Bill Bradley

Who was Bill Bradley?

Walter Morris 'Bill' Bradley was an English cricketer who played in 2 Tests in 1899.

A well built, attacking right arm fast bowler, "Bill" Bradley played county cricket for Kent as an amateur between 1895 to 1903. Bowling off a long run with a high action, he pitched the ball up and bowled long spells, attributes which earned him two Test caps in 1899. He excelled in his first, taking 5 for 67 against Joe Darling's Australians at Old Trafford but met with less success in his second, at the Oval. The most successful amateur bowler of that season, taking 156 wickets at 19.1 including two hat tricks, he took 624 wickets in 9 seasons at 22.64. An old fashioned tail ender, he scored only 906 first-class runs at just 6.09 with 67 coming in one innings against Yorkshire at Canterbury in 1897, an unbeaten innings amassed in just 45 minutes.

He is one of only 14 cricketers to have taken a wicket with his first ball in international competition.