Bernard Bosanquet (cricketer)

Bernard Bosanquet

Bosanquet as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, September 1904
Personal information
Born	(1877-10-13)13 October 1877 Bulls Cross, Enfield, Middlesex, England
Died	12 October 1936(1936-10-12) (aged 58) Wykehurst, Ewhurst, Surrey, England
Batting style	Right-handed batsman (RHB)
Bowling style	Leg break, googly
Role	All-rounder
International information
National side	England
Test debut	11 December 1903 v Australia
Last Test	5 July 1905 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1898–1900	Oxford University
1898–1919	Middlesex
1898–1904	MCC
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class Matches 7 235 Runs scored 147 11,696 Batting average 13.36 33.41 100s/50s 0/0 21/63 Top score 27 214 Balls bowled 970 26,559 Wickets 25 629 Bowling average 24.16 23.80 5 wickets in innings 2 45 10 wickets in match 0 11 Best bowling 8/107 9/31 Catches/stumpings 9/0 190/0
Source: [1], 17 October 2010

Bernard James Tindal Bosanquet (13 October 1877 – 12 October 1936) was an English cricketer best known for inventing the googly, a delivery designed to deceive the batsman. When bowled, it appears to be a leg break, but after pitching the ball turns in the opposite direction to that which is expected, behaving as an off break instead. Bosanquet, who played first-class cricket for Middlesex between 1898 and 1919, appeared in seven Test matches for England as an all-rounder. He was chosen as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1905.

Bosanquet played cricket for Eton College from 1891 to 1896, before gaining his Blue at Oriel College, Oxford. He was a moderately successful batsman who bowled at fast-medium pace for Oxford University between 1898 and 1900. As a student, he made several appearances for Middlesex and achieved a regular place in the county side as an amateur. While playing a tabletop game, Bosanquet devised a new technique for delivering a ball, later named the "googly", which he practised during his time at Oxford. He first used it in cricket matches around 1900, abandoning his faster style of bowling, but it was not until 1903, when he had a successful season with the ball, that his new delivery began to attract attention. Having gone on several minor overseas tours, Bosanquet was selected in 1903–04 for the fully representative Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) tour of Australia. During that tour, he made his Test debut for England and although he largely failed as a batsman, he performed well as a bowler and troubled all the opposing batsmen with his googly.