Bill Woodfull - Test Debut

Test Debut

Despite being regarded as the last man picked for the tour, Woodfull headed the batting averages in the first-class matches and was third in the Tests.

In his first two first-class innings on tour, Woodfull struck a 201 against Essex at Leyton and a 118 against Surrey at The Oval. Both were made on damp pitches, with the double century coming in only four hours of batting. Woodfull's effort was the only double century by an Australian during the tour. They were the first of eight centuries during the tour, in which he compiled 1809 runs at 58.35.

After making a duck against the Marylebone Cricket Club, which was a dress rehearsal for the Tests as the MCC fielded a virtual England team, Woodfull scored an unbeaten 98 against Cambridge University before running out of partners. He added 69 against the South of England and 100 against Middlesex and entered the Tests with 653 runs on tour at an average of 59.36.

Woodfull made his debut in the first Test at Trent Bridge, but it was an anti-climax; Australia did not bat in a washed-out match as England reached 0/32 when rain ended play. He failed to make an impression in the second Test at Lord's, scoring 13 and a duck in another drawn match. It capped off an unhappy June for Woodfull; he had scored only 120 runs at 13.33 for the month, with rain interruptions being frequent.

Woodfull then regained his form, striking 102 not out in an innings win over Nottinghamshire. He then established himself as a Test opener in the third Test at Headingley, where Australia were sent in to bat on a sticky wicket with erratic bounce. After opening partner Warren Bardsley was dismissed without scoring from the first ball, Woodfull put on a second wicket partnership of 235 with Charlie Macartney to register his maiden Test century of 141. Macartney launched a vicious counterattack and became the second Australian to score a Test century before lunch on the opening day; this bold play helped Woodfull to settle in and the Australians to seize the initiative on a bowler-friendly surface. The tourists made 494 on the sticky wicket and forced England to follow on, but were unable to finish them off.

After scoring 65 against Lancashire, Woodfull made it back-to-back Test centuries in the fourth Test at Old Trafford with 117, the highest score of the innings. It was another rain-affected draw in a wet summer, Woodfull followed this with 156 in another weather-curtailed match against Surrey.

The first four Tests were drawn, so the fate of the Ashes depended on the fifth Test, which would be timeless. Woodfull could manage only 35 and a duck as Australia lost the Test by 289 runs and thus the Ashes. His 306 runs at 51.00 in the Tests placed him third behind Bardsley and Macartney. In the closing stages of the tour, Woodfull compiled his eighth and final century of the campaign, an unbeaten 116 against an England XI in a drawn match.

Upon his return to Australia, he established his partnership with Bill Ponsford, and in the 1926–27 Shield season, they put on a 375-run opening stand in less than four hours, which laid the foundation for the world record first-class score of 1107 against New South Wales. The stand eclipsed the Sheffield shield record of 298 for the first wicket by Victor Trumper and Reg Duff in 1902–03. Woodfull made 133 and the Victorians won by an innings and 656 runs. He ended the season by scoring 140 and 29 not out as the Australian XI defeated The Rest by seven wickets. He scored two further fifties and ended the season with 483 runs at 69.00 in five matches. He then toured Malaya and Singapore with Bert Oldfield's team during the off-season, scoring three centuries; none of the matches were first-class.

In 1927–28 Australian season, Woodfull played in five matches and was highly productive in the last three. He scored 99 and 191 not out in a victory over New South Wales, before adding 106 in an innings triumph over South Australia. He rounded off the season with 94 and 81 not out in a draw in the return match against New South Wales. He ended the Australian campaign with 645 runs at 129.00. With Ponsford amassing 1217 runs at 152.12, Victoria usually got off to a strong start with the bat, and won the Shield easily.

Woodfull recorded his career best score of 284, compiled in five and a half hours of batting, during a brief tour to New Zealand as part of an Australian XI at the end of the season. He added 184 for the first wicket with Ponsford and 218 for the fourth with Karl Schneider. He scored centuries in the first two matches before adding fifties in the next two. He ended the first-class matches with 781 runs at 130.16.

Woodfull was appointed as vice-captain to Jack Ryder for the 1928–29 home Ashes series. The Australian board had spent a great deal of time arguing over whether Woodfull or Victor Richardson should be Ryder's deputy, before realising that he selectors had omitted the latter. With six members of the team that played in the last Test in 1926 having retired, Australia would field and young and inexperienced team. Woodfull prepared for the Tests with an unbeaten 67 for Victoria in a drawn tour match against Percy Chapman's touring Englishmen.

Woodfull played his first Test on Australian soil in the first Test at Brisbane. He made a duck in the first innings as Australia fell for 122 to concede a 411-run first innings lead. before Australia were forced to chase 742 for victory. Woodfull carried his bat to make an unbeaten 30 as Australia were skittled for 66 on a sticky wicket in Brisbane in the first Test to lose by a record 675 runs. Woodfull then made 68 to top-score in the first innings of the second Test in Sydney. Australia conceded another mammoth first innings lead, 383. Woodfull then scored his first Test century in Australia, with 111 in the second innings to force the tourists to bat again. Despite this, England scored 2/16 to win the match.

The third Test was Woodfull's first at his home ground in Melbourne, and despite scoring 107 in the second innings, the tourists won by three wickets in front of Test world record crowd. Woodfull made only one and 30 as Australia fell short by 12 runs in the fourth Test in Adelaide, but ended the season on a high.

In a tour match against the Englishmen, Woodfull made 275 not out for Victoria, his highest score for his state. During the match, Woodfull was captain and had agreed with English captain Chapman to vary rules that had been laid by the Australian Board of Control. The two men agreed to cover the pitch throughout the match and to bowl overs of six balls instead of eight. The Australian Board of Control reacted by reprimanding the Victorian Cricket Association. The match was a high-scoring draw.

The teams returned to Melbourne for the fifth Test, where Woodfull scored 102 and 35 in front of his home crowd as Australia won by five wickets. It was the first time that Woodfull had played in a winning Test, after ten matches. He hit three centuries in the series, with 491 runs at 54.56 despite which Australia lost the Ashes 4–1. Woodfull ended the entire season with 854 runs at 85.40.

Woodfull started the 1929–30 Australian season by scoring an unbeaten 100 against the touring MCC, overseeing a successful run-chase. However, his season was cut short in the third match when he suffered a broken hand after being hit by a short ball from Hugh Thurlow in a match against Queensland. Woodfull was forced to retired hurt and recovered just in time for the warm-up matches against Tasmania before the national team headed to England. He had scored 231 runs at 77.00 in five matches during the season.