Brockwell Bill Image 1 Surrey 1891

Description

Kingston upon Thames, Surrey born Bill Brockwell is primarily remembered as a batsman, although he began his career as a fast-medium bowler. Brockwell played his County cricket for the very strong Surrey side of the last years of the 19th century. First playing for the County in 1886, Brockwell was a regular member of the team from 1891.

During Brockwell’s career at the Oval Surrey won the County Championship eight times and once tied for first place with Lancashire and Nottinghamshire. Needless to say Surrey were tremendously strong in those days. Brockwell played under John Shuter, K.J. Key, D.L.A. Jephson and H.D.G. Leveson-Gower. Among his contemporaries were such great batsmen as W.W. Read, Maurice Read, Robert Abel, Tom Hayward and bowlers of equal fame, namely George Lohmann, Tom Richardson and William Lockwood. With Lohmann, Richardson and Lockwood carrying all before them, Brockwell had few opportunities with the ball until they declined. However, from 1897 onwards, he was a very useful bowler and took 105 wickets in the 1899 season when Richardson was out of form and Lockwood never fully fit.

Brockwell made his Test match debut for England at Manchester in August 1893, the first of his 7 Test appearances. In addition to his debut, he played five on the 1894-95 tour and a final match in 1899, but was not a success at Test level and averaged under 17 with a highest score of just 49.

In 1894 Brockwell came out at the head of the English batting tables with the highest aggregate, 1,491 runs with five centuries, and best average at 38.90. He was also leading scorer for Surrey with 1,091 runs and an average of 35, remarkable figures in a summer of` unsettled weather and consequently was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. At the end of the season he was included in the side which A.E. Stoddart took out to Australia. The team won three out of five Test matches but Brockwell had a very small share in the victories, putting together no score of 50 and averaging less than 18 runs an innings.

He didn’t regain his form until 1896 but in that year and for several seasons afterwards he played a lot of fine cricket especially in 1897, when he set a new record opening stand of 379 with Abel in the match against Hampshire, beating Brown and Tunnicliffe’s record set a few weeks before by a single run. and in 1898 when, although below Abel and Tom Hayward, he made 1,468 runs in Championship matches and averaged 43, with six centuries. In 1899 he was again chosen to play for England against Australia at Manchester. His most effective bowling year was 1899 when in all Surrey matches he took 95 wickets. The following year he received a benefit with the match against Yorkshire at The Oval. Even in 1902 he remained effective, for example he took 6-37 on an excellent pitch in the last match of the season against Warwickshire.

Altogether in the course of his career, after two final first class matches for London County he retired from cricket in 1903, he took 544 wickets in first class matches at a cost of 25 runs apiece and had a best performance of 8-22, with 24 five wicket innings and a single ten wicket match. With the bat he scored 13,228 runs with an average of 26, his highest score of 225 being one of 21 centuries and 53 half centuries.

His uncle George Brockwell played 44 matches for Surrey in the 1840’s and 1850’s.