OTD | Birth of Bill Ponsford, the most voracious run-getter in cricket history

There have been plenty of great batters in the 20th century who impressed us with their incredible performances. The player we will be talking about today is William Harold Ponsbord known as Bill Ponsford as he was one of the most iconic Australian cricketers who was born today on the 19th of October in 1900. He is regarded as one of the best Australian batters of his generation as well.

Bill Ponsford had a prolific career in cricket and though he has only played 29 Test matches he still managed to score big runs and has scored over 2000 runs at an average of 48.22. Apart from that, he has an impressive First class record as well scoring 13,819 runs at an average of over 65. It is safe to say that he was one of the most consistent run-scorers during his prime and should be celebrated even today. 

The first batter to score over 400 before Brian Lara

There is no doubt that there have been a lot of great knocks from Ponsford, but we cannot forget that he was the first batter to score over 400 runs in first-class cricket even before Brian Lara. The Aussie cricketer scored 437 runs against Queensland and this remained one of the highest scores in First Class cricket for several years. This was one of the greatest innings that the cricketing World knows and this is the time to remember this great knock.

This might be one of the oldest generations of the game but as real cricket fans none of these moments should go unnoticed at all. Bill Ponsford should be a name Australian cricket should remember for his great run-scoring ability and impressive records in the longest format of the game. It is the perfect day to remember the great man on his 124th birth anniversary.

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