A century in three overs

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 20

A century in three overs

The death last month of an Australian cricketer named Wendeil Bill recalls the extraordinary scoring feat by Don (later Sir Donald) Bradman in achieving a century in the space of three overs. This batting extravaganza took place in 1931, and Wendell Bill — who played Sheffield Shield cricket for New South Wales as an opening batsman — was Bradman’s partner. Playing against a team called Blackheath, at Lithgow, Bradman took first strike and hit 33 runs from the opening over, a single off the eighth ball enabling him to retain the strike. He then opened up his full firepower, clobbering 40 runs, all in boundaries, from the second over. Bill stole a single

from the first ball of the third over, and Bradman sent the next two balls for six before chipping a single to take his score to 86. Dutifully, Bill contributed another single from the fifth ball, and Bradman raced to a three-figure total with two more fours and then a six. He had scored exactly IM runs in 22 balls, and went on to make 25*. The scoring details were:— Over Runs First «« 4 2 4 4 6 1 Second 644664*4 Third 16611446 Sir Donald recalled his big-hitting effort recently in a letter to a Christchurch cricket scorer, Mr Geoff Gambles, who had written seeking the great man’s autograph.