By Satish Sekar © Satish Sekar (April 9^th 2025)

Cometh the Googly

Bernard Bosanquet may not have been the most talented cricketer ever to play the sport – in fact, he definitely wasn’t, but he made a great impact on the sport. He was the first man to take a wicket with a deliberately bowled googly – a ball bowled with the action of a leg-break, but which turns in the opposite direction to a leg-break.

With the new English County Cricket season having just started, a review of the history of a delivery that courted controversy at its inception is timely. Bowlers, especially the first to master it, especially Bosanquet, were even denounced as cheats – they were not. In fact, Bosanquet revolutionised the game. The googly was here to stay.

It’s almost a century and a quarter since he made cricketing history – July 20^th 1900 – by taking the first wicket with a deliberately bowled googly (see It’s Just Not Cricket Part One) at https://empowersmag.com/empowersmagwp/2025/04/08/its-just-not-cricket-part-one/.

Bosanquet Thrills

However, at the time Bosanquet was remembered for his batting when his team, Middlesex, hosted Leicestershire at Lord’s in 1900. Bosanquet made a century in each innings. He didn’t bowl at all in Leicestershire’s first innings and was only called on to bowl in the second innings with Samuel Coe poised to make a century – 98 not out at the time.

Instead, Coe was dismissed by a freak delivery – a deliberately bowled googly that looked appalling, bouncing four times according to Bosanquet. Nevertheless, history had been made – the googly had announced its arrival on the world stage, albeit in a far from graceful manner, although Bosanquet’s accounts of it were delivered much later when the narrative may well have had another purpose.

What a Performance!

Leicestershire made a measly 184 all out in their first innings – Albert Knight top-scored with 62. His colleague, Samuel Coe, was the next highest scorer with a paltry 20, but his greatest contribution to this match was to come in Leicestershire’s second innings when he missed out on a ton by just two runs. It was, however, the manner of his dismissal, not score, that etched his name large in the history of cricket.

He was the first victim of a deliberately bowled googly in first class cricket even if it was an unsightly delivery. He would, however, set a more desirable record for his county in June 1914.

Middlesex responded with 224 all out. Sir Pelham (Plum) Warner – Middlesex’s captain and later cricket administrator – opened the batting for the home team with Bernard James Tilman (BJT) Bosanquet. Middlesex’s score relied heavily on Bosanquet. Wicket-keeper William Robertson made 31, the next highest score, over a hundred less than Bosanquet, who made 136.

His innings not only dominated the score, but so did his scoring – Bosanquet hit a five, and 22 fours in his century. Ironically, he was dismissed by Coe. Bosanquet did not bowl in Leicestershire’s first innings. Leicestershire responded with 342 all out in their second innings. Coe had top-scored with 98. George Rudd Snr also scored a half century, 65 to be precise.

Bosanquet was asked to bowl by Warner with Coe poised to make a coveted century at Lord’s, but Bosanquet dismissed him for 98. This, rather than his centuries – impressive though they undoubtedly were – would arguably become his biggest ever contribution to cricket as the googly has been bamboozling batsmen ever since.

Bosanquet took 1 for 47 from his 12 overs before batting again, at number four in Middlesex’s second innings. He top-scored again with another century, 139 to be precise, scoring more than double the next highest scorer – Warner – with 61. Bosanquet hit 18 fours – in both innings he scored at a good pace. Middlesex made 304 for 5 to win the match – clearly Bosanquet’s match – by 5 wickets.

However, the wicket-taking googly deceived batsmen repeatedly and continues to do so. Warner, Bosanquet and others derided the wicket-taking delivery, claiming that it was an awful delivery that reduced everyone to stitches. It had the desired effect of allowing Bosanquet to continue working on perfecting the technique in secret, enabling them to plan the use of googlies despite opposing views to it.