HERBERT VIVIAN HORDEN, the first Australian googly bowler, the greatest triumph of whose short Test career took place 100 years ago this month was the first in a line of great performers stretching to Shane Warne.
Inspired as a 20 year old leg spinner, by watching BJT Bosanquet, inventor of the googly, dismiss Victor Trumper, with the first such ball ever seen in Australia, at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1903, Horden was to develop his skills while studying dentistry in the United States. This, together with the fact that these skills were unleashed both in and against Ireland and Irish teams, makes him a suitable subject for this column.
Born in North Sydney on 10 February 1883 and known as Herbert or Bert by his family, but as Ranji by fellow cricketers because of his supposed resemblance to the great Indian batsman, he began to work on the googly after watching Bosanquet on the MCC tour of Australia of 1903/04 and had considerable success with it for the North Sydney club's minor teams. Sometimes, as happened to Bosanquet in his early stages, the ball would bounce several times before reaching the batsman, but he persevered and, having taken 111 wickets at this level, found himself in the 1st XI and then the state side. His first class debut against Queensland in the 1905/06 season brought him second innings figures of 8/81.
Though coming from a well to do family, he had to earn his living and, having opted to study dentistry, persuaded his parents to finance him to attend the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In so doing he was following in the footsteps of the then Australian all-rounder and future captain MA Noble. He chose this course of action because of a desire to "see the world" and because Philadelphia was then a flourishing cricket centre able to put out a side which could compete at first class level in England and had performed well against Australian sides returning home from English tours.
Here "Ranji" became the finished article. Tall and slightly balding, he had a long. but smooth, approach to the wicket, and bowled at around medium pace. However he was no pusher through, being a master of flight and length. Batsmen coming down the wicket to him often found themselves a yard too short of the ball as it spun viciously past them. He ironed out problems with his googly which became most difficult to pick. An eagle eyed batsman might see the tip of his little finger raise as his wrist dropped in the act of delivery, but otherwise there was no sign of the concealed off break.
In Philadelphian club cricket - the high standard Halifax Cup - he was very successful though as he began for Belmont, the club of the great fast bowler JB Bart - King there were often not many wickets left to take from his end. He did however have several "5 fers" for example 6/64 against Merion in July 1907.Two seasons later, having joined Merion, he took 8/41 against Germantown, his best figures in such matches of which scores have been seen.
In 1907 he established himself as the second best bowler on the American continent, and the best spinner, taking a record 213 wickets in the season, 115 of these came for the University on its tour of England and Ireland where he was sometimes almost unplayable. He established a close understanding with wicket keeper Charlie Winter, who could pick him unlike most others, catching 9 and stumping 18 of the wickets. Hordern's dominance is shown by the fact that a number of the 14 matches were single innings affairs.
Back in Philadelphia he was chosen for the representative side against a strong visiting MCC team and took 5/54 in the second innings. The Hampshire amateur EG Wynyard essayed a flowing cover drive only to lose his leg stump.
"My God, a googly," he cried. That is the expurgated version.
The MCC also included the Anglo South African Reggie Schwarz who, having learned the secret from Bosanquet while playing for Middlesex had introduced the googly to South Africa. The two Rs - Reggie and Ranji - talked about its mechanics far into several nights. Hordern was an automatic selection for the Philadelphian tour of Britain and Ireland the following summer, if so wet a season can be so called. With a weaker than usual attack, only he and King were able to compete at first class level. In first class games. In 10 matches Hordern took 45 wickets at 20.6, King had 87 at 11.01. In all matches Ranji had 74 and Bart 120. Against Worcestershire at New Road, early in the tour Hordern had 11/107 in the match which was won by 95 runs. Towards the end of the tour he bowled MCC to a 25 runs defeat at Lord's with match figures of 10/152.
The tourists crossed the Irish Sea mid season to play Ireland in College Park and Ulster at Ormeau. Ireland were bowled out for 86 in their first innings with King and Hordern bowling unchanged, the paceman taking 7/40 and Ranji 3/41. However these were Nos 2 3 and 4 in the order, including Bob Lambert so he had paved the way for King's destruction of the hosts' batting. Though Tom Ross bowled the visitors out for 171, Ireland collapsed again, but Hordern went wicketless. An extra match was played as the intended 3 day game had finished well inside two. Ireland did much better, Lambert scoring an undefeated century, but neither King nor Hordern bowled.
Moving north to Belfast, the Americans swept Ulster aside with some ease. Ranji had 6/44 in the second innings, three being stumped by Winter. Only the young Willie Andrews, who would still be playing senior cricket for North Down 40 years later, showed much signs of how to play the googly man, Willie's cousin Oscar, leading batsman William Pollock, and Rugby and future cricket international Davy Taylor, all succumbing to the mystery ball.
