By Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (April 7^th 2025)

The Googly?

Ever heard of Bernard Bosanquet – the cricketer not the philosopher? Cricket lovers should not just know of him, but acknowledge the man who changed cricket once and for all. For the first time in cricket’s history, (July 20^th 1900) Bosanquet bowled a delivery that looked like a leg-break, but Bosanquet had devised a technique that enabled him to make the ball turn the other way despite looking like a leg-break.

Unlike other bowlers, Bosanquet did it deliberately – he had been practising the delivery for years. For him, it was about controlling the delivery, so it could be used tactically to its greatest effect. His captain at Middlesex, Sir Pelham (Plum) Warner and others knew that it was potentially a very useful weapon, so the achievement was downgraded. They, however, knew better.

Among the First

Bosanquet may not have been the first to bowl it – in fact, he definitely wasn’t – but he was the first to control it. Unlike others who had achieved bowling a googly unintentionally, Bosanquet was bowling it deliberately even if the first efforts looked terrible or were made to appear so.

Nevertheless, Bosanquet had been practising with other balls and surfaces for years he could do it at will – it was just a matter of controlling the delivery, a task others would hone and benefit from more than Bosanquet himself, but that would be years later.

It is now a technique used to great effect by spin bowlers such as India’s leading wicket-taker in Test cricket, Anil Kumble, and one of, if not, the greatest bowler ever, the late, great, Shane Warne, but Bosanquet was pretty modest about his achievement.

Bosanquet’s First Victim of the Googly

During a three-day county match at the famous Lord’s cricket ground in St John’s Wood, London between Middlesex and Leicestershire, that lasted from July 19^th to July 21^st 1900 history was made on the 20^th. Bernard Bosanquet, a fast bowler, better renowned for his batting – at least in this match – made two centuries and took just one wicket, even though that delivery, as Bosanquet himself acknowledged, looked awful and was greeted with howling laughter.

Samuel Coe was the first batsman to be dismissed by a deliberately bowled googly. Coe should have advanced to his century easily, but the bad ball somehow deceived him into failing to connect, allowing Middlesex’s wicketkeeper, William Robertson, to stump Coe, dismissing the batsman two short of a century. Coe, an all-rounder, hit 19 centuries in his first-class career, including one double century.

The First Victim of Bosanquet’s Googly

With the War to End All Wars just over a month away, Leicestershire played Northamptonshire at Leicester’s Aylestone Road ground. Fourteen years after securing unwanted fame – the first victim of Bernard Bosanquet’s googly – Coe made history for his county for the right reasons by scoring the highest score for his county – a record that stood for eight decades.

On June 1^st 1914, a three-day county match began. Leicestershire made 453 all out in their first innings. Coe hit a then county record of 252 not out with Arthur Mounteney making the next highest score of 55. Northamptonshire responded with 248 all out and Leicestershire declared their second innings at 191 for 7, leaving Northamptonshire requiring 463 for an unlikely win. They didn’t come close, losing by 214 runs.

Poised overnight on 247 not out, on April 28^th 1994, West Indies all-rounder, Phil Simmons had already claimed the highest score on début for Leicestershire. He was a few runs short of Coe’s record for Leicestershire. He just broke it the following day, setting a new mark of 261 out of 482 all out. Northamptonshire made 224 all out and followed on, making 266 all out, leaving Leicestershire a target of nine runs to win the match, which they did without loss.

The Début of the Intentional Wicket-taking Googly

Samuel Coe was the record holder for the highest score for his county, Leicestershire – a record he held for just over a month shy of 80 years. He was also the first batsman to be dismissed by a deliberately bowled googly.

It was a poor start for a delivery that would change the face of cricket. Bosanquet, had in fact, practiced the delivery for years – not always with a cricket ball. He may not have been the first to bowl it, but he was the first to master it and for that he is renowned, and rightly so.

It was also the first time that Bosanquet scored centuries in both innings of a county match. He may not have been a top-notch cricketer, but his impact on the game is undeniable Coe would be far from the last victim of a deliberately bowled googly.