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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | William Alfred Brown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 31 July 1912 Toowoomba, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 16 March 2008 (aged 95) Brisbane, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm off spin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut | 10 June 1948 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 24 June 1948 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bill Brown was a member of Donald Bradman's famous Australian cricket team, which toured England in 1948. Bradman's men went through their 34 matches without defeat; this unprecedented feat by a Test side touring England earned them the sobriquet The Invincibles.
An experienced right-handed opening batsman, Brown was on his third visit to England, having first toured in 1934 before World War II. However, Brown's best years were lost to the war and by 1948 Sid Barnes and Arthur Morris had superseded him in the pecking order to become Australia's first-choice opening pair. Brown was selected as a reserve opener; this decision generated controversy among critics who believed he was past his best.
Bradman rotated the three openers in the tour matches, but Morris and Barnes were preferred in the Tests. Bradman accommodated Brown in his first-choice team by playing him out of position in the middle order in the Tests. However, Brown appeared uncomfortable in the unfamiliar role, and was dropped after making 73 runs at a batting average of 24.33 in the first two Tests.
Despite his struggles in the Test arena, Brown had success in the tour matches as an opener. He scored 1,448 runs at 57.92 in all first-class matches, ranking fourth in both the aggregates and averages. He scored eight centuries, second only to Bradman, including 200 against Cambridge University. However, Brown gained criticism for his slow batting. Following his omission from the Test team, Brown batted in a highly circumspect manner to increase the reliability and volume of his scoring. A very occasional off spin bowler, Brown took his career first-class best of 4/16 in his only stint with the ball, against the South of England.