The following year saw a much weakened Irish side tour North America and play two matches against Philadelphia. Before this however, the Philadelphians had toured Jamaica and played three first class matches. Hordern was the star with figures as follows:
1st Match 5/69 0/5
2nd Match 8/56 8/32
3rd match 8/44 5/69
Ireland proved no match for their hosts, meeting King at his very best. He took all 10 wickets in the first innings of the first match, besides bowling the other batsman, George Morrow, with a no ball. After Hordern, with a brisk 32, had helped the Philadelphian batting recover from a bad start to build a commanding lead, he took 5/30 in Ireland's second innings with Bart taking 4/38 including the hat trick. Future historian of Irish cricket, Pat Hone escaped both destroyers by running himself out! Ireland were again humiliated in the second match with Hordern taking 5/16 in the second innings.
The following year now fully qualified and known as Dr HV Hordern, he was back in Sydney and went straight into the New South Wales side for the 1910/11 season. After taking 13/85 in a huge win over Victoria he was selected for the last two Tests against a South African side itself packed with googly bowlers in Schwarz, Aubrey Faulkner and Ernie Volger. In his debut match, Hordern took 3/39 and 5/66. By contrast Schwarz, perhaps regretting his late night tutorials, had second innings figures of 1/168 as Australia won by 530 runs. In the Final Test Ranji shone as a batsman making 50 at No 3 in the first innings, having come in early to save a genuine batsman on a rain affected pitch, he then took 4/73 in South Africa's first innings. Though he managed only 2/117 in the second, he was clearly established in the Test side.
The Ashes Series of 1911/12 results in an overwhelming victory for England. This was due to the bowling of Sidney Barnes (34 wickets) and Frank Foster (32) as well as the batting of Jack Hobbs and Wilfred Rhodes, 662 and 463 runs respectively. Australia, for whom the leading run scorer was Warwick Armstrong with 324, had one hero, Hordern who took 32 wickets at 24.37. The hosts did, however, win the First Test thanks to a magnificent display of bowling by Hordern and curious captaincy by England's stand in leader Johnny Douglas. The chosen captain PF Warner was struck down by a duodenal ulcer and missed the entire series. After the First Test he had considerable input from the pavilion but he was in hospital during the First Match. Douglas, a fairly ordinary fast bowler, chose to use the new ball himself, denying it to Barnes.
"If he wants to bowl with the new ball, he can bloody well bowl with the old one as well," snarled the temperamental genius and hardly bent his back when he did come to the bowling crease. After this game Douglas relegated himself in the attack and Barnes and Foster carried all before them. However in this match, on a perfect SCG wicket, Hordern bowled superbly with figures of 27 - 4 - 85 - 5 and 42.2 - 11 - 90 - 7. No one else one was to take 12 on an Ashes debut again until Bob Massie at Lord's in1972. Australia won by 146 runs but Hordern was never so effective again.
The English batsmen, particularly Hobbs who scored 3 hundreds in the series, believed that they could spot his googly and that it was his flight and accuracy that were the problems. As the Tests were timeless, they set themselves to grind him out. Further the weakness of the other bowlers meant hay his captain Clem Hill had to use Hordern as a stock bowler, thus reducing his effectiveness. He still took 4 wickets in the first innings of the Second Test and had 10 in the final one when his 5/95 and 5/66 almost wrested victory from England's grasp. He dismissed Hobbs twice to win the game, the only one in which the master batsman did not reach at least 50.
That was almost Ranji Hordern's last hurrah. He declared himself unavailable for the Triangular Tournament in England in 1912, not because he was involved in the dispute between payers and Board of Control that led to six key cricketers declining to tour, but because he feared damage to his fingers, just as important for extracting teeth as for bowling googlies. For similar reasons, he dropped out of the state side after taking 6/67 against Tasmania in March 1914 and declined the - cancelled - tour of South Africa in 1914/15.
A whimsical and wryly humourous man who married the daughter of a cricket loving millionaire ornithologist, he wrote a bestselling autobiography, now exorbitantly priced and very difficult to obtain - and died, unexpectedly, in the inner Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst on 17 June 1938.
The brevity of his career makes assessment of his place in bowling history difficult. However Rhodes, whose own career experience included playing with WG and against Bradman, thought him the best leg spinner he ever saw. Warner, whose playing span almost equalled Rhodes and who continued to watch the game until the 1960s thought likewise.
Among Australians, the state cricketer turned broadcaster AG "Johnny" Moyes, who batted against Hordern and who was still commentating when Richie Benaud captained Australia 50 years later, concurred. Of course none of them saw Shane Warne but Moyes played against Bill O'Reilly so his judgement places Herbert Vivian Hordern in a very high position indeed.
Edward Liddle December 2011
