Bill 'Tiger' O'Reilly

O’REILLY, William Joseph (1905-1992)
Bill was regarded by Bradman as the greatest bowler of his time and ‘Tiger’ played cricket with a fierce zeal, he had a meteoric rise to fame. He first played for New South Wales in 1927/8 but it was in 1931/2 that he first gained Test selection in the 4th and 5th Tests against South Africa and from then until the outbreak of WWII he and Grimmett provided a fearsome spin attack. He was a right-armed bowler with his stock delivery a leg break, his pace was such that few batsmen could move out to the pitch of the ball, his accuracy and his hostility were unremitting. He was a powerful left-handed batsman. In the Bodyline Tour of 1932/3 he took 27 wickets, against England in 1934 he took 28 wickets and in 1935/6 against South Africa he took 27 wickets. In both England tours he took 100 wickets and first place in the averages. He appeared in the first post-War Test against New Zealand at Wellington in 1945/6 taking 5 for 14 and 3 for 19 and then retired. Originally a schoolmaster he turned to journalism and produced two tour books and much forthright newspaper comment.
He played 27 Test matches making 410 runs (12.81) and taking 144 wickets (22.59) and 7 catches.
In his first class career from 1927-45 he made 1,655 runs (13.13) and took 774 wickets (16.60)