For starters, let me explain what a googly is. A conventional leg-break from a spinner turns from left to right. A conventional off-break turns from right to left. A googly is the one which looks like a normal leg break but spins towards the batter like an off-break. Also known as the ‘wrong ‘un’, googly is delivered from the back of the hand with an inverted wrist. As the grip is same for both leg-break and googly, it is extremely difficult for the batter to spot the difference. It is deceptive and supremely effective.
The inception of googly dates back to 1897. The birth of this mysterious delivery lies in Twisti-Twosti - a game in which you bounce a ball on a table so that the person sitting at the opposite end is unable to catch it. Bernard Bosanquet, an Oxford University student was known to experiment with slow deliveries and this teenage game opened up a whole lot of possibilities for him.
One fine day while playing Twisti-Twosti, Bosanquet figured that he could mystify his opponent if he managed to turn the ball both ways using the same delivery method. He first practiced this with a soft ball and then moved to regular cricket ball. Initially, his dexterity didn’t receive much attention. But Bosanquet persevered and kept practicing endlessly at the nets as well as in unofficial matches.
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He ultimately tested it in an official match between Middlesex and Leicestershire at Lord’s in 1900. Samuel Coe of Leicestershire was his first victim. Batting at 98, Coe was left astounded as he stepped down the wicket to hit the ball towards the leg side boundary, but watched the ball turn the other way. It bounced four times before reaching the wicket-keeper, who took the bails off. Batter getting out to such a slow delivery which bounced more than once became an instant subject of laugh and ridicule.
But this was the start of a revolution. Googly made its first international appearance in a home series against Australia in 1902. It's devilish impact was seen when Lord Hawke’s XI led by Plum Warner toured Australia in 1903. Bosanquet knocked Victor Trumper’s middle stump with a perfectly pitched googly, after the first two leg-breaks were delightfully played in the covers. There were no jokes, laughs or contempt this time - just an announcement that googly was here to stay. Though Googly came to be known as the universal term, Australians nicknamed the particular delivery after its inventor as the ‘Bosie’.
Bosanquet’s incredible performance, including a 6-51 in the fourth test helped England regain the Ashes in 1903-04. He also ripped through the Australia batting line-up in his first test on English soil in 1905 at Trent Bridge, picking up 8 wickets. Batters, including the great Arthur Shrewsbury tried to get rid of the new bowling revelation by calling it ‘unfair’. But Bosanquet kept getting better with every ball.
Though Bosanquet himself admitted that he wasn’t the first to employ such a delivery. Many others like Attewell and E. R. Wilson had tricked and dismissed batters using this technique. But those incidents were mere accidents which lacked consistency and control. Bosanquet was perhaps the first to master the skill.
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The efficacy of this unorthodox delivery paved the way for its increased adoption. Reggie Schwartz, a South African bowler who was dismissed on a googly by Bosanquet in a match between MCC and South Africa, picked up its nuances and experimented with it in a match against Oxford University. He not only aced it himself but also spread knowledge about it amongst curious youngsters.
This new delivery helped aspiring bowlers, particularly spinners become champions. It was the googly which dismissed Don Bradman in his last test appearance, evading him from a miraculous milestone. Today, the googly stands as the most lethal and devious weapon for leg-spinners around the world. Bernard Bosanquet is the man to be thanked.
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