Bowley Ted Image 1 Sussex 1928

Description

Leatherhead, Surrey born right-hand batsman Ted Bowley was a forceful opening batsman made his first class debut in 1912 but played just one season of regular first class cricket before the First World War and was 30 when he resumed his cricket career in 1920. But for the next fourteen seasons he was a reliable run-getter, and for the three seasons from 1927 to 1929 was among the heaviest scorers in the country.

At 39, he was called up for two Test matches against South Africa in 1929, making his Test match debut that July at Headingley, and the following winter he toured New Zealand and Australia with Harold Gilligan’s Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.) team, playing in three of the four Test matches against New Zealand. He scored 109 at Auckland in his final Test in February 1930.

Bowley shared in several big partnerships for Sussex, two of them still County records. In 1921, he put on 385 for the second wicket with Maurice Tate against Northamptonshire at Northampton. Against Gloucestershire at Hove in 1929, he hit an undefeated 280 in a day and shared a first wicket partnership of 368 with Jim Parks Senior. This Sussex record was beaten four years later when, with John Langridge, he put on 490 runs. This is the third highest first wicket partnership in England, the fourth highest of all time and the eighth highest partnership for any wicket in first class cricket. In this partnership, against Middlesex at Hove, Bowley made his highest score, 283.

Bowley was also a useful leg-spin bowler, regularly taking around 50 wickets a season. In 1928, he took 90 wickets as well as scoring 2,359 runs. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1930. He also played first class cricket for Auckland.

According to R. C. Robertson-Glasgow the back stroke was his glory. He wrote: “I never saw a batsman who played this stroke with his bat and elbow so high, meeting a rising ball which others would leave, with tremendous force, and hammering it straight or to the off boundary. Again, he would lean back and cut square from the off stump balls which others were content to stop. In all else his equipment was full and correct. He was a notably fine player to slow bowling, but sometimes he was too impatient perhaps, too much the pure stroke player who would rather force a good length ball for a couple past cover-point than kill it gloomily a few yards from the bat.”

On his retirement from cricket in 1934 he moved to Winchester School, where for 23 seasons successive generations of boys profited from his coaching. In 510 first class matches he scored 28,378 runs at an average of 34.94 with 52 centuries and 147 half centuries. With his leg break bowling he took 741 wickets at 25.98 apiece, with a best return of 9-114, twice taking ten wickets or more in a match and bowling 28 five wicket innings. He also took 373 catches in the first class game.

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