Ray Lindwall

Ray Lindwall

Personal information
Full name	Raymond Russell Lindwall
Born	(1921-10-03)3 October 1921 Mascot, New South Wales, Australia
Died	23 June 1996(1996-06-23) (aged 74) Brisbane, Australia
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Batting style	Right-hand batsman
Bowling style	Right-arm fast
Role	All-rounder
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut (cap 165)	29 March 1946 v England
Last Test	28 January 1960 v India
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1941/42–1953/54	New South Wales
1954/55–1959/60	Queensland
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class Matches 61 228 Runs scored 1,502 5,042 Batting average 21.15 21.82 100s/50s 2/5 5/19 Top score 118 134* Balls bowled 13,650 42,970 Wickets 228 794 Bowling average 23.03 21.35 5 wickets in innings 12 34 10 wickets in match – 2 Best bowling 7/38 7/20 Catches/stumpings 26/– 123/–
Source: CricketArchive, 27 December 2007

Raymond Russell Lindwall MBE (3 October 1921 – 23 June 1996) was a cricketer who represented Australia in 61 Tests from 1946 to 1960. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. He also played top-flight rugby league football with St. George, appearing in two grand finals for the club before retiring to fully concentrate on Test cricket.

A right-arm fast bowler of express pace, Lindwall was widely regarded as the greatest pace bowler of his era and one of the finest of all time. Together with Keith Miller, Lindwall formed a new-ball pairing regarded as one of the greatest to have played cricket. Lindwall was known for his classical style, with a smooth and rhythmic run-up and textbook side-on bowling action, from which he generated his trademark outswinger which moved away late at high pace. Lindwall mixed his outswinger with a searing yorker, subtle changes of pace and an intimidating bouncer that skidded at the heads of opposing batsmen. Later in his career, Lindwall developed an inswinger, which together with his variety, pace and control made him the most feared paceman of his time. Lindwall was a fine all round cricketer; he was a hard-hitting batsman who scored two centuries at Test level and often improved Australia's position with his lower order batting. Lindwall's best known performance was his role in leading the Australian bowling during the 1948 tour of England under Don Bradman; the 1948 Australian team went through the tour undefeated and gained the sobriquet The Invincibles which saw it regarded as one of the finest teams in cricketing history. Lindwall's place in Australian cricket history saw him inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996 as one of the ten inaugural members. In 2000, Lindwall was named in the Australian Cricket Board's Team of the Century.