Bill O'Reilly (cricketer)

Bill O'Reilly
O'Reilly in the 1930s
Personal information
Full name
William Joseph O'Reilly
Born(1905-12-20)20 December 1905
White Cliffs, New South Wales, Australia
Died6 October 1992(1992-10-06) (aged 86)
Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia
NicknameTiger
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm leg break
RoleBowler
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 140)29 January 1932 v South Africa
Last Test29 March 1946 v New Zealand
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1927/28–1945/46New South Wales
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 27 135
Runs scored 410 1,655
Batting average 12.81 13.13
100s/50s 0/1 0/1
Top score 56* 56*
Balls bowled 10,024 37,279
Wickets 144 774
Bowling average 22.59 16.60
5 wickets in innings 11 63
10 wickets in match 3 17
Best bowling 7/54 9/38
Catches/stumpings 7/– 65/–
Source: CricketArchive, 19 August 2007

William Joseph O'Reilly OBE (20 December 1905 – 6 October 1992) was an Australian cricketer, rated as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. Following his retirement from playing, he became a well-respected cricket writer and broadcaster.

O'Reilly was one of the best spin bowlers ever to play cricket. He delivered the ball from a two-fingered grip at close to medium pace with great accuracy, and could produce leg breaks, googlies, and top spinners, with no discernible change in his action.[1] A tall man for a spinner (around 188 cm, 6 ft 2 in), he whirled his arms to an unusual extent and had a low point of delivery that meant it was very difficult for the batsman to read the flight of the ball out of his hand. When O'Reilly died, Sir Donald Bradman said that he was the greatest bowler he had ever faced or watched.[2] In 1935, Wisden wrote of him: "O'Reilly was one of the best examples in modern cricket of what could be described as a 'hostile' bowler."[3] In 1939, Wisden reflected on Bill O'Reilly's successful 1938 Ashes tour of England: "He is emphatically one of the greatest bowlers of all time."[4]

As a batsman, O'Reilly was a competent right-hander, usually batting well down the order. O'Reilly's citation as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1935 said: "He had no pretensions to grace of style or any particular merit, but he could hit tremendously hard and was always a menace to tired bowlers."[1]

As well as his skill, O'Reilly was also known for his competitiveness, and he bowled with the aggression of a paceman. In a short biographical essay on O'Reilly for the Barclays World of Cricket book, contemporary England cricketer Ian Peebles wrote that "any scoring-stroke was greeted by a testy demand for the immediate return of the ball rather than a congratulatory word. Full well did he deserve his sobriquet of 'Tiger'."[5]

  1. ^ a b Wisden (1935), pp. 284–286.
  2. ^ Engel, p. 48.
  3. ^ Wisden (1935), p. 5. Past tense was used of a current player, in the context of a review of the tour
  4. ^ Wisden, p. 197.
  5. ^ Ian Peebles. "William Joseph O'Reilly". Barclays World of Cricket (1986 ed.). pp. 218–219.