Gilligan.