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Clarence Victor “Clarrie” Grimmett (December 25, 1891 – May 2, 1980) was a cricketer who was born in New Zealand but played for the Australian team. He is considered to be one of the finest early spin bowlers. He played club cricket in Wellington and made his first-class debut for Wellington when he was at the age of 17. In 1914 he moved to Australia and played club cricket in Sydney for 3 years. After tying the knot to a Victorian woman, they moved to Melbourne and he played first-class cricket for Victoria. In 1923, he moved to South Australia to play for the Australian Cricket Team.

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Greatest Sporting Achievements

Clarrie Grimmett took a total of 1424 first-class wickets at 22 run apiece and was the first bowler of any country to capture 200 Test wickets. When he played for Australia, he played 37 Tests and took a record of 216 wickets at 24 runs. For the 1938-1939 season, he took a record total of 73 wickets.
He was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1931 and was posthumously inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996 being one of the ten inaugural members. In 2009, he was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Why Was He So Good?

Clarrie Grimmett was undersized, thin and outwardly inexhaustible. He became a devoted and enthusiastic cricketer widely known for his accurateness and persistency. He was a master of length, he was able to spin and flight the ball with numerous distinctions.

What You May Not Know

• The press gave him the nicknames “the gnome”, “the fox” and “Scarlet”
• He used to enjoy playing tennis and golf as he grew older.
• Grimmett’s dog used to retrieve his balls as he bowled – practicing for 12 years on developing the top spinner.
• There was a theory surrounding his move to Australia – he wanted to play Test cricket but New Zealand wasn’t a Test-playing nation during that time.

 

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