Wilfred Rhodes - Style and Personality

Style and Personality

As a bowler, Rhodes was recognised by critics as one of the greatest slow bowlers of all time. Very effective at dismissing batsmen on difficult pitches, it was difficult to score runs from his bowling even on a good batting surface. He could make the ball turn if the pitch offered the slightest assistance, particularly if it had been affected by rain. Cricket writer E. W. Swanton described how Rhodes had "a beautifully controlled, economical and rhythmical action which ensured supreme accuracy of length and direction. He was a master of the stock left-hander's spin and could vary it with the ball that came on with the arm." In his early years as a bowler, Rhodes was able to spin the ball very sharply, and while this ability decreased in later years, he became expert at working out a batsman's weaknesses. Critics considered him expert at flighting the ball; Neville Cardus wrote that "Flight was his secret. Flight and the curving line, now higher, now lower, tempting, inimical; every ball like every other ball, yet somehow unlike; each over in collusion with the others, part of a plot ..." In the early part of his career, his bowling partnership with Hirst, who shared Rhodes's Kirkheaton birthplace, was particularly effective and established a formidable reputation. As time passed, his accuracy increased to the extent that it seemed every ball landed in exactly the same place. In his first five seasons, he was top of the national bowling averages twice and in second place three times, while in the first six seasons after the war, he was first four times and second once. In his whole career, he only fell outside the top 20 in the bowling averages in four seasons.

Rhodes claimed that he preferred batting to bowling. A right-handed batsman with a good defensive technique, Rhodes was a strong driver of the ball who scored more quickly in the earlier part of his career. Analysts maintained that Rhodes had only two or three effective shots, though his technique was good. Cricket writer E. W. Swanton described Rhodes as a "craftsman rather than an artist". Neville Cardus, in his obituary of Rhodes, said that the Yorkshireman "made himself into a batsman by practice and hard thinking", and that while often "dour and parsimonious", he was capable of hitting out. After changing to the two-eyed stance more of his runs came on the leg-side; in later years, Rhodes often used his pads rather than play a shot, a tactic generally regarded as negative. A feature of his batting career was his successful opening partnership with Hobbs, particularly their enterprise in running between the wickets. In his career, he scored over 190 in an innings five times and twice scored centuries in each innings of a match. Although Rhodes's primary function varied between bowler and batsman, he recorded 16 doubles to establish a record for any cricketer.

When Rhodes was involved in matches, Cardus believed that "he was not a man given to affability", showing annoyance on the field and being critical of the performances of others. According to historian Anthony Woodhouse, Rhodes was a "dour, methodical and calculating cricketer." Not popular in the way that a player like Hirst was popular, Rhodes "commanded respect rather than plaudits" in the words of Bowes. An introvert, he did not always get along with the more extrovert Hirst, possibly owing to mutual jealousy and some of Hirst's jocular comments, and was rarely pictured smiling. However, Rhodes became more relaxed and approachable in later life, particularly after his eyesight failed. Cardus was surprised, after meeting him in 1950, at how much more readily Rhodes engaged in conversation, commenting that "history comes from his mouth in rivers". His obituary in The Times concluded: "Gruff or mellow, he was all of a piece, a fighting Yorkshireman, superbly gifted."