Walter Brearley (11 March 1876 – 30 January 1937) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er who played for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Brearley was a

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

with what ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' described as "a rolling gait" who put his full – and substantial – weight into achieving pace and swing. He played county cricket only from the age of 26, but his ability to make the ball rise sharply on the somewhat fiery Old Trafford wickets became noticed the following year, but after the wickets became less difficult he was dropped from the side. The following year, his bowling was a valuable part of Lancashire's finest season in county cricket (sixteen wins and no losses) but his inability to play late in the season attracted the notice of ''Wisden''. The following year, he improved even further – at times bowling well even on wickets too dead to suit a fast bowler. A superb display of pace and length against

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

made him an automatic choice for the

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

team for the Fourth Test against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He took four wickets in each innings, and in the final match of the series at

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

took six out of the 14 wickets to fall, including five for 110 runs in the first innings. In all cricket that season, he took the wicket of

Victor Trumper Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...

six times and finished with an aggregate of 181 wickets for 19.25 each. His tremendous stamina and ability to maintain his fastest pace through even the longest spells of bowling was described as "nothing short of remarkable" by the 1906 ''Wisden''. However, having established himself as the best fast bowler in the world, at the end of the season Brearley announced that business claims would prevent him playing again. Although he changed his mind and did play five times for Lancashire in 1906 besides helping Neville Knox to form a remarkably hostile attack for the Gentlemen at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

, he refused to play again for his county until 1908. In 1907, Brearley only played a handful of first-class games for the Gentlemen and a couple of privately raised teams, but was still thought good enough to only just miss out on a Test place at

against South Africa. 1908 saw Brearley end his dispute with the Lancashire committee and bowl superbly before business kept him out of most of the August matches. He took 148 wickets in just seventeen matches and was named a '' Cricketer of the Year'' by ''

''. In 1909 he was even more impressive so long as he could play, but failed in his only Test, and in the following two years business and a major accident limited him to just fourteen of Lancashire's fifty eight Championship games. The following year, Brearley's rift with the Lancashire committee became irreconcilable and at the beginning of 1912 it was clear he would play no county cricket. However, so well-thought of was he that, playing when business allowed for

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

in the

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

competition, Brearley played one further Test but the wicket was too soft for him to get a foothold. Even when the best fast bowler in the world, Brearley could never go on an overseas tour owing to business commitments. Brearley made one late first-class appearance in 1921 at the age of 45 when he was picked for Archie MacLaren's amateur team that took on, and beat,

Warwick Armstrong Warwick Windridge Armstrong (22 May 1879 – 13 July 1947) was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921, and was undefeated, winn ...

's previously invincible Australians. Brearley's own contribution was modest: he scored one run and did not bowl. A wholehearted cricketer who bustled about whatever he did, Brearley's batting fame rested on his hurried walk to the wicket and the much-told Old Trafford story that, at the sound of him scurrying to the wicket, the horse walked between the shafts of the heavy roller ready for the end of the innings. In all cricket, he took 844 wickets but scored only 908 runs.

Neville Cardus Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (2 April 188828 February 1975) was an English writer and critic. From an impoverished home background, and mainly self-educated, he became ''The Manchester Gua ...

wrote "Every ball was a crisis as far as Brealey was concerned". Brearley maintained faith in his ability long after his retirement. When watching new fast bowlers in later years Brearley was often heard to exclaim that he could still 'throw his hat faster'.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brearley, Walter 1876 births 1937 deaths England Test cricketers Brearley Walter Wisden Cricketers of the Year Cricketers from Bolton Cheshire cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers London County cricketers H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers North v South cricketers W. G. Grace's XI cricketers