Ponsford, William Harold

▪ Australian athlete

born Oct. 19, 1900, Melbourne, Vic., Australia

died April 6, 1991, Kyneton, Vic.

      Australian cricketer, one of the game's most prolific scorers. He was the first to make a quadruple century since Archie MacLaren first broke 400 in 1895 and the only player to exceed 400 twice in first-class matches.

      Ponsford made an inauspicious debut for Victoria in February 1921 but scored 162 in his only first-class appearance the next season. In his first innings in 1922–23 he batted for 7 hours 57 minutes, scoring 429 to top MacLaren's record of 424, and in 1924–25 he became the first man to hit hundreds in his first two Test matches.

      Ponsford dominated Australian first-class cricket in the mid-1920s, hitting three centuries in 1925–26 and six (including one double and one triple) in only 10 innings in the 1926–27 season. His record 437 came in 10 hours 21 minutes the following December. In his last Test innings—against England in August 1934—he scored 266 in a second-wicket partnership of 451 with Don Bradman, an aggregate Test record that stood until 1991. Ponsford retired soon thereafter, having achieved a career total of 13,819 runs (average 65.18) and 47 centuries (13 exceeding 200), including 2,122 runs (average 48.22) and seven centuries in Test matches.

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