William Woof

Who is William Woof?

William Albert Woof was an English cricketer who played for Gloucestershire from 1878 to 1902 and for MCC between 1882 and 1885.

Woof was born in Gloucester and was educated at Bedford School. He apprenticed as an engineer at Grantham, Lincolnshire. He played for the Gloucestershire colts in 1878 and among the five wickets he took was that of W G Grace. He was a professional cricketer at Stubbington House, Fareham, Hampshire in May 1878 and made his first-class debut for Gloucestershire in August 1878 against Surrey. Later in 1878 he was professional at Grantham cricket club and in 1879 was with Lancashire. W G Grace got him a post as professional at Cheltenham College from 1880 to 1881 and in 1882 recommended him for the ground staff at Lords. Woof played twelve matches for MCC between 1882 and 1885 and coached Cambridge from 1883 to 1884 and Oxford in 1885. His best seasons were 1884 when he took 116 wickets and 1885 when he took 100 wickets. He was able to give less time to the county while he was cricket coach at Cheltenham College from 1886. He played 140 matches for Gloucestershire taking 644 wickets for them until 1902.