Random Cricket Photos Post 119


#RandomCricketPhotosThatMakeMeHappy

If you are not a trivia cruncher, you might not know English leg spinner Eric Hollies. The major claim to fame for Eric Hollies is this picture where he's not even properly visible. To put it straight, Hollies is the man who denied Bradman a Test average of 100 by dismissing him for a duck in his final innings in the 1948 Oval Test.

Now here's the story.

Hollies didn't even want to play the match. As England had lost the Ashes 3-0 already, he thought it didn't make sense of him to play for the national team as fixtures for Warwickshire were lined up and playing the Test would have meant missing out on two Championship matches. But selectors insisted he played since he had picked up 8 wickets in a tour match against the Aussies.

Interestingly Bradman’s dismissal wasn’t a stroke of luck for Hollies. Hollies had prepared himself for it. In a tour match earlier at Edgbaston, he had deceived Bradman with a googly.

And then the wily customer that he was, he didn't bowl it throughout that match, keeping it for the time when he would meet Bradman next in Test cricket. Unfortunately, for the greatest batsman, his next meeting with Hollies was his last Test innings. And he once again failed to pick Hollies' googly to finish with an average of 99.94.

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