Bert Oldfield

Cricket Player

1894 – 1976

47

Who was Bert Oldfield?

William Albert Stanley "Bert" Oldfield was an Australian cricket player. He played for New South Wales and the Australian cricket team as wicket-keeper.

He served with the first Australian Imperial Force as a Corporal in the 15th Field Ambulance. He was wounded in 1917 when shot in the leg. At the conclusion of the war he was selected to be part of the Australian Imperial Forces cricket team which played 28 first class matches in Britain, South Africa and Australia.

Oldfield made his first-class cricket debut in the 1919-20 season, and played his first Test match against England in his hometown of Sydney the next season. He was dropped for several matches over the next few years, but established himself as Australia's automatic selection for wicket-keeper in the 1924-25 Ashes series against England.

He missed only one other Test in his career, that being the fourth Test of the 1932-33 Bodyline series. In the notorious third Test at Adelaide, the English Bodyline tactic of bowling fast balls directed at the Australian batsmen's bodies reached its most dramatic moment when fast bowler Harold Larwood hit Oldfield in the head, fracturing his skull. Oldfield was carried from the ground unconscious. He recovered in time for the fifth Test of the series.

We need you!

Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!

Born
Sep 9, 1894
Sydney
Nationality
  • Australia
Died
Aug 10, 1976
Sydney

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"Bert Oldfield." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/bert_oldfield>.

Discuss this Bert Oldfield biography with the community:

0 Comments

    Browse Biographies.net